Book of Medical Diseases?

[Neurocentric]

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The only Gawande book I've read is Better, and while it's a very good read, it isn't the stunner most people laud it as if you're in the thick of things. In other words, read it before med school so the magic doesn't vanish.

You might want to read Complications. I read that one first and loved it, and you're right about Better. I definitely enjoyed Complications more. There were a bit more clinical stories, which is why I loved Katrina Firlik's book.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

Wow! You guys have some issues to deal with. Thanks to the few of you who actually listed some books. But to all others, I hope you guys don't go into any social doctor careers, because obviously you will struggle due to the extraordinary lack of communication skills!

Oh man, Burkett's Law (?) from a high schooler! Anyway, a lot of us have gotten accepted into medical school or are finishing, so what you see is what you get.

I asked for a couple of book titles, and got a lot of hotheaded remarks about being arrogant? Sigh.

You got some helpful advice, like it or not. This was remarkably useful for an online forum, apparently you are not familiar with the ways of the interwebs.

Anyways, I'm not looking to get laid. I'm waiting until marriage. It's called being a Christian, believing in Jesus Christ and his teachings (let me emphasize that since some of you "believe" in him but do not follow his teachings), and having some morals.

Not going there.

It is not me that needs to grow up, look at yourselves. Degrading a high school student that wants to become part of a medical profession and asking simply to list some books to read (AND NOT GETTING A HEAD START...READ THE REVISED OP...idiots), and all you guys do is not give names of books, but rather attack me for...?

Who attacked you? Advice you don't like is not an attack.

Anyways, I won't be back. I'll get some information from some actual doctors that actually have a bit of knowledge and social skills.

See ya guys in ten years or so. 🙂

I sure hope not. Your personality is going to cause you issues in medical school. Well, that may be a little harsh, you might mature in the next 10 years or so. But most people are who they are by high school.

Read House of God. And then decide if you still want to do medicine...

 

[ButImLETired]

Wow! You guys have some issues to deal with. Thanks to the few of you who actually listed some books. But to all others, I hope you guys don't go into any social doctor careers, because obviously you will struggle due to the extraordinary lack of communication skills!

I asked for a couple of book titles, and got a lot of hotheaded remarks about being arrogant? Sigh.

Anyways, I'm not looking to get laid. I'm waiting until marriage. It's called being a Christian, believing in Jesus Christ and his teachings (let me emphasize that since some of you "believe" in him but do not follow his teachings), and having some morals.

It is not me that needs to grow up, look at yourselves. Degrading a high school student that wants to become part of a medical profession and asking simply to list some books to read (AND NOT GETTING A HEAD START...READ THE REVISED OP...idiots), and all you guys do is not give names of books, but rather attack me for...?

Anyways, I won't be back. I'll get some information from some actual doctors that actually have a bit of knowledge and social skills.

See ya guys in ten years or so. 🙂

Hahaha see you then, babe. We'll be the ones holding the charts with, oh, your career in our hands. Those "real doctors" you want to talk to...that's us in a couple of years. Too bad you're going into one of the most hierarchical careers out there, in which your superiors' opinions about how your personality comes off can determine your grades and ultimately what residency and field you go into.

But yeah, go on blaming everyone else and acting holier-than-thou to those who are trying to help you. That's going to work out really, really well for you.

 

[ButImLETired]

Yeah. We totally were like, "I want a head start!" and then were like "No wait, just kidding, I'm not publicly saying I want a head start!" and then were like "MAYBE you guys should read the REVISED question!" and then were totally like "you don't know me or my [high school] background!" when given information from people who are just a little bit ahead of you on the road. Isn't there something in religion-land about, I dunno, a little humility?

From your simple original post, you got free advice. AND book recommendations, from me and others. AND applause for curiosity, also from me and others. The only thing you did not get was the through-and-through oh-gee-golly encouragement to be a medical student prohibitively ahead of your time.

I dunno who lit the fuse on your tampon, but relax. The medical students (and senior pre-med people?) who read hSDN every now and again do so because we/they are on your side -- and by "your," I mean similarly aspiring high school kids in general -- until said high school kids start acting douchey to people trying to give 'em realistic answers to their questions.

