Dottoressa

September 7, 2021 -- I just finished reading Dr. Susan Levenstein's wise and witty Dottoressa (2019).

She recounts her experience as an American doctor in Rome where I grew up. We are contemporaries. Several of the people she mentions I knew during the years (1961-1973) I lived there. Also of great interest are her reflections on medicine and health care systems about which I, too, have many opinions (as readers of this blog are surely aware).

My favorite part of this book is Dr. Levenstein's observations on Italian culture -- its quirks, the wisdom and superstitions of its people, and their endless "medical" strictures. Here are some I, too, have observed: Don't swim after eating... never mind science, this is your mother speaking. Got the sniffles? Must be from a colpo d'aria (hit of air) from that open window. Feeling unwell? It's surely your fegato (liver). It's always the fegato.

Dr. Levenstein's timely and polemic blog -- she waxes strident and well-informed on matters Covid -- is at www.stethoscopeonrome.com. Highly recommended.

In Rome for a couple of weeks' vacation (7/2021) I called her up. She was most welcoming to this stranger and we had an aperitivo and a chat. With our Italophilia and medical backgrounds in common, there was much to talk about. Thank you, Susan!

Go expat doctors! And nurses!

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