Book Talk: Two departures by McFadden

The Devil Wears Scrubs

Because Freida McFadden is a physician, I wondered if any parts of this story were autobiographical. “The Devil Wears Scrubs” (2013, 279 pages in softcover format) is an outrageously funny account of an amicable medical intern trying to survive the daily chaos of a big city’s general hospital.

The protagonist in this enjoyable and easy-to-read novel is Dr. Jane McGill, who — in another life — would have been a charming young woman with a pleasant disposition and sense of humor. But both of those qualities are challenged by addicts who come to the hospital faking ailments that seem to require “pain killers,” excessively long hours on call, and Dr. Alyssa Morgan, her supervising physician who expects nothing less than perfection from her new, first-year intern.

The POV is that of Dr. Jane, and each chapter ends with a simple note: number of hours on duty, percentage probability of her quitting. No matter what she does, Alyssa will find something to criticize.