No Apparent Distress

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What to expect

A brutally frank memoir about doctors and patients in a health care system that puts the poor at risk

In medical charts, the term “N.A.D.” (No Apparent Distress) is used for patients who appear stable. The phrase also aptly describes America’s medical system when it comes to treating the underprivileged. Medical students learn on the bodies of the poor—and the poor suffer from their mistakes.

Rachel Pearson confronted these harsh realities when she started medical school in Galveston, Texas. Pearson, herself from a working-class background, remains haunted by the suicide of a close friend, experiences firsthand the heartbreak of her own errors in a patient’s care, and witnesses the ruinous effects of a hurricane on a Texas town’s medical system.

In No Apparent Distress, she chronicles her experiences and the raging disparities in a system that favors the rich and the white. This is at once an indictment of American health care and a deeply moving tale of one doctor’s coming-of-age.

Critics Review

  • “Pearson’s vivid writing sometimes lulls you into the trance of a good story—character, voice, plot, conflict—but there’s always the sucker punch at the end to remind you of the gruesome endpoint of the American health-care system: If you don’t have money, you can be sent out to die…[Pearson’s] courage, honesty, and doggedness are evident on every page.”

    New York Times

  • “This timely, highly recommended title is for readers interested in medicine, public health, disparities in treatment, and the complicated politics of health care and poverty.”

    Library Journal (starred review)

  • “Passionate….one of the better doctor-in-training books.”

    Booklist

  • “The book takes on an intimate tone, even while the details veer toward the gruesome or the emotionally raw… Eloquently and briskly written, the narrative is moving and will be inspirational and particularly enlightening for pre-med students eager to discover and explore the real insider details found both in and out of school.”

    Kirkus Reviews

  • “Filled with the moving stories of a medical student’s journey providing health care…Shines a spotlight on the brutal inequalities present within our health-care system.”

    Damon Tweedy, MD, author of Black Man in a White Coat

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