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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Konner characterize Dr. Ringler?

2. Which is NOT one of the four laws of medicine?

3. What was Freddy Robertson's role in the procedures that were performed?

4. How does Konner characterize his teachers in the basic clinical skills classes?

5. Who does Konner say benefits from drugs for childhood hyperactivity?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Konner's experience with shock therapy?

2. How does Konner say med school affected him personally?

3. How does Konner contrast American medical diagnoses to African children's lives?

4. Describe Konner's first 'Saturday Night Knife and Gun Club'.

5. What were Konner's reasons fro becoming a doctor?

6. What lesson does Konner say he learned from John Williams?

7. How does Konner describe his first experience anesthetizing a patient?

8. What effect does Konner's opening anecdote have as a first taste of the book?

9. How would you describe Konner's tone and language in the opening anecdote?

10. What explanation does Konner give for why he wrote this book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the different narrative threads Konner weaves throughout 'Becoming a Doctor'? One is the simple chronological experience of med school. What developments take place, and how does Konner's personality, or how do his attitudes about medicine or illness or his own identity change throughout the course of the book? Where do these themes intersect? How are they developed?

Essay Topic 2

Konner's book was published in 1987, before a lot of 'gene therapies' were explored and developed. How do you think Konner would respond to the new science of genetics, which tries to explain human behavior through genetic analysis?

Essay Topic 3

How would you characterize Konner's critique of the medical world? Is it too anecdotal? Is it objective? Is it credible? What solutions does he offer to the problems he describes?

(see the answer keys)

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