Hahahaha I've never heard that before. It's so brilliant. I'm really going to have to use it soon. 😍

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

You might want to read Complications. I read that one first and loved it, and you're right about Better. I definitely enjoyed Complications more. There were a bit more clinical stories, which is why I loved Katrina Firlik's book.

I read both Complications and Better and they're good books. But not as good as everyone claims them to me. In my opinion, Gawande's books are a bit overrated.

Firlik's book was really enjoyable. I liked it much better than Gawande's books. Anyone read Hot lights, Cold steel? I can't remember who the author is but that was a pretty good one as well. So was Intern by Sandeep Jauhar.

 

[Neurocentric]

I read both Complications and Better and they're good books. But not as good as everyone claims them to me. In my opinion, Gawande's books are a bit overrated.

Firlik's book was really enjoyable. I liked it much better than Gawande's books. Anyone read Hot lights, Cold steel? I can't remember who the author is but that was a pretty good one as well. So was Intern by Sandeep Jauhar.

I have to agree that I enjoyed Firlik's book better than Gawande's .. and I'm not sure why. Maybe it was focused on neurosurgery, which I am definitely interested in, or maybe it was just the way she wrote it.

I haven't read either of those books, but I will definitely check them out. I love reading books like that.

 

[Ischemic]

Hahaha see you then, babe. We'll be the ones holding the charts with, oh, your career in our hands. Those "real doctors" you want to talk to...that's us in a couple of years. Too bad you're going into one of the most hierarchical careers out there, in which your superiors' opinions about how your personality comes off can determine your grades and ultimately what residency and field you go into.

But yeah, go on blaming everyone else and acting holier-than-thou to those who are trying to help you. That's going to work out really, really well for you.

Oh shizz, that is soo true. In 10 years I will (hopefully) be finishing up my cardio fellowship but yeah. This profession is very hierarchical... our high school friend might be in for a rude awakening when he/she gets chewed out for something trivial. I hope I get to be there, better yet, I hope I'm the one chewing our friend out. .

By the way, what are all these books you guys are talking about? Are they like autobiographies or fiction about medicine?

 

[Neurocentric]

Oh shizz, that is soo true. In 10 years I will (hopefully) be finishing up my cardio fellowship but yeah. This profession is very hierarchical... our high school friend might be in for a rude awakening when he/she gets chewed out for something trivial. I hope I get to be there, better yet, I hope I'm the one chewing our friend out. .

By the way, what are all these books you guys are talking about? Are they like autobiographies or fiction about medicine?

Atul Gawande is a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. His books have a lot to do with how things run in the hospital. In "Complications" he talks about his training as a resident - mastering central lines, M&M conferences, etc. - and even talks about an ortho surgeon who started cutting corners and started endangering the lives of patients. In "Better" he explains more things like washing hands in hospitals and how that protocol got started, eradicating the polio vaccine in India (he went over there), and other things like that.

Katrina Firlik is a neurosurgeon at a private hospital in Connecticut. I think she also has her own practice. She talks all about the brain and neurosurgery itself, and gets into some awesomely weird cases, like the schizophrenic who had a tumor coming out of his head and never did anything with it, so much that it got infected and he had maggots in his head. There was also the sad story of a 7 year old who got a horrible case of bacterial meningitis because his mother decided to be an herbal shaman and not give him antibiotics for his ear infection. Stuff like that.

I can't speak about the other ones mentioned, but those three I own.

ETA: My siggy has a quote from Katrina Firlik's book. It's one of my favorites.

 

[schrizto]

I read both Complications and Better and they're good books. But not as good as everyone claims them to me. In my opinion, Gawande's books are a bit overrated.

Firlik's book was really enjoyable. I liked it much better than Gawande's books. Anyone read Hot lights, Cold steel? I can't remember who the author is but that was a pretty good one as well. So was Intern by Sandeep Jauhar.

