Good Books to Read?

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These books were recommended by docs that I work with

1. House of God - Samuel Sherman (about medical interns in the 70s, based off Beth Israel in Boston)
2. Stiff -Mary Roach
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Fiction
Song of Ice and Fire series
Jaws
Jurassic Park

Nonfiction
Chasing the Scream: the First & Last Days of the War on Drugs
The Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons
The Lady & Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins
Buzzed: The Straight Facts Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy
 
I recently read Plain Song by Kent Haruf. It is fiction, set in the plains of Colorado at the end of the 20th century. There is a physician who is a minor character but it is not a book about medicine. Very much a book about human beings, family and community.
 
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My absolute favorite book: A Life in Surgery, a biography about Harvey Cushing, the "father" of modern neurosurgery.

Now currently reading the biography about Sir William Osler authored by Harvey Cushing himself!

I love biographies of famous physicians.
 
Currently reading:

  • Salt Sugar Fat, by Michael Moss. Great investigative work on the machination of the food industry to get us to eat more - and the consequences. Of public health interest. Would recommend.
  • The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. A dystopian fiction novel with great reviews, but I'm finding it dry and spiritless. I doubt I'll have the courage to finish it.
  • The Mediation of Marcus Aurelius, by... you know who. Marcus Aurelius would have called himself philosopher foremost and king only by duty, I imagine. Staunch stoic. You could call this his "diary". Very dense, the kind of book that stays on your night stand for years and to which you often come back.
 
song of ice and fire is always a good one to start
 
I started reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage after I finished the MCAT last week and I'm blowing through it. Typical fascinating Murakami.
 
LizzyM said:
Amazon product ASIN 0321832019
But don't pre-study for med school, ok?
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Don't worry! I'll instead be honing my hand-eye coordination for surgery by coloring inside of the lines!

Cotterpin said:
I started reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage after I finished the MCAT last week and I'm blowing through it. Typical fascinating Murakami.
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Every since I read a chapter excerpt from it, I was hooked. Absolutely brilliant writing. Now, if only I had the time to read the book.
 
I'd also suggest The Fifth Agreement.
 
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Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
 
I just finished On Anarchism by Chomsky. I'd recommend it
 
Finally, it is summer time and I have time to read, a luxury I have not had the last year with the application cycle busyness. During my last few weeks before entering the "drink from a fire hose" room, I have read Radical: Taking Back your Faith from the American Dream by Dr. David Platt and a biography on Klaus Dieter John, a medical missionary currently working in Peru. I am currently reading Follow Me by Dr. David Platt.

By the way, I recommend this entire series:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_5vwt2b4bou_b
 
Any recommendations on books about physicians working in underserved communities. Just finished Forgive and Remember: Managing Medical Failure. Great read.
 
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The Master and Margarita. Read it at least twice. The first time will be spent going through the endnotes to make sense of the geography of early 20th Century Moscow.
 
Donald Trump's books are inspirational, uplifting, and provide excellent advice and wisdom to young professionals in any industry. Two of my favorites are his books, Think Big, Kick Ass and Think Like A Champion. Another good book that offers inspiration and a look at snapshots of NYC history is Sonia Sotomayor, The True American Dream. The later is an example of how to tell the story of a high-achieving racial minority female in a humble way that still gives her the credit she deserves and fights any myth of a "free ride."

Drawing from other occupations provides a diversity of thought that can benefit any industry or professional.
 
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Gauss44 said:
Donald Trump's books are inspirational, uplifting, and provide excellent advice and wisdom to young professionals in any industry. Two of my favorites are his books, Think Big, Kick Ass and Think Like A Champion. Another good book that offers inspiration and a look at snapshots of NYC history is Sonia Sotomayor, The True American Dream. The later is an example of how to tell the story of a high-achieving racial minority female in a humble way that still gives her the credit she deserves and fights any myth of a "free ride."

Drawing from other occupations provides a diversity of thought that can benefit any industry or professional.
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Humility should not be considered requisite in telling the story of a minority female, just as it is certainly not in the case of Mr. Trump. The myth of the "free ride" is adequately demolished by the clear underrepresentation of minority females in positions of professional and political power.
 
