We have a great guest today! Don Stewart is here to tell give us 10 little known facts about his latest book, Past Medical History!
Don Stewart has a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Art, with honors, from Birmingham-Southern College, and an MD from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He also served a year-long surgical internship at the Mayo Clinic, where he published
some of his first composite drawings, and won awards for poetry and short fiction.
Dr. Stewart’s short stories have since been published in Pulse–voices from the heart of medicine, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, The Placebo Journal, and The Journal of Irreproducible Results, where he is listed as honorary Art Editor. For four years he served as Contributing Editor to Informal Rounds, the newsletter of the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association.
For the past quarter century he has made his living as a self-styled Visual Humorist, hammering words and pictures together at the DS Art Studio Gallery in Birmingham: www.DSArt.com. You can also find him at www.PastMedicalHistoryBook.com.
His latest book is the autobiography, Past Medical History.
10 Little Known Facts About Past Medical History
1. The author left medicine the same day he earned his license to practice.
2. After finishing medical school and a surgical internship, the author decided to become a full-time artist instead.
3. The author never saw patients again – he paid for medical school with picture money.
4. The book was entirely funded by an Indiegogo campaign.
5. More than 100 books will be given away free to pre-meds and medical students.
6. The author used to be a professional ventriloquist.
7. Having M.D. on your resume makes it awfully difficult to get a regular job. You’re automatically overqualified for just about everything other than self-employment.
8. A surprising number of of doctors have told the author in confidence, “I wish I had some kind of talent. If I did, I’d leave medicine in a heartbeat.”
9. A used copy of Past Medical History is selling on Amazon for $999.00!
10. Every copy of Past Medical History is guaranteed to be high in fiber, and low in calories.
Past Medical History is a compilation of short stories chronicling the life of Dr. Don Stewart, who grew up with the singular goal of becoming a physician, then quit the day he earned his medical license to make a life and a living as an artist. It’s The Devil Wears Prada meets The House of God, with a character who sees his own career circling the drain, pronounces it DOA, and turfs himself to an art studio for treatment. It’s Patch Adams, with an attitude; The Things They Carried, dressed up in scrubs and a white lab coat.
This series of stories draws a clear picture of a doctor who recognized the pitfalls of his chosen profession, discharged himself from the hospital, then took his life in a more creative, and far healthier direction.
Beyond the Books 