Books/Articles to help affirm interest?

[SpeedMode]

Hello all,

I am 24 years old and am currently an airline pilot. I love my job, but have always had a peripheral interest in medicine. I thoroughly enjoy de-engineering every plane I fly, learning everything I can about its systems, how it functions, and how to troubleshoot problems. I feel like this type of analysis and deep knowledge exists in medicine as well as the overall mission to help those in need.

Are there any books or articles I can read to give me more exposure to the requirements, lifestyle, and different opportunities within medicine? Also, does an Ivy League graduate and current pilot have a chance? My undergraduate work focused on psychology, so I'd probably need to enter a post-bac or just slowly accumulate pre-reqs. My main concern is making sure this is a challenge I want to endure. I certainly talk to a lot of prospective pilots that don't have the most realistic grasp of what airline pilots do on a daily basis.

Thanks!

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[DrMidlife]

When I was in your shoes I think I read 40 books. Some highlights:

1. For the process: Iserson "Getting into Medical School: A Guide for the Perplexed" or just find an MSAR

2. For the perspective of a nontrad who hated it (and I can't stand this guy): Marvin Konner "Becoming a Doctor"

3. For med student/resident diaries: Robert Marion "Learning to Play God" and "Rotations"

4. For the classic expose novel of a hospital residency: Samuel Shem "House of God"

5. For good reading, anything by Atul Gawande.

There are a lot of good blogs out there, but I don't want to out anybody.

For the most current information, SDN is great. For instance none of my recommended books talk about how student loans are no longer deferred during residency, which is a very, very big deal. Come to think of it, this should be getting more SDN airtime...

Edit: ok I finally looked it up, and residency deferrals come back in '09. As you were.

 

[FinchHead]

Frank Abagnale Jr.? Could I have your autograph?

 

[Pandorina]

Well....seeing that there is another airline pilot on this forum has finally convinced me to come out of hiding!

First of all, you most certainly have a chance...I would guess that your undergraduate grades weren't nearly as bad as mine, and I didn't attend an Ivy. My undergrad major was History and I have spent the last 3 years taking the pre-requisites part-time....bidding my schedule so that my days off were the days I had class. (I have remained in the right seat to do this however.) If you decide to take classes you will never be frustrated by a long overnight at a hotel in the middle of nowhere anymore; it's the perfect time to do homework. I applied broadly and have 7 interviews. I think that a lot of the interest was because of my current job. (Although I did do all the other required things: volunteering, shadowing, etc.) It's very lucky I can non-rev, I don't know how I would afford to go to the interviews otherwise!

Sorry I don't have any books to recommend but you do have great opportunity to do the reading...I mean read the FOM.

Feel free to PM me...we may work for the same company!

 

[Renkat2sj]

Isn't Marvin Konner ("Becoming a Doctor") an anthropologist? I cant remember exactly because I read it kind of a while ago, but I thought his book was more of an attempt for him to observe the world of med school as a strange and screwed up world (by experiencing it firsthand.) He was not someone who desperately wanted to be a doctor to help people. Anyone can find the negative side if that's what they are looking for.

I've also read a whole lot of books over the past 2 years while deciding to go this route. One of my favorites was Hot Lights, Cold Steel by Michael Collins. It's about his experience as an orthopedic surgery . . . resident? I think- again, I read it a while ago. But what I remember about it was that I liked his attitude and perspective. Yeah, I'd say that was probably my favorite of the many I've read. I actually want to read it again but I lent it out and haven't seen it since

I also liked Katrina Firlik's "Another Day in the Frontal Lobe" but mostly because I am female so I just liked her particular story (she is one of a very small minority of women neurosurgeons.) I tried to get my mom to read it but she wouldn't- too grossed out

 

[DrMidlife]

Isn't Marvin Konner ("Becoming a Doctor") an anthropologist? I cant remember exactly because I read it kind of a while ago, but I thought his book was more of an attempt for him to observe the world of med school as a strange and screwed up world (by experiencing it firsthand.) He was not someone who desperately wanted to be a doctor to help people. Anyone can find the negative side if that's what they are looking for.

