Books that describe a career in medicine

[VIZ1]

Anybody got suggestions on books that describe a career in medicine or a physician's experience in medicine?

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[GCS-15]

anything by Atul Gawande is good. But if you're really trying to see what it's like to be a doctor - nothing can replace shadowing.

 

[WedgeDawg]

anything by Atul Gawande is good. But if you're really trying to see what it's like to be a doctor - nothing can replace shadowing.

Agree with the first part (specifically Complications, Better, and Being Mortal - also check out his New Yorker articles).

Disagree with the second part - I personally found books and articles more helpful for learning about what it's like to be a physician than shadowing. Both are valuable; which is more valuable to you depends on your experiences.

Other books I enjoyed are When The Air Hits Your Brain by Frank Vertosick, Another Day In The Frontal Lobe by Katrina Firlik, Intern by Sandeep Jauhar, Do No Harm by Henry Marsh (less applicable to the US system but still a great read), and anything by Abraham Verghese (I have only read excerpts and portions of his books, but he came to my med school and spoke last fall and it was amazing).

 

[Crayola227]

The House of God
On Doctoring, Poems, Stories, Essays

if you watch TV, Scrubs is good
only imagine more of Dr. Cox making you cry because he legit hates you, more time on the computer, less laughs, and less feel good moments with happy endings

 

[Lucca]

If you want to take a literary trip through the history of being a physician (as we might recognize one today) you should read, in this order:

Religio Medici (1692, by Sir Thomas Browne, one of the most creative minds when it came to playing with the English language - as in, literally inventing loads of words, including, I think, the term "medical". This exceedingly difficult essay is titled "The Religion of the Physician" and talks about Dr. Browne's struggle reconciling his religious views with his scientific ones and ends with his affirmation of his religious views in an era of increased skepticism and public atheism. Looking back on it, it's an interesting snapshot of a tense conflict emerging in the history of science and medicine that, to some lesser extent, has not been totally resolved today)

The Autobiography of William Carlos Williams (1951, by William Carlos Williams, a great poet and physician whose autobiography perfectly characterizes the "Romantic" era physician)

Then I recommend watching the documentary Hospital by Frederick Wiseman (1970) to get a candid look at a public hospital in NYC in 1969 through Wiseman's mastery of cinema verite. Good summary of it and its significance here by the New Yorker.

The House of God (1978, by Samuel Shem, the quintessential medical satire of "golden age" medicine whose influence is for better or worse alive and well in the 21st century. A book that will be a lot more fun to read after watching Hospital and physically seeing second-hand the world Shem was writing about)

Then watch Wiseman's secondary medical documentary Titicut Follies (1967). It's a candid look at a mental asylum in Boston, again in the cinema verite style. Warning: This movie is very difficult to watch. It was the first movie ever to be banned by law in the United States. It was unbanned several decades later and is now very difficult to watch but it is online if you know how to look.

The Youngest Science (1983 by Lewis Thomas, who I think is the greatest physician-author of them all. Although all of his writings circle back to science and medicine and I recommend all of them, this is the only one which addresses his career in medicine directly and thoroughly, starting with his father who was a workaday general practioner doing home visits in the late 19th and early 20th century. His own career begins with Osler and his practice of nihilistic medicine and ends with the dawn of what we recognize today as the scientifically enshrined practice of medicine beholden to evidence, propped up by byzantine healthcare structures, and deeply dependent on the organizational power of large but sometimes alienating and uncaring bureaucratic entities like universities, insurers, and the government)

My Own Country by Abraham Verghese (1994). It's the story of an immigrant physician (Dr. Verghese's own story, in fact) coming to complete his medical training in the US in order to practice in the field of infectious disease in a rural town as the HIV virus and AIDS began to spread their way around the world. You can't understand the history of medicine if you don't spend some serious time thinking about what HIV and AIDS meant for the world, for gay people in the US and all over the world during the 1980s and and for the relationship between government, its people, and its medical infrastructure. If you want more from this period you should also read And the Band Played On... but that has less to do with physicians specifically.

Complications by Atul Gawande (2002) because it sheds some light on the more intellectual (personal) world of being a physician (and especially a surgeon) in an increasingly technical, competent, but difficult profession.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (2003). The story of Paul Farmer's global health work. The book literally follows the work of a single physician, and occasionally others in the Global Health field and provides a narrative introduction into a new medical niche which is growing in both capabilities, scope, and significance both practically and academically in an increasingly globalized world.

and finally, I recommend finishing with When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016). It's the story of a neurosurgeon who develops and dies from lung cancer on the tail end of finishing his medical training. It's a story of trying to find meaning in a profession focused on delayed gratification, great sacrifice, and long-term planning. It is about what it means to be a good physician but also live a meaningful life. The book also provides a unique look at how a physician understands their own illness and suffering, which is very valuable.

