Best Books about Medicine?

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LizardKing

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What are everyone's favorite books related to medicine? Did any of them draw you in or turn you away from the profession?

I haven't read that many, but my favorites are And the Band Played On, Becoming a Doctor by Melvin Konner, and House of God, except House of God was a little too sensational and far fetched in some parts.

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here are a few of my favorites:

"the making of a surgeon" by by dr. bill nolen
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0922811466/qid=1009590850/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/002-6154294-5991235" target="_blank">check it out</a>

"so you want to be a doctor" by stuart zeman
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0898155029/qid=1009590378/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_8_1/002-6154294-5991235" target="_blank">check it out</a>

"arrowsmith" by sincalir lewis
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451526910/qid=1009590714/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_79_3/002-6154294-5991235" target="_blank">check it out</a>

and my favorite.....

"the measure of our days"
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/014026972X/qid=1009591045/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/002-6154294-5991235" target="_blank">check it out</a>

these are all worth reading and will make you think about being a physician...

now my question....as a future med student...which reference books would be good to have? i have a bday coming up and am looking for girt ideas.
 
EW1779, I was told to get Netter's anatomy. Most med schools use it for gross anatomy. It is sold in most bookstores, try Borders or Barnes and Nobel. ;)
 
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This summer I read a book by Anne Fadiman called "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down"....very interesting and has to do with multicultural issues, particularly with respect to medicine. Has a lot of history/anthropology in it, but I thought it was very interesting...
 
I also liked "Becoming a Doctor" by Melvin Konner. Another really good one is "Learning to Play God" by Robert Marion. In addition to his med school experience, Marion talks about his internship and residency. I found it especially interesting because he's a pediatrician and that's the field I'm interested in. Both books are interesting as well as very informative.
 
"Death of the Good Doctor" by Kate Scannell, MD
This is a compilation of short stories about her patients with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s . . .very moving and a quick read.
 
"Death of the Good Doctor" by Kate Scannell, MD
This is a compilation of short stories about her patients with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s . . .very moving and a quick read.
 
not so much on becoming a doctor, but about mental health - specifically depression/bipolar:

kay redfield jamison "An Unquiet Mind"
w. stegnor "Darkness Visible"

changed my life for the better.
 
I also loved Arrowsmith and the Death of the Good Doctor - and Samuel Shem's will keep you up all night till you finish it. But I also think A Piece of Mind, a compilation of short pieces from JAMA, was also great, along with A Time to Heal, which offers a history of medical education since the turn of the century. The latter is recommended to people at the Pitt interview.
 
Kay Redfield Jamison "An Unquiet Mind"

"On Doctoring" (an anthology of literary works over time) - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
 
I really enjoyed "The Midnight Meal and Other Essays About Doctors, Patients and Medicine" by Jerome Lowenstein. It's a wonderful collection of short pieces, and a quick read.
 
'Getting into Medical School' by Scott H. Plantz, EXCELLENT book. Also, 'Medical School Admissions Advisor' by Kaplan, not bad, and for a little more entertainment, 'Emergency' by Mark Brown, stories out of the ER by doctors, nurses, etc. I recommend all of these books.
 
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I really enjoyed The Intern Blues by Robert Marion. It kept me up all night reading.
 
I enjoyed "The Death Committee" by Noah Gordon.
 
I have to agree with previous recommendations of
'Becoming a Doctor' by Melvin Konner and
'The Intern Blues' by Robert Marion

The former because it is written by a somewhat non-traditional applicant (who after med school deecided to not practice medicine!), which I found interesting. The latter because it showed the effects of internship on three very different people, and following their diary entries you really felt like you got to know them. One of them seemed like someone I would have wanted to strangle though!
 
Check out "Walking Out on the Boys" by Frances Conley, MD.

It's an eye opener. I recommend that any female interested in specializing in surgery read this book. I'm sure this book didn't go over too well with some of the Stanford big-wigs.
 
"The Doctor Stories" by William Carlos Williams, "The Tennis Player" by Vergasian (sp?), anything by Rachel Naomi Remen, "Coyote Medicine" by Lew Mehl Madrona
 
I haven't read many, but the three books I've read about being a doctor/medicine I would recommend in order of my favorites:

1.) "When the air hits your brain" by Vertosick sp? I went to Barnes and Noble looking for the books some of you guys mentioned, but didnt' find any, so I bought this book, and boy I'm a happy I need. It's narrates the life of a neurosurgeon in the making, from med school to attending and memorable cases the doctor experiences. The book is both humours (made me out-right laugh) while other times made me want to cry.
2.) "Learning to Play God" by Marion
It's already mentioned.
3.) "Gifted Hands" by Carson
It's a pretty good book. It's more like Ben Carson's autobiography.
 
For info about gettng into medical school KAPLAN & Newsweek's Medical School Admissions Adviser is an excellent choice. But for just plain ole' reading enjoyment I would reccomend "House Of God" by Samuel Shem or "White Coat" by Ellen Lerner Rothman.

newfocus out~
 
Time to Heal: American Medical Education From the Turn of the Century to the Era of Managed Care - Kenneth Ludmerer

locitamd: you sure it was Pitt? Ms. Sullivan at Georgetown gave us each a copy of the title page so we could 'read it for homework' :) Would be a crazy coincidence if Pitt also recommended the book, especially since they didn't when I was there ;)

This book is awesome for those of us interested in academic medicine and wanting to see how the future of academic medical centers may be. Thorough examination of the factors that affected the past through political and other social transformations.
 
"The Intern Blues", thought it was very good!
 
The Youngest Science by Lewis Thomas MD
 
Without a doubt, "The House of God" by Samuel Shem is the BEST book ever written. I re-read it all the time. Roy G. Batch is an awesome character and the Fat Man always has an interesting take on everything. A MUST READ.

I also liked the "Intern Blues" and "When the Air Hits the Brain."
 
"Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health" by Lauria Garrett

It's clearly on public health, not specifically about being a doctor...but it's incredibly well researched and provides a great perspective on the global health problems facing us -- drug resistance, superinfectious TB, etc.
 
I LOVED The Exact Location of the Soul by Robert Selzer, a collection of his essays. IT is the most beautifuly written "medicine book" I have read.
 
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