Good books to read?

Started by brownrobbin
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brownrobbin

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Sorry, my last post got deleted (cuz I double posted and couldn't figure out how to delete the 1st post). Here's my original question:

Could anyone suggest any good books to read to kinda get an idea of the challenges of med school and the road ahead? (Kinda like that "House of God" book)

Thanks!
 
brownrobbin said:
Sorry, my last post got deleted (cuz I double posted and couldn't figure out how to delete the 1st post). Here's my original question:

Could anyone suggest any good books to read to kinda get an idea of the challenges of med school and the road ahead? (Kinda like that "House of God" book)

Thanks!
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Ender's Game.
 
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When the air hits your brain is amazing, I didnt like the house of god I am Half way threw it and stopped reading it. Is the second half much better?
 
Jccripe said:
When the air hits your brain is amazing, I didnt like the house of god I am Half way threw it and stopped reading it. Is the second half much better?
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lol i thought the entire thing was awesome. it gets depressing in the middle, but like residency, it gets much better towards the end.

also it's "through" not "threw." normally, i'm not a grammar nazi, but things that like that are nails on a chalkboard for me.
 
this reminds me of the 13 books, mostly all fun nonmedical stuff, that I've accumulated over the last two years but haven't had time to read yet.

(that in itself should tell you what medical school is like).
 
Agent Splat said:
this reminds me of the 13 books, mostly all fun nonmedical stuff, that I've accumulated over the last two years but haven't had time to read yet.

(that in itself should tell you what medical school is like).
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I've had time to read some "non-medical" books (non-Robbins/Goodman&Gilman/Guyton). And by some, I mean like 5 in the last two years. Before med school I was reading 1 a week.

I try to read a chapter/night of some non-medical book -- sometimes I'm so tired I read a page. =(
 
"internal bleeding" is an excellent book to read. it talks about medical mistakes and the events that lead to them. it's not fiction but it will blow your mind.
 
A lot of people recommend "How Doctors Think" by Groopman, but I am halfway through this book currently and don't think very highly of it.
 
I second "Complications" by Atul Gawande...great book

also, I'm in the middle of "How We Die" by Sherwin Nuland...it's pretty good, but a little denser than Gawande's book...still a fairly easy read
 
yourmom25 said:
lol i thought the entire thing was awesome. it gets depressing in the middle, but like residency, it gets much better towards the end.

also it's "through" not "threw." normally, i'm not a grammar nazi, but things that like that are nails on a chalkboard for me.
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Perhaps, all that is missing is a comma before "threw", i.e. he physically threw the book, because that's how bad it was when he was at the halfway point? :laugh:

I like "Becoming a Doctor" by Melvin Konner. It gives a unique perspective from a non-traditional, former Anthropology professor, focusing on the crucial third year clerkships. Also, I haven't read "Complications" yet, but have read a fair amount of Gawande, and if it's anything like the rest of his work, I'll go ahead and cosign on that anyway....
 
Hot Lights, Cold Steel by Michael Collins

And a third for Complications by Atul Gawande. He also just published a new book titled Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, which I've heard is a good read.
 
A while back I posted a similar thread and since receiving those recommendations I have read:
House of God - Liked it, but it definitely has that Updike style of writing that can be a bit off-putting to some people. It's definitely NOT a book I would classify as "inspirational" or "optimistic," if that's what you're looking for.
White Coat - Good. A straight-forward account of a woman's experience at Harvard medical school. Of the books I've read so far, I imagine it probably most closely approximates what my experience in med school might be like, since it was written recently.
The Making of a Surgeon - Great. I can see how this is a classic. This one focuses on surgical residency. Definitely a bit antiquated (some racist and homophobic language especially gives away the generational differences) but a good balance of style and perspective.
Letters to a Young Doctor - A nice, quick read. The writing is excellent, and since each short chapter stands alone as a "letter," you can read it in short bursts on your lunch break, at the beach, etc.
 
