In which the young Martin Arrowsmith enters the bustling University of Winnemac, a place half-New England and half-Midwestern in spirit, and finds himself caught amid the earnest, sometimes clashing ideals of professors and students alike as he begins his medical studies. Against a backdrop of fraternity antics, spirited debates about science and faith, and the daunting reality of dissection, Martin’s ambition and uncertainties quietly set the stage for his quest to master medicine.