Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine
“No work better embraces narrative medicine than A Short Life, by Jim Slotnick. This prescient memoir, written in 1983 and published in 2014, narrates a young medical student’s terminal illness from pre-diagnosis to his final days. It is a song of life’s joys, deadly shortcuts in medical practice, the necessity of listening and paying attention, and the essential value of compassion.”
by Wendy Miller, Medical Librarian and Professional Reviewer
Arnold P. Gold Foundation
“In my third year of medical school, I was given a book that profoundly impacted my view of the doctor patient relationship. This book, A Short Life, is the soulful memoir of an unforgettable young man named Jim Slotnick, who entered medical school with dreams of becoming a doctor for the underserved. Instead, he ended up being diagnosed with a brain tumor that ultimately took his life. This powerful, poignant book offers the unique perspective of a medical student confronting his own mortality. In many ways, A Short Life is a patient’s plea to be heard. It’s a book that serves as an urgent call for compassionate care and humanism in medicine.”
by Daniel Butler, MD