He went into med school with the intent of practicing as a psychiatrist, but he didn't go on to residency (to much applause, I expect). It pissed him off to get no admiration for his anthro PhD, and it pissed him off that people weren't excited to hear about the Bushmen he studied in Africa, and it pissed him off to have no say in how he was being educated. Fun guy.

I've also read a whole lot of books over the past 2 years while deciding to go this route. One of my favorites was Hot Lights, Cold Steel by Michael Collins. It's about his experience as an orthopedic surgery . . . resident? I think- again, I read it a while ago. But what I remember about it was that I liked his attitude and perspective. Yeah, I'd say that was probably my favorite of the many I've read. I actually want to read it again but I lent it out and haven't seen it since

Boy, I love orthopods in general, and the practice aspects of that book were very cool, but the 13 kids part was more than I could stomach. Coming home from the hospital with the 13th baby, after the OB said "no more or your wife dies," and the guy's just wanting "one more sweet little baby." Ay yai yai.

 

[MeowMix]

There's a former commercial pilot in my class, and he's very glad to be in med school.

I thought Melvin Konner's book was great, actually. I've reread it several times during med school and always thought he had good insights. For anyone who goes into med school with a lot of experience relevant to practicing medicine (even in ways such as sociology, anthro, group dynamics, etc.), the system can be terribly frustrating and ridiculous. Also, you will almost universally be treated as a beginner with no possible useful contribution, even in areas you might know a lot about (like teaching). I thought he expressed that very well.

As far as other books, often it's hard to appreciate what they're saying until you are at the same stage; I skimmed over the hardships and focused on the Caring Doctor parts (without knowing that I was doing so). A lot of the descriptions of rotations, internship, residency didn't really interest me until I was in that position or much closer to it. Then I found their stories much more engaging. The recommendations above are good; you'll find a lot more by searching on Amazon.

good luck!

 

[Beast11]

When I was in your shoes I think I read 40 books. Some highlights:
/QUOTE]

Dr. Midlife... I feel that we are cut from the same cloth. Forgive me for highjacking this thread..but I know you would read this...

I am now enjoying (?!) a Christmas break and would like to salve my angst on applications. Too tired to read a whole book-can you recommend the movies (ideally available from Blockbuster) that I could rewatch to give me the "chicken soup for the pre-med soul" kick in the a!$!

Suggestion is open to all-any "feel good" doctor movies (as well as books!)

 

[DrMidlife]

Too tired to read a whole book-can you recommend the movies (ideally available from Blockbuster) that I could rewatch to give me the "chicken soup for the pre-med soul" kick in the a!$!

Suggestion is open to all-any "feel good" doctor movies (as well as books!)

I'd recommend Awakenings, which has Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams.

I really haven't seen that many doc movies, though. People keep telling me to see Patch Adams.

Lighter reading? Hmm, I'll start with Mountains beyond Mountains, which is a journalist's take on Paul Farmer. Can't get much more feel-good than that. I've read several fluffy memoirs that read like short essays, all written by women for some reason, including those by Polly Klaas, Danielle Ofri, Audrey Young and Emily Transue. Abraham Verghese's two memoirs are well done, but I wouldn't call them feel-good.

But in all honesty you can't go wrong with Atul Gawande. His books are compilations of his articles in the NYT and New Yorker. I need this guy to write faster.

 

[NY Musicologist]

Gotta disagree with the recommendation for Mountains Beyond Mountains--there was a sanctimonious, hero-worshippy tone to it that made my skin crawl a little.

I saw a new book by Perri Klass the other day--can't recall the exact title, but it was something along the lines of Letters to a Young Doctor.

