My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS Summary
Abraham Verghese

My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS Overview

Abraham Verghese shares his experiences as a doctor working with AIDS patients on a daily basis in the Bible Belt of Johnson City, Tennessee. In a town and hospital that recoils with horror from a disease that so little was known about, Verghese becomes an AIDS specialist for the surrounding areas and reaches out to a mostly untested community. Under the burden and emotional toll of being the primary physician for 50 diverse AIDS patients he eventually leaves Johnson City hospital for a less stressful position that allows him to focus on his family.