In the 1960s John Berger wrote the book A Fortunate Man, following Dr. John Sassall (a pseudonym) as he ministered to his patients in rural Gloucestershire. I read the re-issue a couple of years ago and found it interesting but somehow lacking; there was an emotional reticence about it, perhaps of its time, which made me feel I didn't really get to the heart of the complex man it portrayed.
Writer and documentary-maker Polly Morland happened to come upon her mother's long-forgotten copy of that book and realised that its location was her home valley, and that her own GP was the current incumbent of Dr. Sassall's role as head of the medical practice there. Her book A Fortunate Woman is her account of the working life of the unnamed lady doctor - for whom Berger's portrait had been influential - and her examination of what it means to be 'a good doctor'.
General practice is "a job which requires both heart and head"; the doctor "is there to help carry the heavy time, so that her patients may seek out lighter days again." "Her life's work is not simply about the application of a body of knowledge to an assortment of human objects. Nor is it the static state of being a qualified doctor who holds that body of knowledge. It is iterative, a virtuous activity in the true Aristotelian sense: a pursuit meaningful in and of itself, both ethically and interpersonally. It is becoming rather than knowing, and its lifeblood is trust."
This book gave me everything I sought and didn't find in Berger's. It is beautifully written and highly readable, a deeply involving and very moving look at an extraordinarily demanding job, at the woman who does it with great humanity, empathy, patience and wisdom, and an assessment of what that skill and dedication mean for and to the community the doctor serves. I can't praise it too highly; it's simply outstanding.
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