Review of My Doctor Looks Like Me
Posted: 10 Jun 2021, 19:42
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "My Doctor Looks Like Me" by Emily Woolcock, M.D..]
When a little girl named Celine wakes up achy and feverish with a sore throat, her mom decides that she’ll need to go see a doctor. Celine has always dreamed of someday becoming a doctor herself, but despite her excellent grades and studious determination, she feels discouraged. She realizes that she doesn’t know of any other doctors that have come from her own neighborhood. She worries that maybe she isn’t enough. Her friends laugh at her future career goals and tell her she is dreaming. When a chance appointment with a different pediatrician brings a never-before-seen doctor into her exam room, Celine feels an instant connection. For once in her life, she feels legitimately seen, heard, and truly understood by her physician, and through that positive experience, she finds the courage she needs to think about seriously pursuing her dreams of someday wearing a white coat, too.
My Doctor Looks Like Me is an inspiring children’s book by Emily D. Woolcock, M.D. The author was inspired to write the story after experiencing some similar emotions as a child, and this is the first book in Dr. Woolcock’s My Doctor Looks Like Me series, a series that realistically explores why meaningful representation matters. The second book in the series features a boy named Sebastian who meets a male physician with a similar skin tone, and the third book (written in Spanish) features a little boy named Carlos.
As a fellow female physician, I fully stand behind Dr. Woolcock’s mission to educate, mentor, and inform. Most physicians conscientiously seek to provide meaningful, quality care for all residents that reside within the communities they serve. In turn, those residents are vastly more inclined to seek treatment from healthcare providers that look like them. For that reason, treatment teams should resemble their assigned patient populations whenever possible. Reflective representation needs to be present throughout all hospitals, county clinics, community outreach programs, and private practices.
All illustrations in this 25-page book were provided by Sanjay Vijayaverl, and they effectively provided vibrantly accurate depictions that fully complemented the accompanying text. I encountered vision charts, anatomy posters, and chest x-rays, and the characters exhibited believable facial expressions. I did also come across some inclusive mentions of apartment living and public transportation, and those were some of the aspects I enjoyed the most because they realistically portrayed Celine’s daily life, routine, and environment. The terminology was also never overly complex.
I did come across several small errors while reading, but all of the grammatical and typographical errors I encountered were either missing commas or inconsistencies with verb tenses. I also came across an odd blend of recognized writing styles, so I feel that’s an aspect worth notably mentioning. While the majority of the book followed American grammar rules for quotation marks and word spellings, it followed British grammar rules for punctuation placement around quotation marks.
All children must embrace a healthy desire to accept those around them, but when self-doubt begins to corrode a growing child’s self-esteem, it can leave permanent and lasting effects. When little humans are shown how to shift their perspectives and expectations, they can equip themselves with the power and self-belief they need to fully succeed, both personally and professionally, as their lives progress.
Due to the issues with shifting verb tenses, layered writing styles, and missing commas, I can only award this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I do hope that this publication will undergo a quick revision that corrects and addresses those issues because it deserves to truly shine. Those were the only aspects of the book that I disliked. I feel that this story would be appropriate for young readers between the ages of 5 and 9, and I would encouragingly recommend it to children of all races and nationalities. It contains a wonderful message of inspirational encouragement!
Kids are an integral part of this planet’s future, and a healthy society requires equal representation throughout all career sectors. For healthcare to ever be an all-inclusive experience, members of the medical community must reflectively represent the patients they treat. Efforts must be made to repair the trust that has become deeply tested over time, and that is done by providing quality care to every person, every time – regardless of gender or race.
******
My Doctor Looks Like Me
View: on Bookshelves
When a little girl named Celine wakes up achy and feverish with a sore throat, her mom decides that she’ll need to go see a doctor. Celine has always dreamed of someday becoming a doctor herself, but despite her excellent grades and studious determination, she feels discouraged. She realizes that she doesn’t know of any other doctors that have come from her own neighborhood. She worries that maybe she isn’t enough. Her friends laugh at her future career goals and tell her she is dreaming. When a chance appointment with a different pediatrician brings a never-before-seen doctor into her exam room, Celine feels an instant connection. For once in her life, she feels legitimately seen, heard, and truly understood by her physician, and through that positive experience, she finds the courage she needs to think about seriously pursuing her dreams of someday wearing a white coat, too.
My Doctor Looks Like Me is an inspiring children’s book by Emily D. Woolcock, M.D. The author was inspired to write the story after experiencing some similar emotions as a child, and this is the first book in Dr. Woolcock’s My Doctor Looks Like Me series, a series that realistically explores why meaningful representation matters. The second book in the series features a boy named Sebastian who meets a male physician with a similar skin tone, and the third book (written in Spanish) features a little boy named Carlos.
As a fellow female physician, I fully stand behind Dr. Woolcock’s mission to educate, mentor, and inform. Most physicians conscientiously seek to provide meaningful, quality care for all residents that reside within the communities they serve. In turn, those residents are vastly more inclined to seek treatment from healthcare providers that look like them. For that reason, treatment teams should resemble their assigned patient populations whenever possible. Reflective representation needs to be present throughout all hospitals, county clinics, community outreach programs, and private practices.
All illustrations in this 25-page book were provided by Sanjay Vijayaverl, and they effectively provided vibrantly accurate depictions that fully complemented the accompanying text. I encountered vision charts, anatomy posters, and chest x-rays, and the characters exhibited believable facial expressions. I did also come across some inclusive mentions of apartment living and public transportation, and those were some of the aspects I enjoyed the most because they realistically portrayed Celine’s daily life, routine, and environment. The terminology was also never overly complex.
I did come across several small errors while reading, but all of the grammatical and typographical errors I encountered were either missing commas or inconsistencies with verb tenses. I also came across an odd blend of recognized writing styles, so I feel that’s an aspect worth notably mentioning. While the majority of the book followed American grammar rules for quotation marks and word spellings, it followed British grammar rules for punctuation placement around quotation marks.
All children must embrace a healthy desire to accept those around them, but when self-doubt begins to corrode a growing child’s self-esteem, it can leave permanent and lasting effects. When little humans are shown how to shift their perspectives and expectations, they can equip themselves with the power and self-belief they need to fully succeed, both personally and professionally, as their lives progress.
Due to the issues with shifting verb tenses, layered writing styles, and missing commas, I can only award this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I do hope that this publication will undergo a quick revision that corrects and addresses those issues because it deserves to truly shine. Those were the only aspects of the book that I disliked. I feel that this story would be appropriate for young readers between the ages of 5 and 9, and I would encouragingly recommend it to children of all races and nationalities. It contains a wonderful message of inspirational encouragement!
Kids are an integral part of this planet’s future, and a healthy society requires equal representation throughout all career sectors. For healthcare to ever be an all-inclusive experience, members of the medical community must reflectively represent the patients they treat. Efforts must be made to repair the trust that has become deeply tested over time, and that is done by providing quality care to every person, every time – regardless of gender or race.
******
My Doctor Looks Like Me
View: on Bookshelves
