Summer Reading Recs (non-science)?

[medanthjoint]

Anyone have any recommendations of good med school-related (but not curriculum-based) reading material for the summer? I've found and noted tons of recommendations of study materials/review guides/textbooks to consider once I'm in medical school, but in the meantime I'm hoping to read some books that present the "big picture": e.g., residency guides, physician memoirs, or novels related to the medical field.

Thanks!

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[Dr. Dukes]

All these books have been recommended to me, and I've read them. they all in some way deal with medicine/doctoring/why we're actually doing all this.
Complications (about being a Surgeon, compliation of Atul Guwande's (sp?) articles in The New Yorker )
The House of God (about being a medical intern at Beth Israel in MA)
War Hospital (about being a MSF doc in Bosnia during the war)

 

[LuckyBambooGirl]

White Coat by Ellen Rothman. It is about a Harvard med student.

 

[LuckyBambooGirl]

White Coat by Ellen Rothman. It is about a Harvard med student.

 

[LuckyBambooGirl]

White Coat by Ellen Rothman. It is about a Harvard med student.

 

[Ashers]

The Making of a Surgeon -- William A. Nolan

It's really good, and a fast read. About residency and stuff at Bellevue Hospital a long time ago (60s I think) -- way before the 80hr work week. My dad basically got it for me for Christmas, so I'd know what he had to go through as a resident.

 

[LJDHC05]

You think you all would have lives outside of reading medicine-related books over the summer...

Not knowing your tastes, you should probably read the final Harry Potter book.
I can also recommend Into the Wild and Into Thin Air by Krakauer and A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffet because those are the last books that I can remember reading before school killed my free time

 

[soeagerun2or]

Nature?

I've been up too long :*(

 

[mules05]

You think you all would have lives outside of reading medicine-related books over the summer...

Not knowing your tastes, you should probably read the final Harry Potter book.
I can also recommend Into the Wild and Into Thin Air by Krakauer and A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffet because those are the last books that I can remember reading before school killed my free time

Into the Wild is an amazing book. If you like that, I'd also recommend A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Nothing to do with med school at all, but a great book anyway.

 

[LJDHC05]

Into the Wild is an amazing book. If you like that, I'd also recommend A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Nothing to do with med school at all, but a great book anyway.

Great book

 

[psipsina]

When The Air Hits Your Brain

 

[Jack Daniel]

When The Air Hits Your Brain

I've read this one, too. I remembered being all excited about choosing it and enjoyed reading some of the reviews about it. However, once I read it, I wasn't that impressed. May I ask, what part did you like best, or why would you recommend it?

 

[RokChalkJayhawk]

I wholeheartedly support "House of God" by Samuel Shem. While it may be a little over the top, it is the "punch in the stomach" that you need before you decide to keep going.

 

[RokChalkJayhawk]

Some people like "Hot Lights, Cold Steel." It's a book about an orthopod during his residency at Mayo but I found it to be somewhat uninspired. It was OK I guess, but not exactly what I was hoping for.

 

[Gimlet]

"Becoming A Doctor" by Melvin Konner - a non-trad's account of his 3rd and 4th years of med school. A great easy read.

 

[naegleria brain]

when the air hits your brain - the best neurosurgery book ive read so far, but nothing too special

another day in the frontal lobe - stupid; it's just her thoughts on...everything

hot lights, cold steel - seems to be a common favorite. not quite as good as air hits your brain, but its an interesting read

gifted hands - working on it now. seems like an uplifting book about persevering moreso than surgery so far