A trailblazing physician and health researcher shares her journey of
perseverance and discovery.
Anne McTiernan's second memoir begins in 1982, soon after she completed
her doctoral training in public health research at the University of
Washington at the age of twenty-nine. She and her husband are now
parents to four-year-old and three-month-old girls. Realizing that jobs
in her field are scarce, especially for women, Anne decides the only
option for their financial security is to become a medical doctor.
Overcoming her fear and life-long struggle with inadequacy, she moves
the family 3,000 miles to New York to begin medical school.
Within a few months of starting this new life, Anne is in deep trouble.
She is overwhelmed by the competing demands of motherhood and medical
training and feels isolated. The stress builds, until Anne suffers a
series of paralyzing panic attacks that threaten her ability to
function. She begins psychotherapy and starts on a journey of
self-discovery, realizing she has to change to survive.