I second Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder it's a well written book,
also The emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee was outstanding,
currently, I am reading the first of a three part series of biographies on Winston Churchill The Last lion
and next on my list to read is The history of Madness by Michel Foucault.
 
brochacho123 said:
Any recommendations on books about physicians working in underserved communities. Just finished Forgive and Remember: Managing Medical Failure. Great read.
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Not All of Us Are Saints by David Hilfiker

The Lassa Ward - Ross I. Donaldson (serving in Sierra Leone)

Letters to a Young Doctor by Richard Selzer (in particular these short stories: Brute, Imelda, and Toenails)
 
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Some recent reads:

None fiction
-Global Pharmaceuticals: Ethics, Markets, Practices
-Tobacco Capitalism: Growers, Migrant Workers, and the Changing Face of a Global Industry
(book naming conventions in anthropology are actually so ridiculous)

Fiction
-Kafka on the Shore
-The Man with the Compound Eyes
- Kinder than Solitude

Kinder than Solitude hurt me. It's definitely not a feel good read but I loved the pain. It's crazy because the author, Yiyun Li, came to the States for a Ph.D in immunology. Talk about a career changer.
 
@Jaurim Kafka on the Shore! :biglove: Nice pick! Your description of Kinder than Solitude for some reason made me think of A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe. If you haven't already read that one, you might like it!
 
Fifty Shades of Grey

To really spice up those extracurricular activities 😉
 
Cotterpin said:
@Jaurim Kafka on the Shore! :biglove: Nice pick! Your description of Kinder than Solitude for some reason made me think of A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe. If you haven't already read that one, you might like it!
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Just read the summary and I can feel the pain coming on already haha. Gonna add that to my goodreads! My reading list is long, my time on Earth is short 🙁
 
I'm reading Paper Towns right now and it has a laugh-out-loud funny, yet also mysterious writing style that I love
 
OMG "Gifted Hands" by Ben Carson was great! His writing style got a little repetitive but the way he chronicled his amazing life was captivating.

"Final Exam" by Pauline Chen is a great book, talks about her experience with death and dying and mortality throughout her surgical training
 
brochacho123 said:
Any recommendations on books about physicians working in underserved communities. Just finished Forgive and Remember: Managing Medical Failure. Great read.
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"Underserved communities" are usually more poor and more impacted by social problems (poverty, crime, drugs, racism etc) than your average group, and the most drastically underserved people are found in low-income countries.

10 Lessons in Public Health: Inspiration for Tomorrow's Leaders, by Alfred Sommers, a public health ophthamologist
Just and Lasting Change, by Carl Taylor, who pretty much founded the field of international/global health in the US
Six months in Sudan, by an MSF doctor
The Hospital by the River, about Catherine Hamlin's fistula hospital and medical education programs in Ethiopia.
Walking Together, Walking Far: How a U.S. and African Medical School Partnership Is Winning the Fight against HIV/AIDS - a personal fav, about international clinical/medical education/research partnership
Second Suns: Two Doctors and Their Amazing Quest to Restore Sight and Save Lives, about a HMS and Nepali ophthamology team in Nepal
You could check out Betrayal of Trust, about poor public health policy around the world.
Anything by Paul Farmer.
If you want to get more academic, check out Duke's Social Med Reader.

Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks are a great intro to cross-cultural medicine.

Non-underserved, Saving Sight was a lot of fun and interesting. So is Atul Gawande.
LizzyM said:
Not All of Us Are Saints by David Hilfiker
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+1
 
Can't wait for secondaries to be over to give these books the time they deserve!

My personal favorite book is The Sea Wolf by Jack London. Spoiler: no actual wolves.
 
- On Doctoring (a collection of short stories and poems, all medicine related, some very thought provoking)
- W;t the play
- Team of Rivals
- Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
 
Catalystik said:
The Martian by Andy Weir. About an astronaut marooned on Mars. It will exercise your physics, bio, chem, math and duct tape-using skills. Coming out as a movie soon.
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omg matt damon and childish gambino
 
For underserved populations, In the real of the hungry ghosts by gabor mate, a physician who worked in vancouver bc's infamous downtown eastside.

Im currently reading the emperor of all maladies- a biograbio of cancer and it's very good and making me consider pursuing oncology
 
If you are at all interested in oncology, highly recommend The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
 
Catalystik said:
The Martian by Andy Weir. About an astronaut marooned on Mars. It will exercise your physics, bio, chem, math and duct tape-using skills. Coming out as a movie soon.
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Just finished this the other day. I'm not so much into the sci-fi thing but I really enjoyed it.
 
Avengerz said:
Hi, I have some free time this summer and I'm wondering if anyone has any good suggestions on reading material?

Right now I'm just looking at reading something that is both at a moderate difficulty and enjoyable.
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The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
 
3 of my favorite books ever (and I have read a LOT)

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, historic fantasy set in England during the Napoleonic wars.
The Lies of Locke Lamora, high fantasy about a con-man who finds himself turning into a hero.
Maus, graphic novel and biography. The best non-fic I've ever read.
 
Incognito by David Eagleman
Godel Escher Bach by Hofstadter
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking by Dennett
On Becoming a Person by Rogers
 
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