# Doctors (novel) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Doctors_(novel) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Doctors_(novel).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors_(novel) > Source revision: 1355276381 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1988 novel by Erich Segal Doctors First edition Author Erich Segal Language English Publisher Bantam Books Publication date 1988 Publication place United States Media type Hardcover Pages 679pp ISBN 0-553-05294-2 OCLC 17918030 Dewey Decimal 813/.54 19 LC Class PS3569.E4 D64 1988 ***Doctors*** is a 1988 novel by [Erich Segal](/source/Erich_Segal) that deals with the [Harvard Medical School](/source/Harvard_Medical_School) class of 1962, with emphasis on the two main characters, Barney Livingston and Laura Castellano. They grew up next to each other and always aspired to be doctors, eventually ending up in medical school together. There they meet the other characters who also came to become doctors. The issues of medical and research ethics and [euthanasia](/source/Euthanasia) form integral parts of the plot. ## Plot Star basketball player Barney Livingston and the beautiful and brilliant Laura Castellano are neighbors in Brooklyn who are as close as siblings. After graduating from [Midwood High School](/source/Midwood_High_School) in 1954 Livingston attends [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) and Castellano [Radcliffe College](/source/Radcliffe_College), and both enter [Harvard Medical School](/source/Harvard_Medical_School) in 1958; he wants to become a [psychiatrist](/source/Psychiatrist), and she is drawn to [pediatrics](/source/Pediatrics). Others include [Rhodes Scholar](/source/Rhodes_Scholar) Bennett Landsmann, the wealthy black adoptee of Jewish parents; former [Jesuit](/source/Jesuit) Hank Dwyer; former [Miss Oregon](/source/Miss_Oregon) Grete Anderson; and top students Peter Wyman and Seth Lazarus. They survive the immense stress that drives some to suicide, and after graduation leave for [internships](/source/Internship_(medicine)) and [residencies](/source/Residency_(medicine)). Livingston becomes an author and finds at the [New York State Psychiatric Institute](/source/New_York_State_Psychiatric_Institute) that psychiatrists can be as disturbed as their patients; Castellano's unhappy marriage to an [Army](/source/United_States_Army) officer causes both to have affairs; Wyman aggressively seeks fame as a researcher at Harvard; Landsmann at [Yale–New Haven Hospital](/source/Yale%E2%80%93New_Haven_Hospital) finds that some during the [Civil Rights Movement](/source/Civil_Rights_Movement) dislike his two heritages; Anderson's beauty attracts men that she has difficulty forming relationships with; and Lazarus in Chicago begins to commit [mercy killings](/source/Mercy_killing) of patients in great pain who want to die. By their late 30s Livingston and Castellano, after many other relationships for both, marry and become first-time parents in New York City; Wyman is at a [Silicon Valley](/source/Silicon_Valley) [biotechnology](/source/Biotechnology) company; Anderson is a transplant surgeon in Houston; Dwyer opens a successful [IVF](/source/IVF) clinic in Hawaii; and Landsmann, a lawyer after a spinal injury ends his surgical career, defends Lazarus in a trial for murder. ## Characters Laura Castellano Barney Livingston Bennett Landsmann Seth Lazarus Grete Andersen ## Reception The book received reviews from publications including *[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews)* ([starred review](/source/Starred_review)), *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)* and *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*.[1][2][3] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Doctors"](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-553-05294-7). *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)*. July 1, 1988. Retrieved March 13, 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Reed, Kit (September 18, 1988). ["In Short; Fiction"](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/18/books/in-short-fiction-725688.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved March 13, 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Doctors"](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/erich-segal-2/doctors-2/). *Kirkus Reviews*. Retrieved March 14, 2021. Authority control databases Open Library This article about a 1980s novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1980s-novel-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3A1980s-novel-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:1980s-novel-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Doctors (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors_(novel)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors_(novel)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.