I kind of agree with Gawande's books being overrated. It seems as if every pre-med has read Complications but I didn't find it good enough to be as popular as it is now. On the other hand, Firlik's book and Hot Lights, Cold Steel (the author is Michael Collins, btw) were very good. Collins from what I remember wrote with a good sense of humor.

 

[MattD]

I kind of agree with Gawande's books being overrated. It seems as if every pre-med has read Complications but I didn't find it good enough to be as popular as it is now. On the other hand, Firlik's book and Hot Lights, Cold Steel (the author is Michael Collins, btw) were very good. Collins from what I remember wrote with a good sense of humor.

I think I must be the only person who thought that Collins simply tried way too hard to be funny in that book.

 

[Ischemic]

Atul Gawande is a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. His books have a lot to do with how things run in the hospital. In "Complications" he talks about his training as a resident - mastering central lines, M&M conferences, etc. - and even talks about an ortho surgeon who started cutting corners and started endangering the lives of patients. In "Better" he explains more things like washing hands in hospitals and how that protocol got started, eradicating the polio vaccine in India (he went over there), and other things like that.

Katrina Firlik is a neurosurgeon at a private hospital in Connecticut. I think she also has her own practice. She talks all about the brain and neurosurgery itself, and gets into some awesomely weird cases, like the schizophrenic who had a tumor coming out of his head and never did anything with it, so much that it got infected and he had maggots in his head. There was also the sad story of a 7 year old who got a horrible case of bacterial meningitis because his mother decided to be an herbal shaman and not give him antibiotics for his ear infection. Stuff like that.

I can't speak about the other ones mentioned, but those three I own.

ETA: My siggy has a quote from Katrina Firlik's book. It's one of my favorites.

Thanks, these books actually sound interesting and will be a good read for over the summer ... you know, after I "get a head start" reading my Robbins pathology book and go over my pharmacological agents .... lol

 

[Neurocentric]

Thanks, these books actually sound interesting and will be a good read for over the summer ... you know, after I "get a head start" reading my Robbins pathology book and go over my pharmacological agents .... lol

Oh, yeah. That's like.. a MUST if you want to get into medical school. Everyone knows you need to study items that are way beyond your knowledge level if you want to get accepted 🙂

 

[da8s0859q]

I think I must be the only person who thought that Collins simply tried way too hard to be funny in that book.

Aww, I thought it was hilarious... especially that part with his Irish friend. "He told me the lock on his back door froze, the gas line in his car froze, the bottle of scotch in his trunk froze, the pipes in his basement froze, the cup of coffee on his dashboard froze, and his dog's penis froze.

'I'll be goddamned if I am going to take that dog's johnson in my hand. I don't care if it does fall off. It's colder than a Protestant's tit out there... Lord Jaysus, it's a hundred degrees below zero, the wind is roarin' like the banshee, and we're huddled in the kitchen like a bunch of ****in' refugees. Cars won't start, pipes are freezing, and dogs' dicks are falling off. What in the name of God sort of place is this anyway?'"

 

[skierbum]

I love Dr. Gawande's books. If you like him, you might like Katrina Firlik. She is a neurosurgeon who is quoted in my signature. The title of the book is there, too. Definitely check it out 🙂

I will next time I am at the library. 👍 I just finished reading Gifted Hands by Ben Carson-he is an expert in neurosurgery (he pioneered separating siamese twins at the head) and I found it very interesting.
Mountains beyond Mountains (by Tracy Kidder) is the book that inspired me to pursue a career in healthcare. It is about a man who got a full ride to Duke, went to Harvard med and now lives in Haiti establishing free clinics. This should be almost required reading.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

I will next time I am at the library. 👍 I just finished reading Gifted Hands by Ben Carson-he is an expert in neurosurgery (he pioneered separating siamese twins at the head) and I found it very interesting.
Mountains beyond Mountains (by Tracy Kidder) is the book that inspired me to pursue a career in healthcare. It is about a man who got a full ride to Duke, went to Harvard med and now lives in Haiti establishing free clinics. This should be almost required reading.

