Inconsistently Inconsistent

Ben Parker has made it through the first half year of his job as a freshly certified Physician Assistant at Bedlam Medical Center, a hospital in a small rural town in Montana. Medicine here, he is learning, reaches well beyond textbook practice, and he has the local vet's number saved for emergencies. His supervising physician is seldom around, a fact that may be the best discovery yet. The doctor regards himself as a personal agent of the gods, and the staff's symbol for medicine is the Rod of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing.

When patients die, a blizzard shuts the roads, and the town's customs and religious practices surprise him, the doctor is conveniently out of town. Ben finds an odd friendship with a grumpy old man who keeps him on his toes. He also has to get past a language barrier with Norwegian-speaking patients, sort out hospital politics, and navigate the murky business of cannabis. A possible romance adds another layer, and the chaos that only a remote place can produce keeps coming. Through it all Ben struggles to find some stability in his routine while deciding whether to renew his contract.