TRANSUE, Emily R. 1971(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1971, in Toledo, OH. Education: Yale University, B.S., 1992; Dartmouth University, M.D., 1996.

ADDRESSES: Agent—St. Martin's Press, c/o Author Mail, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: University of Washington, Seattle, chief resident, until 2000; Polyclinic, Seattle, general internist, 2000—.

AWARDS, HONORS: Pharnmacia and Upjohn Achievement Award, 1996, for distinction in internal medicine.

WRITINGS:

On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Like all new medical-school graduates, Emily Transue was required to follow her formal education with several years spent working in a hospital as an intern and resident. Here she faced the traumatic experiences of dealing with real patients suffering life-threatening injuries and diseases, inevitably coming upon her first case that ended with the patient's death. "I was faced daily with experiences unlike anything I'd ever had . . . ," she said as quoted by Seattle Post-Intelligencer writer Tatyana Mishel. "I didn't know what to do. There's no forum for these things in medical school." To deal with her emotions, Transue began keeping a journal of her experiences, and this eventually evolved into her first book, On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency.

On Call is a frank and honest portrayal of Transue's work and off-duty life that Mishel described as alternatingly "suspenseful, touching, horrific and even funny." Critics have praised the book as a valuable resource for medical students and those considering entering the profession because it provides readers a glimpse of things to come that most students do not anticipate while still in school. "Transue puts a refreshingly human face on the profession," remarked Allyssa Lee in Entertainment Weekly, and a Publishers Weekly reviewer similarly noted that On Call "presents an intriguing picture of a side of medicine many people never see."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2004, Donna Chavez, review of OnCall: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency, p. 1885.

Entertainment Weekly, August 13, 2004, Allyssa Lee, review of On Call, p. 92.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2004, review of On Call, p. 435.

Publishers Weekly, May 3, 2004, review of On Call, p. 178.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 20, 2004, Tatyana Mishel, "Doctor Writes from the Heart about Her Medical Residency."*