It Was Worth the Trip: The Memoir of a Physician/Teacher

If Gerry Burke is grateful for one thing about his impoverished childhood, it's that he was born in Montreal-a place with a world-class university that allowed him to leverage his intellectual abilities into a ticket to another world. Rising above humble beginnings, overcoming venomous anti-Semitism, and achieving far more than what he-or anyone else-ever expected, Burke climbs from the ghetto to a prestigious position in academic medicine. As chairman of the Department of Medicine at Chicago's Cook County Hospital, one of the largest public sector teaching hospitals in the United States, Burke stands at the pinnacle of a world he never knew existed. A pioneer in the then-emerging field of nuclear medicine, a skillful leader, and a born teacher, Burke's career has allowed him to positively impact the lives of thousands of physicians. chronicles the path Burke takes to reach the top-and what he learns about himself and his life's purpose. With great wisdom and insight-about the nature of life, success, and even our health-care system today-Gerry Burke shares the lessons he's learned along the way.