Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther, a story about the author's son struggling with brain tumor, fascinating story, for personally it gave a much appreciation of the life i have.
Some Worthwhile Summer Reading
- Thread starter LizzyM
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This thread makes me so excited to finish the MCAT so that I can go on a shopping and reading spree!!!! Some of my favorites (not sure I've posted them on here before, but I love them so I will mention them again):
A Map of The Child: A Pediatrician's Tour Of The Body by Darshak Sanghavi, MD is a great read, as it highlights many different medical specialties through case studies of children he's treated or that his colleagues have treated. Each chapter is a different organ system. It's organized in a really cool way, and reads like a novel though it is nonfiction. Probably my favorite medical memoir out of the dozens I've read and that I own.
How Doctors Think, The Anatomy of Hope, and Your Medical Mind by Jerome Groopman, MD, are all fantastic as well. The middle is more of a typical medical memoir, with him reflecting on patients he's treated and accounts of his medical career. The first and last have more of a universal message about making the most of one's healthcare experience, and how to be an open-minded provider and patient. Excellent both for those who are on the receiving end and on the practicing end of medicine.
Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran, MD, PhD is really great as well if you're interested in neurology and neuroscience research. He pioneered some really unique and interesting techniques for treating neurologic diseases, and hearing them describe them and how he came up with them was downright inspirational. Very well-written. He has a lot of TED Talks too that sort of summarize his ideas -- I bought this after watching one of them.
Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain by Frank Vertosick Jr., MD is a really cool blend of information and memoir. He highlights various medical complaints and talks about why and how they cause pain. There were some really poignant anecdotes in this book that have stuck with me for a long time, and that are triggered whenever I see a patient in the ED with a similar condition! His neurosurgery background adds a lot to this. I really loved this one.
Something quite different, but I recently read and loved Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. It's about his son's struggles with methamphetamine abuse, and how it affected their lives and their family. It's definitely a read that gives you insight to what it's like to be a family member or a patient of a stigmatized illness, and how the ramifications can be overpowering.
Oh my gosh, recalling all of these books makes me really really really miss reading. I can't wait to have free time after this test is over! So many great books are waiting! 😍😍
A Map of The Child: A Pediatrician's Tour Of The Body by Darshak Sanghavi, MD is a great read, as it highlights many different medical specialties through case studies of children he's treated or that his colleagues have treated. Each chapter is a different organ system. It's organized in a really cool way, and reads like a novel though it is nonfiction. Probably my favorite medical memoir out of the dozens I've read and that I own.
How Doctors Think, The Anatomy of Hope, and Your Medical Mind by Jerome Groopman, MD, are all fantastic as well. The middle is more of a typical medical memoir, with him reflecting on patients he's treated and accounts of his medical career. The first and last have more of a universal message about making the most of one's healthcare experience, and how to be an open-minded provider and patient. Excellent both for those who are on the receiving end and on the practicing end of medicine.
Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran, MD, PhD is really great as well if you're interested in neurology and neuroscience research. He pioneered some really unique and interesting techniques for treating neurologic diseases, and hearing them describe them and how he came up with them was downright inspirational. Very well-written. He has a lot of TED Talks too that sort of summarize his ideas -- I bought this after watching one of them.
Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain by Frank Vertosick Jr., MD is a really cool blend of information and memoir. He highlights various medical complaints and talks about why and how they cause pain. There were some really poignant anecdotes in this book that have stuck with me for a long time, and that are triggered whenever I see a patient in the ED with a similar condition! His neurosurgery background adds a lot to this. I really loved this one.
Something quite different, but I recently read and loved Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. It's about his son's struggles with methamphetamine abuse, and how it affected their lives and their family. It's definitely a read that gives you insight to what it's like to be a family member or a patient of a stigmatized illness, and how the ramifications can be overpowering.
Oh my gosh, recalling all of these books makes me really really really miss reading. I can't wait to have free time after this test is over! So many great books are waiting! 😍😍
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For those who read this, you mind find this Ted Talk interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_Z-ruRMhSk
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In Stitches by Dr. Tony Youn is a fun read.
I'd also recommend both The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney. Neither is related directly to medicine per se, but they are excellent reads.
I'd also recommend both The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney. Neither is related directly to medicine per se, but they are excellent reads.
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A thread worth reviving, perhaps? I'll add Do No Harm Henry Marsh and When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi
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I might be the minority but i felt like when breath becomes air was kinda whiney.
Here are my recommendations :
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman- Great book on the way we think and how we are prone to make certain errors.
Capital in the 21st century . Thomas Pickety. - Excellent primer on money, wealth, poverty, and the forces at play with data.
Black Swan the Impact of the Highly improbable, Nicholas Taleb - Thinking about unprobable events
The Martian , Andy Weir - A read for anyone who loves science.
The Big Short, Michael Lewis- Fun book.
Stiff, Mary Roach
Pox: Genius, Madness, and the mysteries of syphilis.
Classics if you haven't already read them
Candide- Voltaire
The trial, The metamorphosis, Kafka
The stranger, the plague, the myth of Sisyphus, Camus
