The ten stories in this collection, written by a medical doctor, all focus on the medical profession, where the main character is either a medical student, hospital house officer, or doctor.As we know, becoming a doctor is often a seven-to-ten year period of hard work, long hours, and the need for the emotional fortitude to survive a punishing system. Along the way, doctors-in-training face many unforeseen, challenging and provocative situations. Perhaps Oscar Wilde said it best: "Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing." These stories reflect the author's many medical experiences which are woven into these writings, giving a richness and diversity to the plots, and each ending with a little twist.The title story, "A Harvard Death," is recognized in the medical community as a person who dies in an academic institution, and yet is a moving testament to the healing power of personal connection between physician and patient.Each story invites the reader to another medical setting as another mini-drama unfolds, or another ethical issue unwinds, or someone faces an ultimate decision, until the final suspenseful "whodunit" story of mystery and intrigue, "Not Always Benign." Blending pathos and humor with a medical background - much like television episodes of medical drama - Dr. Birken offers these intriguing vignettes with a comment from Bernard Malamud, "life is tragedy full of joy." Such are these stories.

Author of A Harvard Death and Other Stories Randy Birken was born in 1950 and received a B.A. cum laude from Adelphi University in 1972 and a medical degree from Boston University in 1976. He completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine while serving as chief resident in 1980. Board certified in 1982 and re-certified in 1995, he is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as the American College of Surgeons. In addition to his private practice in gynecology, uro-gynecology, and laparoscopic pelvic surgery, he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine.In 1997, Dr. Birken enrolled as a graduate student at Houston Baptist University and completed his Master in Liberal Arts degree in August of 2000. He has taught undergraduate literature as well as lecturing to medical students on literature with medical themes.Medical publications have appeared in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ob-Gyn News, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Journal of Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Birken has published a short story in the "Internal Milieu" section of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a poem entitled "In a Candle's Flame" within a collection entitled The Wounded Heart, an essay in the Journal of Graduate Liberal Studies entitled "Painted Poetry: Charles Demuth's Visual Interpretation of William Carlos Williams "The Great Figure'," and a short story in the 2004 issue of Dermanities entitled "Court Room Medicine: Without a Pulse or Conscience." He has completed a collection of clinical vignettes as well as a novel.In addition to his love for literature, teaching, and writing, he is an avid cyclist, fitness enthusiast, golfer, baseball aficionado, pianist, and amateur radio operator. Dr. Birken has three sons, Tim, Mike, and Kyle. He and his wife, Liz, live in The Woodlands, Texas.