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It takes Dr. Wave a year to work himself out of the one-year medical directorship he accepts in Mars, Nebraska. As a general practitioner and director, he encounters problems at all levels, which he can do little about. Patients come to him without a basic understanding of their anatomy. Doctors have affairs, lack credentials, and suffer from addiction and dementia while continuing to work. The hospital CEO condones inappropriate doctor behavior as long it makes patients happy and makes the hospital money. Operating from “the bottom line” also means a lack of technology, dismal clinic conditions, and abusive nursing facilities in which patients are hosed down with cold water. Will Dr. Wave ever receive a response to all his reports of abuse?
A collaboration between Dr. Wave and his nurse also shows that hard work can pay off in the end. Together, he and his nurse wage justice on behalf of an elderly patient being taken advantage of by a collusion between the hospital and insurer. Will they somehow manage to escape Mars as well?
Essentially a blow-by-blow survey of events that worsen the more Dr. Wave tries to fix them, the book is a satire exposing the extent of medical industry absurdities. The stories of patients threatening him when he doesn't prescribe them dangerous narcotics juxtaposed with administrators threatening him when he doesn’t please patients are both funny and scary. Particularly ironic are stories about the Crabby Program, designed for businesses but adapted for hospital use to encourage profitable (happy) “customer” relations. The narrator’s dry tone as he says (in italics) how he really feels about things works to elicit humor and sympathy. The dialogue is full of off-color and raunchy jokes by doctors and patients alike, which may put off some readers. However, the book works to educate as well as entertain and, overall, succeeds on both fronts.