APSA Newsletter - Phi Psi » 2008 Winter, Volume 2, No. 3 » Lighter Reading: A Review of "Intuition" by Allegra Goodman

Lighter Reading: A Review of "Intuition" by Allegra Goodman

Zachary Dezman, Albany Medical College Institutional Representative

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Intuition is a story about the competitive world of medical research. It focuses on the Philpott Institute, a once-prestigious laboratory which is now a shadow of its former self. All of the familiar players are there, like graduate researchers, frustrated with their lack of progress and doubting whether their thesis projects will ever be completed. In this book, an affluent physician brings his clinical expertise to the lab and makes all of the students' work seem impressive, yet somehow... just doesn't seem to get what they do (see "Nine types of Principal Investigators" below). Then there's also the exacting lab director who's struggling to keep it all running. As the book opens, the Institute is beginning to run out of funding. In the midst of these pressures and personalities, one student, Cliff Bannaker, begins to see amazing results. His girlfriend, Robin Decker, watches as Cliff becomes the star of the lab, as his findings may turn the fortunes of the Institute. Torn by jealousy, she begins to doubt the validity of his work. Alas, the fate of love in the lab.

Intuition is an accurate portrayal of the personalities and pressures faced by many graduate students in the medical sciences. Any graduate student will be able to read this book and sympathize with the characters and the issues they face; after all it's good for us to enjoy something other than science books... dare I say 'leisure reading,' for a change!