Notes of an Emergency Physician. Life on the First Floor

Combining work in a trauma center in Toronto with work at the largest university hospital in Addis Ababa, James Maskalyk finds that while these hospitals differ greatly—culturally, in resource availability, and in medical issues—they share something in common: the first floor, where the emergency department is located. It is here, on the first floor, that Maskalyk confronts his fears and doubts, the grief and joy, the tragedies and hopes of patients, the fragility of existence, and the resilience of the human spirit. Yet, he becomes most intimately acquainted with the story of human life not as a physician, but as a grandson caring for his ninety-year-old grandfather. This masterfully written and elegantly structured book is more than a memoir of an emergency physician. It is a reflection on health and illness, as well as on when to hold tightly to life and when it is time to let go. James Maskalyk is the author of the bestseller and critically acclaimed book Six Months in Sudan, an emergency physician, a distinguished educator, and a member of the Doctors Without Borders organization. He teaches meditation at the Club of Consciousness Explorers and currently combines work in Toronto and Addis Ababa. THE BOOK LIFE ON THE FIRST FLOOR National Bestseller of Canada Winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Best Nonfiction Book Shortlisted for the Taylor Prize, the Trillium Book Award, and the Edna Staebler Award for Best Book in Creative Nonfiction Finalist for the Toronto Literary Prize Longlisted for the Canada Reads Prize and the British Columbia National Award for Best Canadian Book in Nonfiction Best Book of 2017 as per Globe and Mail, National Post, CBC, Chatelaine