The story that has stayed with me for over 50 years .

CANONGATE BOOKS

Dr Sassall says at one point : “ Whenever I am reminded of death — and it happens every day — I think of my own , and this makes me try to work harder .”

All of us back then learnt to

observe death as medical students

and young doctors .

But it was not an expected part

of our course . Perhaps we were

seduced by medicine ’ s wonders .

What we were never prepared for at

all were the numbers of our class-

Dr Malcolm Fisher Retired intensive care specialist .

mates who would take their own lives .

PICTURE CREDIT

There were four men and one woman .

We were only exposed to an inkling of their reasoning ; their deaths lay in the margins , unspoken .

As young doctors , there were

New English Bible .

other books , of course . The one that

But during my time at medical

everyone seemed to have read was

school , back in the England of the

The House of God by Samuel Shem ,

late 1960s , the one that was read by

published in 1978 . It was a book we

most of my classmates was A Fortu-

found funny .

nate Man .

Today , when I discuss it with

Written by the Marxist critic John

those who grew up with it , much

Berger , it is a meditation on the life

of the humour has evaporated , not

of a GP named Dr John Sassall .

least because of its derogatory atti-

The book attempts to address two

tude towards women .

questions : what is the value of medi-

It is important to note that my

cine to society , and what is the value

female colleagues back in my medi-

of a doctor ?

cal student days were all reading The

We asked those questions our-

Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer .

selves many times .

But A Fortunate Man made a deep

I still have a copy of the book .

impression on me that I have never

The pictures of Dr Sassall with his

escaped .

patients in the rural community

Dr Sassall was consumed by a

where he practised are remarkable . A

vision of medicine that is no longer

form of high art .

fashionable , one where he bore wit-

At the time when Berger was

ness to the value of all human lives ,

writing the book , Dr Sassall — a

but one where he was also over-

pseudonym by the way ; his real name was Dr John Eskell — was living in the Forest of Dean , where the

Dr John Sassall with a patient in A Fortunate Man . Photo by Jean Mohr .

whelmed by the suffering of his own patients and his own sense of inadequacy .

upper class were the gentry and the

I encourage people to read it .

lower class were the foresters .

that , in the context of a modern soci-

question can be answered , it cannot

of selling cures — either directly to

At the end of the book , you learn

His relationship with the for-

ety largely blind to the true worth of

be answered by more words but only

the patient or through the agency of

a secret about Dr Sassall that I am

esters was such that they came to

human life , the value of medicine in

by action , by the creation of a more

a state service — is “ unassessable ”.

not going to share with you . It would

believe he was the only person from

alleviating suffering or prolonging its

humane society .

Berger ’ s meaning was obscure

spoil an excellent read , as well as the

the gentry with whom they could use the f-word .

In our classes at medical school , this bad language was an interesting starting point for us in understanding patients because we did not see it

He was overwhelmed by the suffering of his own patients and his own sense of inadequacy .

to us .

He also contends that the life of Dr Sassall — who you discover is a troubled , hyper-conscientious and eccentric man — contains a great affirmative vision of importance to

photos .

If this news story has raised issues for you , call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact your local doctors ’ health advisory service .

as appropriate behaviour .

all doctors despite the tragedies and

As for Berger ’ s reply to the questions he poses , first , he suggests

existence becomes obscured .

However , he stresses that , if the

He also says the moral value of a doctor who has surpassed the stage

the shadow of death that fall around us .

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