What's Your Favorite Book About Medicine?

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TheMightySmiter said:
I think I'm the only med student in the history of the world who really hated that book.
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You are not alone. I hated this book too. I didn't find it funny at all. Besides, it's super outdated
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Venom5 said:
he wrote a book??? hmm im going to have to buy this one, remember seeing him on hopkins. what a badass
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Yeah, and it has be an incredibly educational and inspirational read. The man has given me great hope for myself. I would love to meet Dr. Quiñones some day.
 
An MD Hopeful said:
Actually I hated that book too. What surprised me is how much the doctors that I work for recommended it. I almost felt like asking them...are you trying to discourage me from becoming a doctor?
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
You are not alone. I hated this book too. I didn't find it funny at all. Besides, it's super outdated
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Definitely glad to hear this. It had been so highly recommended to me by a number of friends as a pre-med that I kind of felt like there was something wrong with me when I really disliked it. I think the reason I hated it so much was what LizzyM alluded to: it doesn't accurately represent the modern health care system. I worked as an aide for two years on a cardiac floor. There were certainly patients you saw who got shuttled between the hospital and the nursing home, but they weren't all that common. There is also an awful lot of good you can do for many of your patients. Hospitals aren't nearly that depressing. There is love, there is laughter, there is compassion, and there is a helluva lot of hope despite the sickness and pain that people suffer. There are newborn babies to share pictures of, there are old friends who come visit, there are loving spouses and parents and children. Occasionally, the nursing staff would look the other way if a patient's family member brought their well-behaved dog to visit. Of course, if you're looking for misery (in any circumstance), misery is what you'll find.
 
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Tie between How Doctor's Think and Confessions of a Surgeon
 
therethere said:
and of course, complications by Atul Gawande. He puts out articles once in a while on the new yorker..:thumbup:
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Anything by Atul Gawande! Also, not necessarily about the practice of medicine but I love Breakthrough by Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg about the discovery of insulin. :thumbup: Awesome book!
 
Too many to count.

As mentioned above,
Complications
Better
How Doctors Think
Intern


Ones I didn't see mentioned yet:
Almost Home
Body of Work
Brain Surgeon
Kaplan Voices Series on Doctors (3 books): Real Life of a Pediatrician/Surgeon/Internist
White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School
Gregory Pence's Medical Ethics
Between Expectations
In My Own Country
Monday Mornings
Stiff
Twelve Patients
Every Patient Tells a Story
How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America
The Real Grey's Anatomy:A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Real Lives of Surgical Residents
My Lobotomy

Those are just some of my favorites. If I think of any more I'll update this post. :)
 
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Every Patient Tells a Story by Linda Sanders was pretty good (the only one I really liked that wasn't already mentioned). There's also another really good one called Brain Surgeon by Keith Black that was awesome.
 
It's not about healthcare, per se, but I really liked The Emperor of All Maladies.
It does a really good job explaining the different responses to cancer through the ages.
 
if anyone is in need of a great explanation of the new healthcare law... Landmark: The Inside Story of America's New Health Care Law and What It Means for Us All by the Staff of the Washington Post
 
AmirTimur said:
"Arrowsmith" by Sinclair Lewis. Interesting how nothing much has changed since the early 1900's
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Arrowsmith is great.

Also, not entirely about medicine-- Madame Bovary is just a fantastic story and happens to be about a physician.
 
Owlie said:
Was it bad? Dense? Boring?
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Eh...probably more boring than anything....although I didn't make it very far in. I just remember not liking it very much. Maybe I'll try again one of these days, just because it is what it is.
 
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tiedyeddog said:
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Bene...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264273198&sr=8-1

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This is long but it is a super detailed history of medicine. Porter has an amazing literary voice. If you're at all interested in the roots of medicine, buy this.

