Not Your Ordinary Doctor

Throughout history, many doctors have worked outside the occupation for which they were originally trained. Not Your Ordinary Doctor reveals sixty such medical truants who found fame in fields other than medicine. Meet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's inspiration for Sherlock Holmes; cringe as Stalin tortures each of his eight doctors; follow John Keats, who abandons medicine to pursue his literary career. Within these pages are doctors who attended rulers such as Elizabeth I, Napoleon and Alexander the Great; artists, musicians and writers such as Somerset Maugham and Anton Chekhov; sporting heroes and adventurers including W.G. Grace and Che Guevara; and on a darker note, mass murderers like Hastings Banda and Buck Ruxton. Not Your Ordinary Doctor is a titillating collection filled with historical curiosities, fascinating whimsy and fresh speculation. These stories are by turns heroic and absurd, dazzling and ghoulish, inspired and tragic and, in the hands of master storyteller Jim Leavesley, never dull.

In this lively biography written for girls and boys in upper elementary school grades, children will meet a woman who went to medical school when very few women did. They will chuckle at her misadventures as a child and marvel at how she improved medical care for children when she grew up despite her learning disability. They will learn how she came up with the idea for Ronald McDonald Houses and how she started a school in the city where she lived. She is "not your ordinary doctor!" Her story will inspire children (and maybe their parents) to care for others, to consider careers they may not have dreamed possible, and to persevere despite setbacks that seem to threaten failure.

I recently discovered something very interesting. Everyone you chance to meet has a true "snake story". Some are good, some bad, some ugly; most are humerous; a rare few are incredible. I have gathered together a couple dozen of the best. Read the stories in any order; read them one at a time, over a period of time; but do yourself a big favor...READ them! Some stories may be a tad scary...most are funny. "Truth IS stranger than fiction and these stories are TRUE...they really happened!"

A fascinating collection of historical curiosities - doctors who achieved fame or notoriety for reasons other than their medical prowess.

Eighteen-year-old rock star Sam Lee isn’t like other girls. She’s the super-talented bass player and songwriter for an all-girl indie band and an incurable loner. Then one night after a concert in Central Park, she’s attacked by a “wild dog.” Suddenly, this long-time vegetarian is craving meat—the bloodier, the better. Sam finds herself with an unbelievable secret and no one she trusts to share it. So begin the endless lies to cover up the hairy truth ... When a new girl gang appears in the city—with claws and paws—Sam suspects there’s a connection to her own inner beast. Trapped in a tug-of-war between her animal and human selves, forced to choose between the guy who sparks her carnal appetite and the one who makes her feel like a normal teenage girl, Sam has to unravel the mysteries of the werewolf world before her bandmates, the media, and her mother catch up to her.

No Ordinary Doctor; No Ordinary Time describes, almost exploits, a mid to late 20th century medical career that chronicles in story format the dramatic changes in medical science and health care. Dr. Greenberg took advantage of many opportunities newly opened to physicians, both in New York City and around the world. This transition from a system that offered both little more than empathy and the 19th century advancements in surgery to the highly specialized, often impersonal, invasive wizardry of today had a long overture. It began with the post-World War II recognition that the tripartite alliance of government funding, academic research, and corporate development was both a powerful driver of innovation as well as the most potent economic stimulus of the era. As Dr. Greenberg points out, the costs of this new clinical capacity put enormous strains on global economic stability. Today’s clinical successes pose unique fiscal threats that will again lead to a new round of profound transformations. The excitement in medicine continues for the next generation.