Good books to read

[backsideattack1]

I just completed The Emperor of all Maladies and I think this might be one of the best books I have ever read and likely one of the best nonfiction medically related books. Does anyone know of any titles that could be comparable: gives a god history of something in medicine, along with personal observation, and well written? (asking a lot i guess) I have looked at the titles listed so far and only came across maybe 2 good ones that are scientifically relevant/helpful

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[Yossarian Lives]

It is about continuing in a psychology residency, not as a small town doc.

I agree. I was not impressed with Mount Misery. Schlomo was a putz.
dsoz

I'm pretty sure he was thinking of Shem's other book "The Spirit of the Place" which is about a small town doc, but not a sequel to The House of God. I haven't read it, but I'd be interested in knowing if it's any good.

I agree with you on Mount Misery. It was a big step down but I wouldn't consider it a waste. It's probably a more worthwhile read for someone interested in psych.

 

[gmcguitar4]

Haha I haven't started studying. I did attempt to read Robbins Physio, but that didn't last more than a couple of days.

I probably will be studying a lot more than the average med student though. If that makes me a gunner, then so be it

As a friend told me, there is nothing that will prepare you for the first semester of med school. Just have a good support system set up and be prepared to have your world turned upside down.

 

[CurtainCall2]

I just started Monday Mornings by Sanjay Gupta (yes, the guy on CNN). Fictional story about a group of surgeons who meet to discuss their success and failures in the OR. The book has been turned into a TV show on TNT. The book is really easy to read and grabs your attention quick. I'm only about 50 pages in but enjoying it so far -- easy, fun reading to pass the time.

 

[backsideattack1]

I have a feeling that almost all this medical literature is going to be about the doctor and not provide enough medical/scientifically relevant information. Anyone able to suggest something that provides a solid background on the field of medicine?

 

[ladybug1552]

I interviewed there. Really loved it. Awesome community feel. Too bad u will be missing out on some bomb BBQ. But I recall the fries at Oklahoma joes being very good, so you still have some options.

Sent from my Galaxy S2, I think. But I don't really know, I'm just a lowly premed.

 

[EmergDoc2B]

"I probably will be studying a lot more than the average med student though. If that makes me a gunner, then so be it "

you may have a learning disability.

 

[backsideattack1]

"I probably will be studying a lot more than the average med student though. If that makes me a gunner, then so be it "

you may have a learning disability.

Lol coldblooded

 

[gmcguitar4]

"i probably will be studying a lot more than the average med student though. If that makes me a gunner, then so be it "

you may have a learning disability.

+2

Obsessive SDN Disorder

 

[Mehd School]

I'm pretty sure he was thinking of Shem's other book "The Spirit of the Place" which is about a small town doc, but not a sequel to The House of God. I haven't read it, but I'd be interested in knowing if it's any good.

You're right, that's what I was referring to.

Once I finish the harry potter series p) that will probably be the first I pick up. I'm halfway through the 4th book right now. These kiddie books are too good to put down. Wish I would have read them 10 years ago.

 

[EmergDoc2B]

Lol coldblooded

it was meant as a innocent joke.

 

[MedPR]

"I probably will be studying a lot more than the average med student though. If that makes me a gunner, then so be it "

you may have a learning disability.

 

[victorypolka]

Paleofantasy by Marlene Zuk is a good read, especially if you're curious about the new diet fads and what science has to say about them.

 

[jrince]

I hated house of god.. I'm a guy and the sex was weird ..


Intern by Sandeep jauhar

On call In hell.. It's about a DO military trauma surgeon

 

[playaodamonth]

Not a book, but there's a documentary about the US healthcare system called Escape Fire. Was alright. Watch it if you feel like procrastinating/want to pass time.

 

[alamo4]

I just started Monday Mornings by Sanjay Gupta (yes, the guy on CNN). Fictional story about a group of surgeons who meet to discuss their success and failures in the OR. The book has been turned into a TV show on TNT. The book is really easy to read and grabs your attention quick. I'm only about 50 pages in but enjoying it so far -- easy, fun reading to pass the time.

In Chapter 28, a patient in the OR for a bowel resection rapidly flatlines, and is treated with defibrillators and then is just fine.