Sherwin B. Nuland and Oliver Sacks each have several great volumes of essays/case studies--these won't necessarily help you understand the daily grind of medicine, but they're fascinating and extremely well written.

Anyone familiar with Body of Work (about anatomy lab)??

Do a forum search in both the nontrad and premed areas--I know there have been some other book threads (I started one of them, if I recall...)

 

[Renkat2sj]

I read the Perri Klass book, i thought it was ok, not great. Basically her son decided to apply to med school and these are all her sappy letters about how trying and yet fulfulling it will be and how happy she is. Meh.

I very much enjoy reading Oliver Sacks though.

And back to the Hot Lights Cold Steel book . . . I agree that its INSANE they kept having kids but again, i think that's what i liked about it- his life was beyond crazy, and yet he managed to keep a pretty upbeat attitude about it all. i feel like i can relate to that- no matter how things get, if you cant make the best of it you'll just end up depressed.

that said, i would never have eight kids in med school, let alone one, but i liked him anyway.

 

[Nasrudin]

Here's what I think Captain:

What would I know about being a pilot by reading about pilots. At best I would entertain myself at worst I might have some romantic sense of myself towards the fictitious.

As much as I hate to admit it hearing some these grumpy sanctimonious doctors who come back here to tell us we're bunch of helpless wingnuts is more towards the real.

That and shadowing or working in healthcare and getting a ringside seat to clinical medicine--close enough to get blood splattered on your suit. Then you can piece together at least what it might be like for you in medicine because that's what matters.

The books are swell, don't get me wrong but they don't give enough to guess at what it might be like for you.

Good luck and success in another career seems to be a good thing based on the feedback from the successful applicants--unlike me you actually have an impressive career. Chances? Man...that's a can of worms.

 

[Solideogloria]

I recommend The Making of a Surgeon by Dr. William Nolen. Even if you are not interested in surgery the book gives you great insight on how surgical and medical personnel work together, the qualities that it takes to be a good doctor, how to surviving a challenging residency and some of sacrifices you'll have to make as doc. he also talks about the differences he saw in the patients at private vs. public hospitals his residency rotated him through. He's a really witty guy so you'll probably read through the book pretty quickly.

 

[crusinmsu]

hot lights cold steel was a danggg good book.. i'd read it in Barnes and Noble while I was studying chem in between chapters and i couldn't put it down. very well written

 

[awsmlikeapossum]

I think all these books are amazing, but what strikes me is that the better written the book is, the less motivated and or medically talented the doctor or surgeon. Cutting Remarks, Intern, When the Air Hits Your Brain, The Making of a Surgeon in the 21st Century, and Hot Lights Cold Steel are probably the cream of the crop in terms of medical competency of the writers.

On the other hand, Melvin Connor, Samuel Shem, and Atul Guwande are kind of literary hipsters, people I would not want to emulate. If you're writing sap for the New Yorker, you can't be too competetive.

That's why I love Sidney Schwab: "As I've been in the business of preventing bleeding, this [book] may not work out well. You wouldn't want John Updike taking out your gallbladder."

 

[ATLtoEDI]

Frank Abagnale Jr.? Could I have your autograph?

F*cking loved that.

 

[Tekar]

Mountains Beyond Mountains...written with Dr. Paul Farmer.. don't remember the author..

The second is a bit more rough to find...but any book about him is good, you want knowledge of a guy by the name of Rudolf(ph) Virchow. Dr in Germany in the 1800's one of the founders of the pivotal cell theory.. cells come from cells I believe was his contribution. He also started the current structure we all take toward studying the human body, the use of cadavers etc. the details escape me, but the idea that this man was pushing for feeding sick people in epidemic regions to prevent disease back in the 1840's well.. Paul Farmer read his stuff to, and when you read Farmer, Virchow comes out constantly.

I would start with Mountains Beyond Moutains. Perfect book for a 24 hour hotel room stay or a weather delay or two.

Good luck