The Tennis Partner centers on the progress and effects of medical student David Smith’s cocaine addiction. The book opens with David’s arrival at a rehabilitation center that works specifically with doctors suffering from addiction, where he learns that he has a disease that requires lifelong treatment. This Prologue introduces two of the memoir’s key insights: the prevalence of substance addiction in mental professionals and the view that addiction is a disease.

In the United States, “doctors and nurses account for some of the highest rates of addiction in the workforce” (Juergens, Jeffrey. “Addiction in Medical Professionals - Addiction Center.” AddictionCenter, 2017). The high rate of substance use and addiction among medical professionals is a function of multiple factors specific to the field. Easy access to various drugs is one of the main ones. This is combined with the high levels of stress in the field. Medical professionals often work long and unpredictable hours, during which they are required to make difficult, often rapid decisions that directly impact patients’ health and well-being (Juergens). The responsibility for and consequences of these decisions can weigh heavily on doctors’ minds, as happens with David’s worsening mental state when he encounters Mr.