Doctors hold a pretty special place in our lives. They’re often there when we’re born, and they’re usually there when we die. They’re there for a lot of the scary or weird stuff that happens in between, too.

In That’s Why I’m a Doctor, award-winning journalist Mark Bulgutch brings together forty-six stories from a diverse group of physicians, including pediatricians, interventional radiologists, general surgeons, psychiatrists, family doctors, gastroenterologists, ophthalmologists, gynecologists, neurologists and more. Each doctor’s story describes the moment that left them thinking, “That’s why I became a doctor.”

This volume includes stories of innovation (developing a treatment for cholera); rare and fascinating medical cases (the separation of conjoined twins); the less dramatic but still quietly satisfying times when the doctor was able to have a lasting positive impact on the life of a patient or their family; and, of course, those unexpected moments when the patient taught the doctor an important life lesson that would inform their practice for years to come.

These stories, big and small, are tied together by a sense of caring. It’s impossible to read what these doctors have to say and not come away with a new understanding of what goes through the mind of the person on the other end of the stethoscope and how dedicated doctors must be to do what they do.

Mark Bulgutch is a journalist, educator, speaker, and the author of the instant #1 national bestseller Extraordinary Canadians and also That’s Why I’m a Journalist and That’s Why I’m a Doctor. He worked for CBC for forty years, eleven as the senior editor of The National and another ten as senior executive producer of all live news specials. He has taught at the Ryerson University School of Journalism for almost thirty-five years. A regular contributor of opinion columns to the Toronto Star, he has won fourteen Gemini awards, four RTNDA Awards, the Canadian Journalist Foundation Award of Excellence, and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Gold Ribbon Award. He lives in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter @MarkBulgutch.

Mark Bulgutch's profile page

“A rich array of stories of life and death—ranging from the warm narratives of family docs to public health physicians caring for whole communities, to specialists focused on rare diseases that only they are uniquely suited to manage. What all these stories share is an appreciation of the big picture, balanced with holistic humanistic caring. The public will find the stories illuminating, while aspiring medical students will be inspired.”

Dr. Michael C. Klein, author of Dissident Doctor