It's amazing to think that 200 years ago doctors were considered cheats who often did more damage then good....
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I love seeing my posts necromanced in a thread from almost three years ago. ;)
 
eefen said:
Eh...probably more boring than anything....although I didn't make it very far in. I just remember not liking it very much. Maybe I'll try again one of these days, just because it is what it is.
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I've bought books like that. When I bought Lord of the Rings as a teenager, I couldn't stand how thick the writing was. Now I love that book so much, having a different perspective and level of reading comprehension. It can really depend on a person's point in his/her lifetime. Or maybe the book really does just suck :laugh:

I've heard people that like it however.
 
physiologist said:
Every Patient Tells a Story by Linda Sanders was pretty good (the only one I really liked that wasn't already mentioned). There's also another really good one called Brain Surgeon by Keith Black that was awesome.
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Ya I loved that one! Great book!
I think she wrote for House
 
JFK90787 said:
Everyone says the Paul Farmer book is good but I thought it was incredibly boring. Does this make me a bad person? :scared:
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I don't know if this makes you a bad person, but I've actually never heard anyone say this before. I'm going to personally/formally recommend that everyone read it. It's called:

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
 
^ mountains beyond mountains is what made me start my premed and not just be an Anthro Major. I just finished up Pathologies of Power, also a great book.
 
Can't believe I forgot these:
Guns, Germs & Steel
Survival of the Sickest
Plague Time
Secret Agent
Why We Get Sick

Wonderful books, definitely worth the read.
 
My grandfather's blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen. I absolutely loved it. A must read.
 
I really loved Direct Red by Gabriel Weston. also A Not Entirely Benign Procedure by Perri Klass! I thought House of God was extremely annoying too.... yes it is a very important book, but holy crap it is so dated and sexist. I don't usually get all "feminist" against stuff but this was just too much. ahh the 70's.
 
So I tried downloading the Kindle sample of House of God....didn't even finish the sample. I don't think it's going to work out between us, House. But it's me, not you...

Mountains Beyond Mountains was a good book--it provides an awesome glimpse into global health.
 
Poetic Silence said:
Yeah, and it has be an incredibly educational and inspirational read. The man has given me great hope for myself. I would love to meet Dr. Quiñones some day.
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He is awesome, humble, funny & super approachable :) I hope that you meet him some day too!
 
JFK90787 said:
Everyone says the Paul Farmer book is good but I thought it was incredibly boring. Does this make me a bad person? :scared:
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Yes. Jk, I found Kidder's writing a bit annoying and boring... (I felt that he was at times sharing his opinion when he was supposed to just be reporting a story). Farmer's career is awesome though, his ethics, consistency and sense of social justice often serve me as a compass and inspiration.

Great thread by the way!
 
SilverCat said:
It's not about healthcare, per se, but I really liked The Emperor of All Maladies.
It does a really good job explaining the different responses to cancer through the ages.
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I finished this book a few weeks ago and thought it was amazing.
 
Puswhisperer is a funny, quick read by an ID doc. It was also $1 on Amazon when I got it. I whip it out on my Droid Kindle when I'm bored waiting on something.
 
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but it's about a Hmong girl with seizures and the cultural conflict between her parents and the American medical system.

Can't quite put my finger on it, but I didn't really enjoy the book. It seemed like there wasn't enough hard science/medicine and the novel mainly focused on the family and how they lived.

Bigger questions in my mind were medical ones:

(1) Could the girl have been saved, or would the outcome have been the same with optimal care? Maybe the low compliance wasn't really a problem and the girl would have ended up the same regardless.

(2) The author mentions side effects from the medication, but doesn't really delve into this issue. There were apparently a couple of serious side effects that the drugs produced, but this is only touched on tangentially. Maybe the parents were right, in a way, to not give the girl the prescribed medication.

Overall, a fairly *meh* book. Left me unsatisfied.
 
ModerateMouse said:
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but it's about a Hmong girl with seizures and the cultural conflict between her parents and the American medical system.

Can't quite put my finger on it, but I didn't really enjoy the book. It seemed like there wasn't enough hard science/medicine and the novel mainly focused on the family and how they lived.
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This book definitely left me really frustrated, and yes, a lot of things were only touched upon tangentially, but I appreciated that the author did delve into the cultural aspects in that way.

