No Apparent Distress

No Apparent Distress begins with a mistake made by a white medical student that may have hastened the death of a working-class black man who sought care in a student-run clinic. Haunted by this error, the author-herself from a working-class background-delves into the stories and politics of a medical training system in which students learn on the bodies of the poor. Part confession, part family history, No Apparent Distressis at once an indictment of American health care and a deeply moving tale of one doctor's coming-of-age.