Dr. Freida McFadden, aka Dr. Fizzy McFizz, blogs over at A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor. In all her free time when she’s not practicing medicine in the Midwest, she’s written a funny take on life during residency under the rule of a demonic chief resident with The Devil Wears Scrubs.
Reminiscent of Bridget Jones’s Diary, only instead of counting alcohol units and cigarettes there’s a tally of the hours our intrepid resident Jane has spent awake and the percentage chance of her quitting residency entirely, The Devil Wears Scrubs features the powerful one-two punch of nimble writing and hilariously scathing wit. It is a joy to read, if not a bit frightening for up-and-coming residents.
Question: What made you want to write The Devil Wears Scrubs? What was the spark that made you sit down and put pen to paper (or fingers to laptop)?
Dr. McFadden: I’ve been attempting to write this for years and had many false starts, but somehow the inspiration just struck me one day while I was taking the baby carriage for a walk, which is apparently when I do my best thinking.
Q: You’re Dr. Fizzy, a busy blogger, humorist, and cartoonist, not to mention practicing physician. How in the world did you have time to write this?
Dr. McFadden: I find that when you really want to do something, there’s always a way to make time for it. Conversely, there’s always ways to procrastinate things you don’t want to do, even when you have oodles of free time.
Q: What do you hope your readers take away from Devil? And from your other writing and cartoons?
Dr. McFadden: I really hope they laugh a lot. When someone tells me the book made them laugh out loud, I always count that as a win. Laughter is the best medicine (after penicillin).
Q: How did your training experience influence how you will treat or train your own students and residents?
Dr. McFadden: I am super painfully nice to all my trainees. Any time I ask them to do anything, I always apologize like three times. I used to buy my med student cookies when I was a resident.
Q: Clearly your creative side is a productive and helpful outlet. Do you plan to write another book? What will we see from you next?
Dr. McFadden: I’m planning for a new book about medical school and gunners, optimistically set to come out in mid 2014.
More good reads: books and authors
Recommended books for residents.
Read an interview with This Won’t Hurt a Bit author Michelle Au about her book on residency and the birth of her first son.
Topics #awful residency #Devil Wears Scrubs #Dr. Fizzy #Dr. Fizzy McFizz #Freida McFadden
