Take a look at the people around you. Now look closer. Is the middle-aged man in front of you right to be worried about the twinge in his chest? Why is the little girl coughing? Hayfever? Asthma? Or something more serious? And what about you? What are you carrying with you? Doctors know our deepest secrets, our private worries and our most vulnerable moments. We ask so much of them - to heal, to trust, to care, to listen - and under their gaze we are all equally worthy of help. '34 Patients' is the memoir of a doctor who dares to look closer at a crowded waiting room, and value each soul and story he encounters.