See One, Do One, Teach One

When do you become a real doctor?

Now a celebrated cartoonist and practicing physician, in 2004 Grace Farris began med school with visions of ER and Scrubs. Across cadaver labs, operating rooms, and lecture halls, she embarked on the arduous road to becoming a doctor.

In her graphic memoir debut, Grace looks back on her journey through medical school and residency in her iconic palate of pastels. Through candid comics, readers experience the box of bones Grace must take home to study, the overwhelming smell of formaldehyde that emanates from the cadaver she dissects, the endless mnemonics and “-ologies” she must learn, and the racism and sexism that confront her in the healthcare system. As she works grueling, thirty-hour shifts and meets with patients from all walks of life, she discovers moments of joy, too: making her first correct diagnosis, matching at a top residency program, and, when she least expects it, falling in love. At the end of her residency, Grace takes on two new roles—attending physician and mother.

Touching and tender, See One, Do One, Teach One is a vivid portrait of the human side of healthcare and what binds patient and doctor together.