From Harvard to Hell...and Back
A Doctors Journey through Addiction to Recovery
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4.4 • 8 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A Harvard-educated doctor loses everything, but gains his life. Now he bring the message of recovery to other addicts.
Dr. Sylvester "Skip" Sviokla lived life as a successful, driven, athletic, and brilliant graduate of Harvard Medical School, reveling in wealth and glamour as a "celebrity doctor" until addiction brought his life crashing down. This real-life "Dr. House" had it all (he thought) until addiction took everything. Miraculously, recovery gave him back his family, his self-respect, and much more.
The media is filled with celebrity addiction stories, so people will be drawn to the author’s experience as a “doctor to the stars.” Having attended the most famous university and medical school in the world, Dr. Sviokla’s story will also be relevant to a larger audience, including medical professionals and those seeking answers about addiction.
Sylvester "Skip" Sviokla III, MD, is a 1967 graduate of Harvard College (where he was a two-year starter on the football team, culminating in his receiving one vote for the 1966 Heisman Trophy and an offer to try out for the Chicago Bears) and a 1972 graduate of Harvard Medical School. He was owner and medical director of Skip Sviokla Entertainment Medicine, Inc. and of Medical Weight Management, Inc., in Massachusetts.
Kerry Zukus is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied composition and arranging while appearing as an actor in theaters all over New England.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sviokla, a recovered drug addict and alcoholic, today runs a successful clinic specializing in treating medical personnel with addiction issues. Here, Sviokla replays his early life, from Harvard College football player to his residency at UCSD's hospital, where he chose surgery as his focus and first began to show addictive symptoms. Shortly thereafter, he suffered an accident that ended his prospects as a surgeon, and a failed business venture led to heavy drinking and using pills. The loss of his medical license sparked a downward spiral into depression and poverty during which Sviokla took a series of low-paying jobs and turned to alcohol to numb the pain and embarrassment. He made half-hearted attempts at recovery, even checking into a psych ward, before finally arriving at a "moment of clarity" that led to true sobriety. Following a battle with bureaucracy in California, Sviokla found the Rhode Island Medical Board more receptive to reinstating his license and decided he "wanted to give something back to the world." The result is his current practice, Medical Assisted Recovery. Sviokla demonstrates bravery in this confessional account of his addiction and recovery.
