The House of God - Context and Impact

Context and Impact

The book takes place during the Watergate scandal, and follows such events as the resignation of Spiro T. Agnew and the stepping-down of Richard Nixon.

The book is very likely autobiographical, as the BMS is a thinly veiled Harvard Medical School (commonly called HMS), and The House of God representing the Beth Israel Hospital, now a part of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the HMS-affiliated hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts; "Man's Best Hospital" (MBH) represents Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). There are also references to a community hospital called Mt. St. Elsewhere or Mt. St. E.'s, which likely represents St. Elizabeth's Medical Center.

Some American doctors felt that The House of God resonated with their own experiences during their internship training. However, according to the author, many older physicians were offended by the work.

Many of the terms defined in this book (see glossary) have since become widely known and used in medical culture. It is difficult to say which came first, the book or the terms, but terms such as 'bounce' back and 'turf' are now in standard medical usage. Similarly, many of the concepts central to the book are now well accepted medical truisms. For example, since the 1970s "falls risks" has become a standard assessment for all patients and the notion that "gomers go to ground" is well established, if not always phrased in those terms.