Last Night in the OR

A Transplant Surgeon's Odyssey

By: Bud Shaw

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

The 1980s marked a revolution in the field of organ transplants, and Bud Shaw, MD, who studied under Tom Starzl in Pittsburgh, was on the front lines. Now retired from active practice, Dr. Shaw relays gripping moments of anguish and elation, frustration and reward, despair and hope in his struggle to save patients. He reveals harshly intimate moments of his medical career: telling a patient's husband that his wife has died during surgery; struggling to complete a 20-hour operation as mental and physical exhaustion inch closer and closer; and flying to retrieve a donor organ while the patient waits in the operating room. Within these more emotionally charged vignettes are quieter ones, too, like growing up in rural Ohio and being awakened late at night by footsteps in the hall as his father, also a surgeon, slipped out of the house to attend to a patient in the ER.

©2015 Byers Shaw, MD (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A bracing, unusual personal narrative that should appeal to aspiring physicians as well as to those considering the 'big questions' around high-risk surgery." ( Kirkus)

interesting subject

I liked the subject matter but the story was more like a research paper on his life then a story

Great author

His story telling is so relatable and most are funny. I love his voice. He’s a pleasure to listen to.

Interesting!

I loved how honest this book was, I feel like sometimes autobiographies, especially by doctors, can be heavily idealized. It was refreshing to get the whole truth and understand how being on the forefront of transplantation felt. My only dislike was the organization of the stories, I wish they would have been more chronological.

Thrilling with Starzl!

Surgical transplantation is an exacting science requiring rapt focus. Bud Shaw aka Byers Shaw MD is a protégé of famous Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, who is rightfully termed “the father of liver transplantation.” Writing within mesmerizes, yet in its bare honesty we find a surgeon who undergoes a journey similar to “Dante’s Inferno.”

"Dr. Starzl wasn’t happy...complaining. Shun kept silent and moved like a cat to retract something one way, and, without a word, get Hong or Carlos to do something useful. I thought them telepathic...doubted my own survival.”

---Bud Shaw, MD

Pondering on “Last Night in the OR: A Transplants Surgeon’s Odyssey” is nothing even close to mediocrity. In Shaw’s descriptive “...caught a glimpse of the liver lurking under the diaphragm...a shriveled, knobby greenish-yellow lump...sloshed around in a puddle of blood every time the ventilator fired...”we are pierced---as if prose is Shaw’s vernacular.

On the level with mavens like Henry Marsh (Do No Harm) and the genius of Atul Gawande conveyed is his “Being Mortal.” Dr. Byers Shaw begins as a thirty-one-year-old resident under the “acidic” mouth of Dr. Thomas E. Starzl and matures into being a world class surgeon. Definite read. If expletives offend, this is not for you.

Fantastic listen

Dr. Shaw gives a blunt look at his life, his struggles, successes, heartbreak, and happiness. If you're interested in medicine and entertaining the idea of being a surgeon, I would highly recommend reading/listening to this book.

Must read

After reading the reviews, I had mixed feelings. This is a wonderful book jam packed with interesting stories. Dr Shaw paints a vivid picture of his time in the OR.

Great surgeon story

Loved the content with mix of medical and personal but the language interspersed was highly offensive. Embarrassed to have anyone overhear and almost didn't finish the book.
Will ask for credit due to this since I don't want it in my library.

Expect alot of bad language!

If you could sum up Last Night in the OR in three words, what would they be?

Very intense, Good!!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. You need a break to process it.

Any additional comments?

Very surprised at all the "f" words said!

entertaining, hilarious, nostalgic

great story of the "old days of surgery." hilarious esp if you're in the medical field

I've had two liver transplants

Wow!
Truly an amazing experience shared by Dr. Shaw. Raw, fascinating, jaw dropping, fantastic odyssey!