Best reading for premeds

[periodic]

---

Members do not see this ad.

suggestions on good reading?

i read atul gawande's 'complications' a few weeks ago - really good. it was a quick, interesting read like 'kitchen confidential' and 'nickled and dimed' (also great reads, but not so directly related to medicine).

i also read 'a question of intent' by david kessler (ucsf dean -> yale dean -> back to ucsf now) a year ago. it's about the FDA taking on the tobacco industry in the 90's when kessler was its head. influenced me pretty heavily in trying out health policy.

there's also a book about the clash between western medicine and a patient's culture, about a hamong (sp?) girl. i could be wrong on the details, but a friend told me about it and said it's required MS1 reading at Columbia.

Lists seem to be popular here, so:

Complications, Atul Gawanda
A Question of Intent, David Kessler
Unnamed Hamong Girl Book, ?

 

[DrMom]

Originally posted by periodic


Unnamed Hamong Girl Book, ?

Hmong


The book is called: the spirit catches you and you fall down

very good book.

 

[twinklz]

A Not Entirely Benign Procedure by Perri Klass
I really liked this book because it showed the not-so-nice aspects of medicine, specifically the sacrifices you have to go through to even get through medical school. The book doesn't have a cohesive story throughout; its broken up to little vignettes.


Learning to Play God Robert Marion
This again highlights the trials and tribulations of becoming a doctor. This book focuses on surviving the year of being an intern.

I also really liked Complications.

Or for a more literary twist on medicine,

On Doctoring by Richard Reynlolds
This is actually a collection of stories, poems, and essays about medicine. A variety of perspectives are portrayed (doctor, patient, spouse of dying patient...) More well-known authors in this anthology are William Carlos Williams, Ernest Hemingway, and Flannery O'Connor. But since there are over a 100 different pieces, there are a lot more authors. Highly reccomend it!

 

[UCLAstudent]

The Intern Blues by Robert Marion

Gifted Hands by Ben Carson

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

These have been my favorite books related to medicine that I've read as a pre-med.

 

[jenni4476]

Just a weird one that my doc actually recommended:

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach.

I also second The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (it's by Anne Fadiman)-very good book...brought up some things I wasn't even aware of and made me think quite a bit...

 

[BananaSplit]

I'm trying to find a copy of Nickled and Dimed but my library hasn't gotten a copy of it in yet. 🙁 Was it really as insightful as people say?

 

[Hethera]

I read a really enjoyable book by a neurologist when I was in junior high. I think it was called "Toscanini's Fumble." (Either that, or it was named something else and that was a chapter title.) For years after reading that book, I wanted to be a neurologist. I still remember some of the cases. Although I'm sure by now it's really dated, it was a very interesting read!

 

[periodic]

it's pretty damn insightful. a PhD biologist decides to see what the 'working poor' are about by becoming one of them. they don't qualify as impoverished, so many forms of government aid are denied to them. she gives herself a beat-up car and some seed money, and sets off looking jobs around the country.

she finds out A) it's not easy to get and work 1 min-wage job, B) it's not easy to live without working 2 min-wage jobs, C) living in a trailer is something many people, including co-workers at walmart and the like, aspire to, and D) the 2-job life, while necessary to survive, drives your sanity and health to hell.

i think it's a must-read. some of your patients will have lives like this. that is, if they are lucky to have health insurance or get care anyway.

Originally posted by BananaSplit
I'm trying to find a copy of Nickled and Dimed but my library hasn't gotten a copy of it in yet. 🙁 Was it really as insightful as people say?

 

[lilithny]

First Cut: A Season in the Human Anatomy Lab
Albert Howard Carter III

As I Live and Breathe: Notes of a Patient-Doctor
Jamie Weisman

My Own Medicine: A Doctor's Life as a Patient
Geoffrey Kurland

One Hundred Days: My Unexpected Journey from Doctor to Patient
David Biro

 

[lattimer13]

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

what about HOUSE OF GOD by samuel shem?

 

[A.D.O.R.]

The Wall Street Journal