The Making and Unmaking of a Physician

The Making and Unmaking of a Physician: The Role of Courage in the Pursuit of a Cure for Cancer encompasses the experiences that led Edward Arenson, M.D., to become a cancer doctor-to be of use-and take on death as a lifelong adversary. As a result of this decision, he had the good fortune to be part of events which led to the cure of many childhood and several adult cancers using combination chemotherapy. He was a colleague of and inspired by several heroic physicians whose courage made this possible. Throughout his education and years of clinical practice, Dr. Arenson developed self-confidence to apply the principles acquired while serving in pediatric oncology to the treatment of patients with brain tumors. During this time, for the first time in his career, he became an outcast and an adversary of those who wished to maintain an unacceptable status quo, lacking the courage and experience to join him in this relentless quest.