 

[MoDiddy]

anything by Atul Gawande is good. But if you're really trying to see what it's like to be a doctor - nothing can replace shadowing.

Complications is great

 

[VIZ1]

Thanks everybody! Those seem like great suggestions. I'll check them out when I have time.

 

[Law2Doc]

...I'll check them out when I have time.

Why ask for suggestions if you don't actually have time ???

 

[WedgeDawg]

Why ask for suggestions if you don't actually have time ???

The answers would likely be the same now and in a month - probably doesn't really matter that much

 

[libahli]

When Breath Becomes Air is probably one of the most powerful books I have ever read. I sobbed for the last few chapters (including the one written by his wife), but it wasn't out of sadness. There is such beauty in the words and meaning in how he lived his too short life.

 

[wholeheartedly]

When Breath Becomes Air is probably one of the most powerful books I have ever read. I sobbed for the last few chapters (including the one written by his wife), but it wasn't out of sadness. There is such beauty in the words and meaning in how he lived his too short life.

I just downloaded that one.

The above mentions are great, plus I liked the following:

Intern Blues by Robert Marion- Attending has three interns keep a diary for the year.

On Call: A Doctors days and nights in residency by Emily Transue- sorta like intern but female perspective, plus she has another book called Patient by Patient: Lessons on love, loss, hope, and healing. I haven't finished that one, but like it so far

How Doctors Think by Gerome Groopman- sounds dry, but really isn't and has great stories. I think this should be required reading. He has several other books as well. The Anatomy of Hope is the other one I have.

My own medicine: A doctors life as a patient by Geoffrey Kurland- very interesting

An Imperfect Offering by James Orbinksi- on humanitarian aid by a former president of MSF (Doctors Without Borders)

Six Months in Sudan by James Maskalyk

A Woman with A Worm in her Head

The Devil Wears Scrubs


and oh so many more

 

[Syns]

Complications by Atul Gawande is very good.

First book I ever read....

 

[Crayola227]

Why ask for suggestions if you don't actually have time ???

they are going to read the Cliff's Notes Version so they can fake talk about it at interviews?

Boys and girls, when you are asked what was the last book you read for pleasure don't say a medical book even if it's fiction
I wouldn't mention a medical book in discussing "why medicine" either, I would stick to actual personal real life experiences

 

[mehc012]

Cutting Remarks, Sid Schwab

 

[Law2Doc]

The answers would likely be the same now and in a month - probably doesn't really matter that much

SDN will be here in a month too.

 

[To be MD]

Complications by Atul Gawande is very good.

First book I ever read....

Wow, you started early. While I was reading Dr. Seuss, you were reading Gawande.

 

[wanderingorion]

When Breath Becomes Air is magnificent. Also The Final Exam and Intern

 

[numbersloth]

If you're also looking for documentaries, I thought Code Black and The Waiting Room were phenomenal. I also really enjoyed Remote Area Medical and Escape Fire, but those are more focused on the American Healthcare System, not necessarily being a doctor.

In terms of books, I thought Five Days at Memorial gave great insight into the thoughts of physicians in really difficult ethical moments. Also The Emperor of All Maladies--Mukherjee depicts a lot of physicians while intertwining medical and social history.

 

[Psai]

Really nice recommendations so far

I liked "This Won't Hurt a Bit" by Michelle Au. Especially useful if you're interested in what it's like to be a pregnant mother in residency

 

[LizzyM]

The Lazarus Case

https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/lazarus-case

I think that it is a good picture of what it is to practice academic medicine (pediatrics/neonatology).

 

[Syns]

Wow, you started early. While I was reading Dr. Seuss, you were reading Gawande.

I was illiterate until I was seventeen. When I graduated high school I had a fifth grade reading level and had never read a book from cover to cover in my life -- unless pretending to while looking at the pictures count!

 

[Espressso]

As an avid reader, this is an amazing thread. Thanks all!

 

[mouster]

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (2003). The story of Paul Farmer's global health work. The book literally follows the work of a single physician, and occasionally others in the Global Health field and provides a narrative introduction into a new medical niche which is growing in both capabilities, scope, and significance both practically and academically in an increasingly globalized world.

.

Seconding Mountains Beyond Mountains. Amazing book.

Also, various healthcare-related books...maybe won't give you an idea of what it's like to be a physician, but all are related to issues that you'll see in your career.