It's like Gupta was trying to write scene from a bad TV show. In real life, it's counter productive to shock asystole. Why doesn't he have real medical practice in his book? He has a couple of cool cases described, but could have taken them a lot further on the details of what was going on.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalDefibrillator

 

[gmcguitar4]

In Chapter 28, a patient in the OR for a bowel resection rapidly flatlines, and is treated with defibrillators and then is just fine.

It's like Gupta was trying to write scene from a bad TV show. In real life, it's counter productive to shock asystole. Why doesn't he have real medical practice in his book? He has a couple of cool cases described, but could have taken them a lot further on the details of what was going on.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalDefibrillator

Considering it is Sanjay Gupta, his book was probably aimed at the general public. The general public doesn't know of v-fib or v-tach as shockable rhythms so he just probably stayed consistent with the ol' tv BS "shock him! he is flatlining."

 

[victorypolka]

I hated house of god.. I'm a guy and the sex was weird ..


Intern by Sandeep jauhar

On call In hell.. It's about a DO military trauma surgeon

I didn't like intern. It wasn't a really captivating story. I liked Michael Collin's books better

 

[NontradCA]

Lets all be honest. Most medical related books are horribly written and uninteresting. I've yet to read one that wasn't completely superficial.

 

[JPickos9989]

Not entirely medically related, but anything by Malcolm Gladwell is a fantastic read. Blink, Outliers, and The Tipping Point are all great to read

 

[GaStu1994]

I have done a search of this and there are a ton of threads but I was wondering if people could share their favorite books pertaining to the medical field/medical school. I am looking for more current books but add anything you want! Also if you know some good ones on the current changes in the healthcare system that would be great too.

Intern: A Doctor's Initiation by Sandeep Jauhar, MD is an excellent memoir of an internal medicine internship by a theoretical physicist turned physician.

Other excellent nonfiction titles I'd recommend are:

• When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery by Frank T. Vertosick, Jr., MD
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi, MD and Abraham Verghese, MBBS (foreword)
• Everything I Learned in Medical School Besides All the Book Stuff by Sujay Kansagra, MD
• The Laws of Medicine by Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD
• Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, MD, MPH
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, MD
• Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Miklós Nyiszli, MD
• Gratitude by Oliver Sacks, MD
• Maximum Insecurity: A Doctor in the Supermax by William Wright, MD
• Jailhouse Doc: A Doctor in the County Jail by William Wright, MD

My favorite medicine-themed novels thus far are:

• The House of God by Samuel Shem (Stephen Bergman, MD)
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, MBBS

While not written by a physician and though not explicitly about medicine, Christopher Hitchens' posthumously published memoir Mortality is a poignantly moving account of what it feels like to suffer through metastatic cancer, viewed from the inside out through the lens of one of the finest journalists and authors of the 20th century.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Thread's 3 years old.

 

[GaStu1994]

Thread's 3 years old.

Your point being?


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[IslandStyle808]

Your point being?


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OP figured it out three years ago.

 

[pseud0]

agreed "mortality" is definitely worth reading.

I'm reading through "Intern" and "The DO's" by Norman Gevitz right now.

 

[phoenixsflame]

I know the thread is 3 years old, but I love learning about new books to read!

Has anyone else read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman? I read it for my medical anthropology class and it's incredibly interesting to read and learn about how far we've come as doctors in terms of cultural understanding (since it was published in the 90s, and the girl in question the book is about was born in the 80s) , as well as even what we still have to improve on.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is also super interesting, I read that in high school for I believe my senior year (assigned reading, ironically enough should have been a hint that I would go into pre-med seeing as I was one of the few that really enjoyed the book).

Outside of medical fiction I love reading fantasy novels, my favorites of which has to be The Rook by Daniel O'Malley and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

 

[GaStu1994]

OP figured it out three years ago.

One should consider that the function of these forums is not solely to address the inquiries of OPs, but also to serve as a database of answers/responses to questions that other students will also have in the future. OP asked his/her question three years ago, but I only found my way to this post earlier today. Many people will look at older forums to address questions that they have now. Therefore, responses to older threads can be of use to those only now coming to read them.

