Who Should Read This Book?

Premedical & Medical Students

This book offers what medical school doesn’t.

Medical training teaches technical skills, but not the art of medicine. Doctors are taught to order blood tests and CAT scans, to diagnose and drug, to perform surgery. But we have no courses on how to serve patients with joy. We have no textbooks on love and compassion. We aren’t tested on creativity. Intuition is rarely recognized as a diagnostic tool. And all too often, we view death as our own failure. Trained to detach emotionally and spiritually from patients, medical students eventually lose connection with the meaning of life and the mystery of death.

While speaking to an undergraduate medical humanities class, I was shocked to discover that students today are still taught “professional distance.” The professor warned me that his class was unlikely to be participatory, but when I described our community clinic, students burst forth with questions: “It’s okay to let patients call you Pamela? You pray with patients? Is it legal to hug them?” Most patients call me Pamela. I eat, pray, and laugh with them. Sometimes, I cry with them. And it’s still legal to hug.

That evening I spoke to premedical students. Afterward, a group congregated around me. They said, “We’ve never met a solo doctor. Or a happy doctor.” One woman shared, “We don’t have any mentors. Can we visit your office and shadow you?”

“Of course! Come anytime. Spend an afternoon seeing patients with me.”

Here, I offer myself as a mentor to all the students who will never have the opportunity to hang out with me at our community clinic. I have written this book for you.

Doctors & Patients

To my colleagues who are cynical and suffering, may these stories reignite your passion for medicine. Keep this book on your desk and in the exam room as a reference. Put the e-book in your white-coat pocket. Pet Goats & Pap Smears may be the best medicine for you and your patients. Sometimes sharing a story is more potent than writing a prescription.

Patients, enjoy a story before your doctor’s visit. Even better—read a chapter to your doctor. This book is perfect for waiting rooms. Laughter is often the best medicine. Consider Pet Goats & Pap Smears medical foreplay for a fun office visit. In these pages you will discover how doctors think and why doctors suffer. I welcome you to develop a new level of appreciation for your physician.

Teenagers

I didn’t write this book for teenagers. Then a friend shared a story about her sixteen-year-old son. One afternoon he asked his mom, “Who is this Pamela Wible?”

“She’s a friend and a doctor in town,” his mom replied. “Why?”

“I see this doctor friend of yours on Facebook. She writes the coolest things about sex and penises!”

“What does she write?”

“I can’t tell you all the details, Mom!”

Teenagers don’t want to discuss penises with their parents. Exploring sexuality through medical adventure stories is more fun. Pet Goats & Pap Smears offers a nonjudgmental way for young adults to understand risky behaviors and learn how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections.

A healthy intimate relationship is always built on honesty. If you are a teenager reading this book, I hope to encourage you first to be honest with yourself, so that you can be true to your partner.

People You Love

This is a gift book. Give this book to your best friends, your mothers, and daughters. Remind the women in your life to get their Pap smears—cervical cancer is preventable! Please give this book to teens and college students. Pet Goats & Pap Smears is perfect for book clubs, long car or plane rides, and is a great icebreaker for your next dinner party. Always keep a copy in your purse or your golf cart!

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