Lessons from the Bedside
Michael Scott Okun entered medical school at the age of twenty after completing a degree in history at Florida State University. During his medical studies he founded Kaleidoscope, an interdisciplinary group of students dedicated to bringing art to the bedside of patients. He began writing Lessons From the Bedside on his first day of classes. The book chronicles four years of experiences and tells the real story of what medical school is like. Prose and poems were transcribed onto napkins, books covers, progress notes, patient order sheets, and note cards as the author experienced the emotions that inspired the words. He tucked his writings snugly into his lab coat pockets and later removed them to compile the book Lessons from the Bedside.