Forget Mountains beyond Mountains, just read the man who was written about, Paul Farmer. He wrote Pathologies of Power and AIDS and Accusations. Return of the White Plague by Peter Gandy is essays and papers regarding tuberculosis, this is what really convinced me to pursue a career in medicine. Tuberculosis is thankfully rare in the US, however internationally it is one of the leading causes of death. With increasing numbers of multi-drug resistant strains and HIV, TB is coming back with a vengeance. And the Band Played on By Rand Shiltz was a great book about the early stages of the HIV pandemic in the US.

 

[skierbum]

I love Dr. Gawande's books. If you like him, you might like Katrina Firlik. She is a neurosurgeon who is quoted in my signature. The title of the book is there, too. Definitely check it out

I read her book in 2 days this week and loved it. Her specialty isn't quite my cup of tea, but she was slightly funny. 👍

@FutureCTDoc I will check those out when I get a chance. thx 🙂

lol I still can't belive that the op wanted to read a dry textbook over the summer. Especially when it is 4 years off.

 

[Ischemic]

lol I still can't belive that the op wanted to read a dry textbook over the summer. Especially when it is 4 years off.

Yeah, neither can we... that's why we made fun of him/her so much. Where is that kid by the way? I kinda miss OP

 

[MilkmanAl]

So in Mexico, it's not 6 years, it's 4 years plus another year and another year after that. Gotcha. 👍

 

[MossPoh]

Gawande pretty much took his homeboy Gladwell's style and applied medical stuff to it.

His stuff isn't bad and it brings up valid points, but I really don't say it in the same breath as other medical type books.

I think of Gawande stuff in the same category as Outliers, Freakanomics and all that kind of stuff.




The whole random christian rant made me laugh too. It always amuses me when people 1) Act like I've never heard of Christianity and 2) Act like they were personally talking to Jesus the night before over a glass of wine. (Beverage choice intentional)

 

[Neurocentric]

Gawande pretty much took his homeboy Gladwell's style and applied medical stuff to it.

His stuff isn't bad and it brings up valid points, but I really don't say it in the same breath as other medical type books.

I think of Gawande stuff in the same category as Outliers, Freakanomics and all that kind of stuff.




The whole random christian rant made me laugh too. It always amuses me when people 1) Act like I've never heard of Christianity and 2) Act like they were personally talking to Jesus the night before over a glass of wine. (Beverage choice intentional)

Incredibly true. I kinda felt like he told us he was a Christian so we'd go, "Oh, man, you're a Christian? We'd never say anything rude to someone like you. Sorry. We're definitely not worthy." Something tells me if he doesn't change the attitude he has, he's gonna get the crap beat out of him. If it hasn't happened already.

As far as Gawande, I do like the books he wrote, but I definitely fell in love with other books with roughly the same subject a bit more than his.

 

[smq123]

So in Mexico, it's not 6 years, it's 4 years plus another year and another year after that. Gotcha. 👍

That's a relief. Six years is a long time, but 4 + 1 + 1 years is definitely a lot shorter.

 

[orthomyxo]

So in Mexico, it's not 6 years, it's 4 years plus another year and another year after that. Gotcha. 👍

That's a relief. Six years is a long time, but 4 + 1 + 1 years is definitely a lot shorter.

4 + 1 + 1 = ?

Anyone? Anyone? ....Bueller?

 

[Ischemic]

4 + 1 + 1 = ?

Anyone? Anyone? ....Bueller?

7? Damn, this is why I only got a 600 on my SAT math section

 

[Shinobiz11]

my advice, don't waste your time bro. Go have fun before you actually have to learn this stuff. I tried learning all of the bones,muscles,blood vessels, nerves, etc. in the body and found it a complete waste of time when I took anatomy class (in HS). Go play outside or hang with friends.

 

[Spooner13]

For those of you who like Gawande, you should check out a book called "My Own Country: A Doctor's Story." The author, Verghese, has a similar style to Gawande. But this book was written before Complications or Better.

I'm reading this book right now. It is great. The author is an infectious disease physician in rural Appalachia, and he describes when AIDS first hit his small community. It's pretty powerful.