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Ashers said:
The Making of a Surgeon by William Nolen. Good book, fast read.
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I have this book autographed by Dr. Nolen. 🙂 I also have Richard Selzer's Mortal Lessons (hence, my user name) autographed by the one and only Dr. Selzer. Both of these are great books.
 
Mortal_Lessons said:
I have this book autographed by Dr. Nolen. 🙂 I also have Richard Selzer's Mortal Lessons (hence, my user name) autographed by the one and only Dr. Selzer. Both of these are great books.
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Nice! My dad gave it to me for Christmas (not autographed), so I could know what he (my dad) had to go through in a surgical residency before the "80 hour" work week. I'll have to check out Mortal Lessons.
 
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

Don't know if you've heard about Dr. Farmer but this is a really interesting and well written account of his work, with a very thought provoking blend of anthropology, global health policy and politic, and clinical accounts.
 
AggieJohn said:
A lot of people recommend "How Doctors Think" by Groopman, but I am halfway through this book currently and don't think very highly of it.
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Agreed.

So far this summer I have read "Better", "White Coat", "How Doctors Think", and "Hot Zone". Better was very good, but not as good as "Complications". I didn't like "White Coat". And I wasn't too impressed with "How Doctors Think". "Hot Zone" was very entertaining and somewhat scary.

I would recommend "When the Air Hits Your Brain", "Hot Lights, Cold Steel", "House of God", anything by Atul Gawande, and "Healing Blade: Tales of Neurosurgery".

Also, if you like biographies then "Harvey Cushing: A Life in Surgery" is a good read. And the new biography on Einstein, "Einstein: His Life and Universe" is pretty good. I just started reading it the other day so I don't know how good the entire work is.
 
If you like wit and don't mind reading something a bit crude, I would recommend 'Absurdistan' by Gary Shteyngart.
 
I've almost finished Gawande' second book Better, it's a good read, although atleast one chapter is a direct copy of a chapter from Complications. There could be more, but it's been like 4 years since I read Complications.
 
Try Becoming a Doctor, by Melvin Konner. He describes his experiences as a third year, and while he was very nontrad, I think there's a lot to be found in the book. I actully didn't end up liking him very much, but I thought his descriptions of the rotations were very interesting and useful, even if I didn't take from it what it seemed that he intended.

btw, I also liked Complications and I just picked up Final Exam, by Pauline Chen, which had a very good review somewhere or other, but I haven't read it yet. I'll post if I get to it any time soon.
 
owlet said:
btw, I also liked Complications and I just picked up Final Exam, by Pauline Chen, which had a very good review somewhere or other, but I haven't read it yet. I'll post if I get to it any time soon.
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Yea, I just finished reading Final Exam. Chen is a metaphor-*****. She's a good writer, she makes some excellent arguments, and brings up some interesting ethical dilemmas...but i just couldn't get past her unnecessary and frequent use of metaphors. i understand if you don't get what i mean now, but read the book and tell me what you think...it's the kind of thing that will jump out at you as soon as you see it. it's definitely worth the read, but that factor just got on my nerves. 👍👎
 
I'm about half way through Final Exam. I haven't really paid any attention to the metaphors, but when I next pick it up, they'll probably jump out and annoy me! 🙄 As an incoming 1st year, I have enjoyed what I've read so far because she touches on issues that it seems many people in medicine ignore. Death is part of being a doctor, period. We will all encounter it. I'm hoping that when I have concerns about dealing with death and the dying, I can relate back to this book.

I also really like Mary Roach's Stiff. It's fun. It will give you lots of little stories to gross out your friends.
 
