In Stitches by Anthony Youn, MD

From Goodreads:

Scrubs meets David Sedaris in this hilarious fish-out-of-water memoir about a young Korean-American nerd turned renowned plastic surgeon. 

Dr. Tony Youn grew up one of two Asian-American kids in a small town where diversity was uncommon. Too tall and too thin, he wore thick Coke-bottle glasses, braces, Hannibal Lecter headgear, and had a protruding jaw that one day began to grow, expanding to an unthinkable, monstrous size. After high school graduation, while other seniors partied at the beach or explored Europe, Youn lay strapped in an oral surgeon’s chair where he underwent a life-changing jaw reconstruction. Ironically, it was this brutal makeover that led him to his life’s calling, and he continued on to endure the four horrific, hilarious, sex-starved, and tension-filled years that eventually earned him an M.D. Offering a window into a side of medicine that most people never see, Youn shares his bumpy journey from a shy, skinny, awkward nerd into a renowned and successful plastic surgeon.  

Now, Youn is the media’s go-to plastic surgeon. He appears regularly on The Rachael Ray Show, and his blog, Celebrity Cosmetic Surgery, is widely read and the most popular blog by a plastic surgeon in the country. But it was a long road to success, and In Stitches recounts Dr. Youn’s misfit adolescence and his four tumultuous years in medical school with striking wit, heart, and humility.  

For anyone who has ever experienced the awkward teenage years, who has struggled to find his or her way in college, who has been worried that their “calling” would never come, who wants to believe that their doctor really cares, or is just ready for a read that will make you laugh and cry at the same time, this book is for you.

Ever wonder why your doctor became... well, a doctor? This is a memoir of Tony Youn, MD and how and why he became a doctor of plastic surgery. He starts the memoir at 2 days old where his father, a "baby doctor" declares that he will become a doctor as well. Even though his mother admonishes him to at least wait until the second week of life to declare his son's profession, she knows that his father will not be denied. So, Tony grows up with the knowledge that he will be a doctor no matter what since he is loathe to disappoint his father. As he grows he also feels awkward as a teen and has his real first brush with what corrective surgery can do for a person. The person is Tony and he has his overgrown jaw broken twice so he could look more normal. The mantra of teenage-dom.

Of course we follow him though college and finally to his residency. Along the way we see epiphanies in which he finds that he really does want to be a doctor and why. This is also where the humor for me really picks up. When a disfigured child is brought into the NICU he is fascinated with how the plastic surgeon thinks and what he believes he can change for the child. This starts Tony on his way to becoming the surgeon he wants to be. It also becomes very surreal in some ways because of all the different doctors and administrators he encounters.

I give this book 3 1/2 stars. If you ever thought of becoming a doctor... or like me... knows someone who wants to be one (she will get this book from me), I think this is a great memoir to give them. I think they will connect to it even more than I did.

I was given this book from the publisher, Simon & Schuster and no compensation for my review was given.