good books for premeds

[gdk]

this started on another thread, but what are your favorite books related to med school or the medical field? here are the last 2 I read:

Complications by Atul Gawande

The Intern Blues by Robert Marion

I thought Complications was excellent and Intern Blues was interesting just because you really got a feel for the range of emotions experienced by the interns.

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[Sparkles]

I'm reading "First, Do No Harm" by Lisa Belkin

I'm not quite half way through with it yet but so far I love it. Very emotional and insightful.

I remember reading a thread a while ago, and someone had recommended it for premeds to read.

 

[tBw]

"Instructions for your new HydroDeluxe Enema"

sorry, this topics been done so many times I just couldn't post seriously to it again...

 

[gdk]

"First do no harm" is about the pediatrics ward, right? That was the first "medical field" book I read. I forgot about that one, but it is really good.

 

[drkingdingaling]

"Gifted Hands"
Ben Carson M.D. Awesome... has two other books not as good as gifted hands but worth reading... "Think big"... "The big picture"..

"A medical students story"
Ken klein M.D. oldy but goody

"never question the miracle"
Rose-marie Toussaint M.D. Its o.k.

 

[Sparkles]

Yeah so far "First Do No Harm" is about a doctor and his patients in a pediactrics ward at a Houston hospital, and how the "ethics committee" of the hospital views each patient. I am really enjoying it so far.

 

[juddson]

Doesn't anybody here have any imagination at all?

Try 'Stiff' by Mary Roach. The first chapter is a doozy.

An absolutely stunning book.

Judd

 

[katetlo]

I've read the beginning of "Intern Blues" and I'm almost done with "White Coat" which is about a woman at Harvard med school. It is pretty interesting. Makes me think about how I feel about certain issues. I also read "Not a benign procedure" - that was so- so. I also bought the video from Nova that follows around students from the start of med school through residency. I think it is called MD the Making of a Doctor. It was so old (mid 80's) I'm not sure how true it still is. I dated a guy in the first year of his residency last year and he found plenty of time to do stuff. Maybe he was just good at balancing and operating on little sleep but it didn't seem to take a toll on him or at least he wouldn't admit it. Does any one have any current (with in the last 2-3 years) recommendations?

 

[indiamacbean]

I've read a couple of medically related books recently that I really liked:
"Sir William Olser: A Life in Medicine" (A great new biography, not the one written by Cushing whcich is great too, just old and non-critical)

"Out of My Life and Work" and "Philosophy of Civilization" by Albert Schweitzer (a bit dry and definetly dated but still really interesting)

"Song of Haiti: The Lives of Dr. Larimer and Gwen Mellon at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital of Deschapelles" by Barry Paris

"House of God" which is a classic and seems like everyone reads eventually

"Forgive and Remember: Managing Medical Failure" by Charles L. Bosk. This is a sociologist who spends a year and a half on two surgery services at a prestigious teaching hospital and writes an ethnography/social critique of the service, focusing on the topics of error, training and power. really good.

 

[SteveUTexas]

I have to agree with juddson, 'Stiff' is an excellent book. I would also recommend 'Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives' by Pamela Grim.

 

[chuck deli]

"Do We Still Need Doctors?" By Dr. Lantos.

Provides a fascinating discussion on what medicine looks like from the view of a pediatric doctor who works in inner city Chicago but is from a rural area. Provides tons of ethical discussions from the opinion of a pediatrician.

Also "House of God" comes highly recommended by me.

 

[PluckyDuk8]

"Five Patients" by Michael Crichton...Very interesting how the producer/director/whatever he is of ER started with this book, written in 1979. Goes into the history of various aspects of medicine which are quite intriguing, as well as how it talks of medical innovations in the late 60's.

I had to read "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" and "The Boy Who Grew Up as a Girl" or something near that for a class (I forgot the authors). The first is about cultural medicine, and the second is about ethics and when things just go too far. Both are amazing eye opening books.

 

[AAKRAZY]

"Becoming a Doctor: A Journey of Initiation in Medical School" by Melvin Konner, MD.

The author was an anthropologist and father in his mid-thirties before deciding to tackle medical school and a career as a physician.

The book has immediacy for those of us applying, because it dives right into the third year of medical school unlike a lot of the other great books people are recommending which have their focus on the intern year directly after medical school.

He really fleshes out what happens during each of the clinical rotations and combines a lot of anthropological insights into the dynamics of being a medical student in an academic hospital.

I found myself underlining a lot of what I was reading, which I normally don't do. If you know someone starting medical school in the fall, you should pick this one up for them and for yourself. Great book, I guarantee it!

AAK

 

[lakeaustin]

Fast Food Nation is a great book.

It really goes into the obesity epidemic in the US, a major current health care issue.

 

[cather]

Tuesdays with Morrie --one of the best books I have read in a long time. It made me think about everyday life and how life these days is so cluttered with material things and obligations. It is book to read and re-read, one to savor for many years.

Robin Cook books -- these are medical thrillers. They involve doctors trying to solve medical mysteries. Kind of fun to read.

Women's Health: A great author of two books is
Dr. Christiane Northrup I would highly recommend her two books
dealing with women's health issues. The first is Women's Wisdom: Women's Bodies, some people may not like it because she brings in alternative medicine and psychology in helping her patients. Dr. Northrup is an ideal doctor.

Richard Restak: He's written books on the brain and neurology. He is a pyschiatrist and also a great writer. He writes very well. There are some doctors who write books but their writing is so awful and like text-book writing. But Dr. Restak has a gift for words.

All of the above books are very positive and inspiring about the medical field and I would recommend them.

 

[spumoni620]

i second complications....very, very good read

 

[DD214_DOC]

"Second Opinions"

"Healing Lessons"

 

[premyo2002]

Originally posted by spumoni620
i second complications....very, very good read

I feel the same: I just finished it, and I loved it

 

[Iron Horse]

Originally posted by tBw
"Instructions for your new HydroDeluxe Enema"

sorry, this topics been done so many times I just couldn't post seriously to it again...

How does that end? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Greatest Benefit to Mankind (Porter) and Social Transformation of American Medicine (Starr) are pretty important books on medicine. A quick, fun read is Heirs of General Practice by McPhee -- it describes the beginnings of FP.

Looking forward to Complications.

 

[Jsscales05]

Doctor on Everest by Kenneth Kamler, M.D.

This book not only gives insight into high altitude medicine, but it presents the perils of climbing 29,038 ft up into a thinning altitude. Dr. Kamler reflects on his desire to become a doctor and his childhood fascination with climbing. His book entails how he orchestrated leaving his practice, the physical training he underwent, and the acclimation to medicine in high altitude. Dr. Kamler also gives great insight on the people of the mountain, the Sherpas, whom are uparalled when it comes to climbing the worlds tallest peak. This book definitely shows human courage in a different light and the how dreams bring people together.

This book also comments on the Everest Disaster of 1996. Pick up "Into Thin Air" for more on that tragedy. Another book that is pretty good from a physiological standpoint is "Last Breath". It catalouges diffferent ways people can push their bodies to the limit and how the body adjusts to extreme conditions. Great stories and facts in this book.

Those are my recommendations!

 

[Centrum]

Body of Knowledge by Steve Giegerich

One Semester of Gross Anatomy, the Gateway to Becoming a Doctor

 

[beastmaster]

http://www.upalumni.org/medschool/

 

[hiphopcutie44]

I am just about finished reading "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston. It is a true story about an ebola outbreak near DC in the mid-80s. I highly recomend this one.