Oh yea, I definitely agree with the poignancy of many of the issues and with her POV...it's just the stylistic issues (metaphors/similes) that are grating
 
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Travels by Michael Crichton (the guy who wrote Jurassic Park, Sphere, Congo, etc) is a pretty good book so far (I'm only 1/2 way through it). It's an autobiography type of book, so only about 1/4 of it is dedicated to his time spent in medical school and why he decided to quit. He DID attend school in the 60s, so some of the experiences he describes are out of date (since I haven't done my clinicals, one specific example is the fact that his anatomy lab didn't seem to have AC... ours does). But the general feelings are about the same, and he does discuss some of his experiences with ethical issues like DNR.
 
Again....Complications by Atul Gawande is a very good read. If you are looking for non-medical books, a must read is Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. It's a one-two sitting type of book....currently reading his new book For One More Day, which got good reviews but I don't think it's quite as good as Tuesdays
 
If anyone is interested in kinesiology and psychology... Power vs. Force by Dr. David Hawkins is a head trip about how our cognitive thoughts affect our physiological processes. It's a little bit of a heady read tying in cutting edge physics and math but causes you to ask some crazy questions.
 
Husky85 said:
Yea, I just finished reading Final Exam. Chen is a metaphor-*****. She's a good writer, she makes some excellent arguments, and brings up some interesting ethical dilemmas...but i just couldn't get past her unnecessary and frequent use of metaphors. i understand if you don't get what i mean now, but read the book and tell me what you think...it's the kind of thing that will jump out at you as soon as you see it. it's definitely worth the read, but that factor just got on my nerves. 👍👎
Click to expand...

I just read it after my original post (quick read, i guess😳). I ended up liking it because I'm not only about to enter med school but am also dealing with my father's terminal illness. I found the metaphors kind of annoying and thought she sort of made the same explicit points about dealing with our own mortality a little too often, but I appreciated her perspective. I really would have liked more clinical detail and slightly less philosophy. On the other hand, I can see it's a message that needs to get out. Only one member of my father's neurooncology team is willing to talk about his death, which is likely to happen about the same time as my first anatomy exam 🙁
My final opinion about the book, though, is that it's definitely worth it, but maybe used or in paperback.
 
owlet said:
I just read it after my original post (quick read, i guess😳). I ended up liking it because I'm not only about to enter med school but am also dealing with my father's terminal illness. I found the metaphors kind of annoying and thought she sort of made the same explicit points about dealing with our own mortality a little too often, but I appreciated her perspective. I really would have liked more clinical detail and slightly less philosophy. On the other hand, I can see it's a message that needs to get out. Only one member of my father's neurooncology team is willing to talk about his death, which is likely to happen about the same time as my first anatomy exam 🙁
My final opinion about the book, though, is that it's definitely worth it, but maybe used or in paperback.
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I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. It is good that at least one of his doctors is willing to level with you about things.

I definitely agree with you that the book is well written and addressed important issues that really haven't been addressed in a significant way of yet. It was just that one stylistic issue that kept repeating itself and annoying me. For me, Final Exam was a good book that would have been a great book if the metaphor issue were fixed.
 
to be honest. i think browsing medical forums like SDN to read what people have to say about their experiences, classes, etc.. is a good indication of the challenges med students face. This is a live community with students from vast backgrounds bringing their own stories/hardships/success. You get a better idea here, large sample size, than from a book written by one author/one perspective.
 
I started reading Final Exam and I feel like it is a bit repetitive. It could possibly be because I somewhat recently read The Good Death by Marilyn Webb (really good book).

I agree with everyone. Atul Gawande is an awesome writer.
 
Captain Nemo said:
Perhaps, all that is missing is a comma before "threw", i.e. he physically threw the book, because that's how bad it was when he was at the halfway point? :laugh:

I like "Becoming a Doctor" by Melvin Konner. It gives a unique perspective from a non-traditional, former Anthropology professor, focusing on the crucial third year clerkships. Also, I haven't read "Complications" yet, but have read a fair amount of Gawande, and if it's anything like the rest of his work, I'll go ahead and cosign on that anyway....
Click to expand...

I like Konner's book too... especially since he ended going back to anthropology (Samuel Dobbs professor at Emory University)
 
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