EM Books that Give Accurate Depiction of Field?

[Jnorman1218]

Hey guys,

I am headed to med school next year and have been interested in EM for a while. First of all, thanks for all the great info on this forum! It has been informative and interesting.

I just was wondering if anyone had suggestions of good EM books for someone in my position to read. Obviously I won't know for sure what I want to do until I get some actual hands on experience. But in the mean time, I would love to read some books that give an accurate depiction of the field. Thanks for you time.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Deuce Doc]

If you are interested in the history of EM, I read a great one called "Anyone, Anything, Anytime" by Zink. It gives a real appreciation for the newness of the specialty and the reasons for it's development--useful for contrasting with the role that EM now fills. Its great background to understand the specialty, and it gave me some good footing to speak about it at interviews (though honestly, it hasn't come up much).

 

[dchristismi]

Honestly?

I'd venture that your best bet would be to look for thread here titled "Things I learn from my patients." That'll give you the wacky/trauma side.

And then look for a thread titled "Medicine Sucks." That will give you the not-so-funny, terrible, gut-wrenching side.

And there are plenty of political/where is this specialty going threads here.

There's an old book "Emergency" that is mostly anecdoes, sort of funny.

I happen to like a book written by an EM doc titled "The patient in Room 9 Thinks He's God." It's sort of a more spiritual look, but has some very good stories.

 

[smq123]

A few EM residents/attendings on SDN have generously contributed to a thread in pre-allo: Graduating EM resident - ask away, anything. I don't know if you've read it, but if you haven't checked it out, you might find it very useful.

 

[Birdstrike]

.

 

[dchristismi]

I'm pretty sure that's the book. But it's quite old... and perhaps out of print as mentioned. I think I read it in high school, which was, um, well over 15 years ago.

I thought about mentioning House of God, but only for it's historical and reference value.

My own residency featured far less sex. Of course, I was married... but still.
The laws of the House of God still stand. I referenced Orthopedic Height the other day, and one of the other docs cracked up. The nurse just stood there with a quizzical look.

But don't read it until after your intern year. (It's really not even that good a book. But the laws are appropriate)

 

[TallScrubs]

For what it's worth, I bought Emergency! this summer from BN.com I believe. Good read.

 

[Jnorman1218]

Honestly?

I'd venture that your best bet would be to look for thread here titled "Things I learn from my patients." That'll give you the wacky/trauma side.

And then look for a thread titled "Medicine Sucks." That will give you the not-so-funny, terrible, gut-wrenching side.

And there are plenty of political/where is this specialty going threads here.

There's an old book "Emergency" that is mostly anecdoes, sort of funny.

I happen to like a book written by an EM doc titled "The patient in Room 9 Thinks He's God." It's sort of a more spiritual look, but has some very good stories.

Thanks for the recommendations. I might try to find Emergency. It sounds like a good read, although I am more interested in the everyday routines of EMPs than the unusual or outlying cases.

 

[Chromatid]

Intern by Dr X was a bestseller back in '65, was cutting edge information in the day.
Day to day life of an intern in the late 50s, granted much of the actual medical information is old it is very interesting from a historical type perspective and to see how much medicine has changed. (He talked about this sickly obese person, 250lb woman, that's like the average inpatient weight today). You can't find a book any more accurate about the day to day training in medicine and everything it encompasses. He chronicles his entire intern year rotating through IM, Surgery, OB and Peds. They worked people like dogs back then, sometimes I wish we still did internships like this.

 

[Greenbbs]

The Rape of Emergency Medicine. It's the reason I won't ever work for a corporate medicine staffing group. Ever.

 

[DocVirk]

I liked "Something for the pain". Another good one is "Just here trying to save a few lives".

Good luck.