 

[mouster]

I read Dreamland a while ago, and it was incredible. It's about the beginning of the opiate epidemic and what drove it, and then gives a history of the heroin trade in the US. Really interesting stuff. Also:

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. About how we handle death. All Gawande books really.
The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. Psychiatry anecdotes, really well written.
God's Hotel. About the evolution of a hospital as healthcare policy changed and how it changed medicine for the staff. Kind of depressing, but a good read.
The Hot Zone, if you haven't read it already.
Mountains Beyond Mountains.

 

[AKLife]

I agree with above! Being Mortal by Atul Gawande is amazing. I never really considered end of life care prior to reading and his perspective is eye opening. All of his other books are great, too!

 

[poloboy]

I know the thread is 3 years old, but I love learning about new books to read!

Has anyone else read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman? I read it for my medical anthropology class and it's incredibly interesting to read and learn about how far we've come as doctors in terms of cultural understanding (since it was published in the 90s, and the girl in question the book is about was born in the 80s) , as well as even what we still have to improve on.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is also super interesting, I read that in high school for I believe my senior year (assigned reading, ironically enough should have been a hint that I would go into pre-med seeing as I was one of the few that really enjoyed the book).

Outside of medical fiction I love reading fantasy novels, my favorites of which has to be The Rook by Daniel O'Malley and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is by far one of the best nonfiction books I've read. It really makes you think about how to become a great physician.

EDIT: If you've applied to Keck, you'll know that the book gave a shoutout to that school's current Associate Dean!

 

[Scrubs101]

Got asked "what's a recent book you've read that's been influential in your path to becoming a physician" in an interview once, wish I would have seen this post prior to that interview lol might have been able to come up with a good answer

 

[BriannaRodriguez1992]

wow those are good books!

 

[GaStu1994]

Got asked "what's a recent book you've read that's been influential in your path to becoming a physician" in an interview once, wish I would have seen this post prior to that interview lol might have been able to come up with a good answer

Yes, this is definitely a great thing for others who have yet to interview to consider.

Nearly half of my first interview at the Medical College of Georgia centered around things I'd read recently after I piqued the interest of my interviewer by mentioning that I had recently read Brian Greenberg's Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease in response to his asking what kinds of things I liked to read (this was one of his first questions). This sparked a discussion on the DSM, public attitudes toward psychiatry and mental illness, and the current state of medicine in general – all of this peppered with more questions about how other things that I'd read had influenced my perspectives on these issues. You never know just how much your past reading will benefit you during an interview.

 

[ritts]

I recommend When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi to anyone and everyone

 

[ysonerdy]

I recommend When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi to anyone and everyone

Such a great book! I just finished it.

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

I don't know if anybody has already said this, because I didn't read the thread... I just saw the title of the thread and a book popped into my mind.

In Stitches is really good! It's a story about a guy's journey to plastic surgery. It talks a lot about his love life too, which brings a comedic component to the story.

 

[GotIronKnee]

Anything in the Freakanomics series (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner) or You Are Not So Smart (David McRaney). Both are well-written, witty, and informative nonfiction books that uncover the science/logic behind the decisions and thoughts of everything. Plus a lot of the information they write can be applied to a variety of factors in one's life. Honestly, the combination of humor and teaching in these books are what make me remember what it's like to learn for fun.

 

[doctorbob23]

The patient will see you now -Eric Topol

 

[779663]

I've heard "The White-Coat investor" is a must given how much debt you'lol incite followed by how much money you'll be making later in life

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

I was recommended to read The Nazi Doctors from one of the docs I shadowed.

I just ordered it to read over x-mas break! Apparently it's about all the crazy s*** the nazi doctors did during WWII and the psychology/ethics involving that. Can't wait!

 

[gamieg]

every patient tells a story -- lisa sanders

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

I've heard "The White-Coat investor" is a must given how much debt you'lol incite followed by how much money you'll be making later in life

It's pretty good. I read it before medical school, so it wasn't completely relevant to me then. I'll probably read it again once I'm finished.

 

[JuanPonceDeLeon]

They've been said, but "When Breath Becomes Air" and "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" changed the way I look at life and medicine. Incredible reads and I highly recommend them, especially to anyone prepping for interviews.


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