• Dreamland. About the opiate epidemic, explains the beginnings of the opiate crisis in the '90s.
• America's Bitter Pill. About Obamacare, its inception, and how it failed/succeeded. I'm reading it right now and it's pretty good.
• The Man Who Wasn't There. Mainly if you're interested in psych, but it's got a series of interesting case vignettes about different classes of psychological disorders.
• Anything by Atul Gawande...I just read his Being Mortal (I don't see it getting suggested as much on SDN as Complications or Better), but it's a good book about how we approach dying in this country. Awesome read.
• Another book about palliative care/approaching end-of-life care is Knocking on Heaven's Door (I think the subtitle is "A Better Way to Die," but not sure here...it's got a teakettle on the front of it?). A story about the author's father's last years of life and the data she has gathered as a reporter about how we approach end-of-life care...pretty interesting.
• Also, God's Hotel. I got it on clearance a while ago; it's about how the care offered at a certain hospital (I think it's in SF? Not sure) has changed through the years after healthcare reform and general policy changes.
• Not super medically related, but still tangentially related: The Red Market. About the illegal organ/bone/child trade that persists in certain countries to feed the demands of other, undersupplied countries. SUPER interesting read even if it's not super on-topic.

As far as documentaries go, I recommend the following. Most are available on Netflix.

• How to Die in Oregon. Explores the right to die movement in Oregon by following patients that have either opted into or out of the program. Very interesting and an odd kind of sad...it wasn't the tearjerker I thought it would be.
• We Were Here. About the AIDS epidemic in SF and how it changed lives.
• How to Survive a Plague was pretty good IIRC.
• Fed Up explores sugar intake in America and child obesity. Enlightening if you're not super into nutrition.

 

[Doctor-S]

1. Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon, by Michael Collins, MD.

2. This Side of Doctoring: Reflections from Women in Medicine, by Eliza Lo Chin, MD.

 

[cke11]

When Breath Becomes Air took my breath away. His writing is musical and rhythmic. Some of the things he said and the connections he made about our own mortality made me put the book down and say "wow this guys is absolutely brilliant"

 

[ijustwannasaveppl]

Thanks for the great thread, I'm always looking for new reads! The Doctors by Erich Segal is fascinating, if a little disheartening. It follows medical students from Harvard through their residencies. I'm planning to pursue a career in military medicine and I really enjoyed We Band of Angels, about Allied medical personnel who tried to save patients in WW2 POW camps. Baghdad ER is also great.

 

[wanderingorion]

When Breath Becomes Air took my breath away. His writing is musical and rhythmic. Some of the things he said and the connections he made about our own mortality made me put the book down and say "wow this guys is absolutely brilliant"

It's beautiful. I teared up during the last portion written by his wife. Truly a loss, you know?

 

[LizzyM]

Right now I'm reading Safe Deliverance by Frederick C. Irving, published in 1942. He interrupted his post-graduate medical training to serve in World War I and he reflects back on his grandfather's practice in the late 18th century so it is of historical interest more than contemporary but still interesting. Most of his career was in OB-GYN in Boston. Used copies are available for < $20.

 

[892002]

Bump | Just found this amazing thread!

Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity by Ronald Epstein is a WONDERFUL book, and is a great read for incoming M1s if you're looking for some summer reading!!

 

[MediCane2006]

I’ll hop on the necrobump train and second Complications - his description of putting in a central line terrified me when reading it as a med student, then as an intern I basically realized I could have written that chapter. A lot of that book really captures the uncertainty/visceral terror you feel as a surgical resident.

The other book I keep returning to is The Dressing Station by Jonathan Kaplan. He’s obviously got a lot of issues that he deals with by thrill-seeking in third-world combat zones, but he writes with such a vivid style that it’s easy to imagine yourself on a battlefield trying to save a teenage rebel fighter with a retrohepatic caval injury from a gunshot wound. I think the first time I read that book I didn’t put it down til I was finished.

House of God is only good once you’ve read it the second time as a resident.

 

[3toedsloth]

Right now I'm reading Safe Deliverance by Frederick C. Irving, published in 1942. He interrupted his post-graduate medical training to serve in World War I and he reflects back on his grandfather's practice in the late 18th century so it is of historical interest more than contemporary but still interesting. Most of his career was in OB-GYN in Boston. Used copies are available for < $20.

On the old school medical theme....A Young Doctor's Notebook by Bulgakov.

It's a collection of short stories on life as a rural doctor in revolutionary Russia 100 years ago. Pretty amazing to read (and quite short).

 

[LizzyM]

More on the old school medical theme, my mom found this in a second hand store or something...
Manhattan Country Doctor
by Milton J. Slocum M.D.


Times have changed in NYC but pathophysiology has not. But what stuck with me was Dr. Slocum's non-judgemental nature.