Frances Southwick wanted to be a doctor for as long as she could remember.
As a kid, she collected old popsicle sticks to use as tongue depressors, volunteered in medical facilities and eventually ended up in medical school in West Virginia. Southwick did her residency at UPMC Shadyside including stints at a number of Pittsburgh hospitals.
Now she’s written a book called Prognosis Poor: One Doctor’s Personal Account of the Beauty and the Perils of Modern Medical Training, in which she talks about the stress and depression experienced by training physicians. She'd been warned about residency, she said, and thought she was prepared.
Southwick stopped by the 90.5 WESA studio to talk about her many labors of love.
The book will be available Oct. 10.
