any good book suggestions?

[tonyjerry]

hey, considering all the time i have on my hands now, does anyone have any good medical related books they suggest? i read the william osler biography a life in medicine, which was nice to read to learn about what medicine was like in the 1800s but pretty boring and not really pertinent to anyone interested in medicine today. im finishing up walk on water which follows a pediatric heart surgical team at cleveland clinic and definitely recommend it.

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[Brickhouse]

Someone just did this thread a while back, I think the common recommendations were "Complications" bu Atul Gawande and "House of God" and I can't remember the dudes name. Complications was good though - I couldn't get past chapter one of House of God.

Someone else recommended the Hot Zone by Richard Preston which I'm reading now - and it is like the best book I've ever read so far. ( I don't read much) So thanks to whoever it was that recommended it.


edit: And I never added to the last list "The Woman in the Surgeon's Body" by Joan Cassell - an anthropologists case study of female surgeons in the U.S. Very good, very eye opening.

 

[DORoe]

Someone just did this thread a while back, I think the common recommendations were "Complications" bu Atul Gawande and "House of God" and I can't remember the dudes name. Complications was good though - I couldn't get past chapter one of House of God.

Someone else recommended the Hot Zone by Richard Preston which I'm reading now - and it is like the best book I've ever read so far. ( I don't read much) So thanks to whoever it was that recommended it.


edit: And I never added to the last list "The Woman in the Surgeon's Body" by Joan Cassell - an anthropologists case study of female surgeons in the U.S. Very good, very eye opening.

Couldn't read "House of God"? Blasphemy! Seriously "Complications" is good as is "Becoming a Doctor" by Melvin Konner (sp?).

 

[roja]

Brick: you WANT to read some medical book?

Hot zone is a great book.

I think all the others make me want to yawn... though I did read a great book called Creating hysteria about the whole MPD trend in the 80's and the psychiatrists that ended up in jail. And there was some book about this med student/resident in ohio who was a serial killer. they eventuall caught him coming back into the country.... can't remember the name.s

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

"Damages" by Barry Werth. Required reading by a huge number of law schools.

Changes your whole perspective. I can't imaging not reading this book.

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

i'm about 3/5ths through the william osler bio the OP mentioned, and i don't find it boring at all. i think it's pretty great.

 

[UCIgrad2002]

by far the best medical book i've read is complications by atul gawande. however, if u wanna read something brilliant not medically related but still fascinating, read the da vinci code by dan brown. the prequel is really good too, i actually think it's better, it's called angels and demons, same author.

 

[DORoe]

Check out this thread. It has a listing of a lot of good medical related books and some non-medical ones.

 

[nascentdoc]

This is an existentialist piece. It's is only metaphoricaly related to medicine, but powerful nonetheless. "The Plague" by Camus. I don't know if you're an incoming medical student, but if you are, I found "Surviving Medical School" quite enlightning.

 

[indo]

i saw a book at the book store last night that was about military surgeons. I read a little bit of it and it looked pretty sweet. I can't remember the name of it though. Might have been called "War Surgeons" but I'm not sure.
edit: I think it was this one:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-0802139620-0

BTW, House of God was crappy.

 

[roja]

I'm goign to have to go with mediocre on the DaVinci Code. Its a good brain candy but not elegent or masterful.

 

[chigirl78]

Try "The Coming Plague." Or for something non-medical try "Moneyball" or "The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay." They're two of my favorite books of all time.

 

[bigbassinbob]

I would suggest "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder. It's about Paul Farmer, a Harvard physician, who spends the majority of his life in Haiti helping the destitute. Before I read it, I thought people like this were only myths. It's crazy that one person can make such a difference, and I think it's an inspiring story for all future physicians/physicians.

 

[Odaroloc]

House of God was great. You have to give it a chance. Complications rules and is much more mainstream. Atul Gawande is a fantastic author.

 

[JDAD]

I am almost finished "Complications" right now. I thought I was the first to discover this book, boy was I wrong.

 

[Optimist]

Indeed, "Complications" is excellent.

As for another, "Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind" by V.S. Ramachandran.

 

[ddmo]

I reccomend "When the air hits your brain" by Frank Vertosick. Interesting quick read about the this guy's process of becoming a neurosurgeon. I like it because it is truthful, candid, and straight. No candy-coating or ego.

 

[Lucius]

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down--by Anne Fadiman.

 

[indo]

Another non-medical book: Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

Its a funny book that talks about music and pop culture.

 

[Jamaican MD]

Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson

Complications by Dr. Atul Gawande (made me wanna go trauma surg)

 

[EM Junkie]

FYI, The House of God is written by Samuel Shem. It is a must-read before your third year of medical school!

Buy it here at Amazon.com

-Scott, MS2