chapter one　the liminal physician writers: a tour of the field of physician writing
chapter two　physician, heal thyself: writing about pain
　i . the pain of witnessing pain: jack coulehan's
　　 "d day, 1994"
　ii. the pain of killing pain: richard selzer's "mercy"
　iii. the amnestic healer: trauma and memory in richard
　　 selzer's raising the dead
　iv. conclusion
chapter three　the gender line in the medical profession
　i . liminal masculinity in richard selzer's knife
　　 song korea
　ii. against abstraction: perri klass's other
　　 women's children
　iii. conclusion
chapter four　transition and communitas: ethnic physicians and the aids epidemic
　i . home in the making: abraham verghese's my own country:
　　 a doctor's story of a town and its people in the
　　 age of aids
　ii　"the dream of you dreaming me": rafael campo's
　　 "you bring out the doctor in me"
　iii. conclusion
chapter five　healing on the edge: stories of confession and grief
works cited