I really liked County by David Ansell, and I also love Michelle Au's blog, so I'm assuming her book This Won't Hurt a Bit: (And Other White Lies) is amazing too - haven't gotten around to reading it yet unfortunately.
 
ModerateMouse said:
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but it's about a Hmong girl with seizures and the cultural conflict between her parents and the American medical system.

Can't quite put my finger on it, but I didn't really enjoy the book. It seemed like there wasn't enough hard science/medicine and the novel mainly focused on the family and how they lived.

Bigger questions in my mind were medical ones:

(1) Could the girl have been saved, or would the outcome have been the same with optimal care? Maybe the low compliance wasn't really a problem and the girl would have ended up the same regardless.

(2) The author mentions side effects from the medication, but doesn't really delve into this issue. There were apparently a couple of serious side effects that the drugs produced, but this is only touched on tangentially. Maybe the parents were right, in a way, to not give the girl the prescribed medication.

Overall, a fairly *meh* book. Left me unsatisfied.
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I've had to read this book three times. It gets better with more study. I don't know what you mean by "could the girl have been saved..." because Lia Lee did not die of her condition. The purpose of the book is to show how doctors may need to accept a person's background in order to not be negligent in treatment. One of the physicians in the book says that to treat her, he had to practice "veterinary medicine"... which is downright demoralizing and demeaning.
 
dancingparadox said:
I also love Michelle Au's blog, so I'm assuming her book This Won't Hurt a Bit: (And Other White Lies) is amazing too - haven't gotten around to reading it yet unfortunately.
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This one was pretty good. :)
 
Microbe Hunters - Paul DeKruif
It's a beautifully written book about how microbes were discovered and how they completely changed medicine.
 
Genius on the Edge! If anyone is interested in surgery this book is a must read.
 
Learning How The Heart Beats: The making of a Pediatrician
 
Poetic Silence said:
Thank you for your random words of kindness. :)

How did you come to meet him?
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Of course, a couple of friends worked at his lab and he was often invited for a variety of talks with different groups... I should read his book because his anecdotes were great :)
 
Knife Songs Korea
Letters to a Young Doctor
Mortal Lesson
by Richard Selzer

Better by Atul Gawande
 
impermanence said:
Of course, a couple of friends worked at his lab and he was often invited for a variety of talks with different groups... I should read his book because his anecdotes were great :)
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His book is absolutely amazing. You cannot help but cheer as this underdog takes on the world and finds those who can see his potential. Half the time it felt like I was reading about myself. I've only read the man's memoir, but it feels like I've known him all my life.

Dr. Carson is another impressive memoir, but I found Dr. Q's story much more relevent to my life and much more inspiring. I really hope someone in the film industry picks this up and decides it would make a great film. That would be awesome!
 
metallica81788 said:
I liked Hot Lights, Cold Steel and The Intern Blues.

Reading Another Day in the Frontal Lobe and When the Air Hits the Brain convinced me not to do neurosurgery. :laugh:
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Loved Hot Lights, Cold Steel. :)
 
Atul gave a speech at the hospital where I work yesterday, it was awesome. The auditorium was way over capacity everyone wanted to see him. I can only imagine how good his books are, might have to get one.
 
If anyone is interested in genetics: Genome by Matt Ridley. There are twenty-three chapters, and in each one he takes a gene from each chromosome pair and explains its history and what it codes for and how it can affect people when it mutates. Great stuff if you want a big overview of the genome in one book.
 
I can't believe only one person mentioned anything written by Robert Marion. (Correct me if I missed something.)
The Intern Blues
Genetic Rounds
Rotations
The Boy Who Felt No Pain
The Woman Who Swallowed a Toothbrush
The Woman Who Swallowed Her Cat
How Doctors Think
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat
These aren't about medicine, but they are definitely worth looking into if you like the books above:
Blink
Outliers
The Tipping Point
Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics
The Sociopath Next Door
Why We Make Mistakes
 
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