 

[deleted202457]

Wow! You guys have some issues to deal with. Thanks to the few of you who actually listed some books. But to all others, I hope you guys don't go into any social doctor careers, because obviously you will struggle due to the extraordinary lack of communication skills!

I asked for a couple of book titles, and got a lot of hotheaded remarks about being arrogant? Sigh.

Anyways, I'm not looking to get laid. I'm waiting until marriage. It's called being a Christian, believing in Jesus Christ and his teachings (let me emphasize that since some of you "believe" in him but do not follow his teachings), and having some morals.

It is not me that needs to grow up, look at yourselves. Degrading a high school student that wants to become part of a medical profession and asking simply to list some books to read (AND NOT GETTING A HEAD START...READ THE REVISED OP...idiots), and all you guys do is not give names of books, but rather attack me for...?

Anyways, I won't be back. I'll get some information from some actual doctors that actually have a bit of knowledge and social skills.

See ya guys in ten years or so. 🙂

First of all these ppl are trying to help you. YOU WOULD BE WASTING YOUR TIME TO READ A BOOK LIKE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR! I hope you understood that b/c that's as simple as I can make it. Honestly these ppl are trying to help prevent you from wasting time and the only way to make a know-it-all high schooler listen is to make them feel stupid, otherwise you'd still think you are smarter than all of us.

If you wanna get a head start, start volunteering, or if you are that determined to be a bookworm start studying some undergrad science stuff, b/c right now you still ain't even gotten past the MCAT (and maybe not even the SAT idk). Or even better, start shadowing a dr if you can and see if this is even what you wanna do, b/c this def ain't the easy and glamorous life that Nip-Tuck, Grey's Anatomy, and Scrubs make it out to be. So you calm down before you start bashing ppl that have been playing this game a lot longer than you (and me for that matter).

And another thing, I'm glad you are a proud Christian, I am too. I don't live perfectly everyday and I'll probably make it to Heaven by the skin of my teeth, but if you plan on making it through college and medicine you best get off your Christian high horse and check your holier-than-thou attitude. You're preaching to ppl that don't care what you have to say, a majority of the ppl on this site ain't religious, much less Christian. And yes I know you're gonna say we're supposed to shine for Jesus and spread his gospel, but you ain't doing that. You're making Christians look like the ignorant ppl that everyone thinks they are. Not everyone is going to agree with you and you have to learn to respect that b/c I guarantee if you start preaching to an attending (assuming you even make it to medical school) he's gonna make life hell for you. And I'm not trying to preach to you either, just some advice you may want to chew on.

 

[da8s0859q]

my advice, don't waste your time bro. Go have fun before you actually have to learn this stuff. I tried learning all of the bones,muscles,blood vessels, nerves, etc. in the body and found it a complete waste of time when I took anatomy class (in HS). Go play outside or hang with friends.

First of all these ppl are trying to help you.

You guys are responding to a cluster**** of a thread that died a month ago.

 

[Shinobiz11]

You guys are responding to a cluster**** of a thread that died a month ago.

whoopsie

 

[Depakote]

You guys are responding to a cluster**** of a thread that died a month ago.

it was bumped by a (now banned) spammer.

 

[Laboratorian]

http://www.amazon.com/Sexually-Tran...1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1280887489&sr=1-3-fkmr0

You've got to have it!
I don't know why but I LOVE anything involving STD's.
I think I just love infections period. I know I'm gross but I work in micro so you can't blame me.



But seriously, you will need Taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary. I lay in the bed at night and just go from front to back. Damn...I should get a life.
http://www.amazon.com/Cyclopedic-Medical-Dictionary-Thumb-Indexed-Version/dp/0803606540



(LOL, I'm suprised this hasn't hit SDN, but a medical student was dismissed from rotation for stealing medical books like my prized $200 STD text above and selling them on ebay, I recall this happening the day Carraway Hospital shut down, many texts and other items came up MIA before 12noon)

 

[911 Turbo]

Ahh.. this is the thread that started my hate for hSDN