Which novel should I read?

[medical22]

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I am in a Physician Assistant Program and have to read a novel related to health for one of my classes. I will have to give a creative 30 min oral presentation on the book and also write an 8 page literary thesis (themes, why it is of interest, etc.) on it. I will have about 2 months to do this. The book chosen has to be appealing and of interest to the student. The student has to make some connection to it and explain the importance of it. We are allowed to choose books that directly address personal medical concerns or are of intellectual interest. I cannot think of a topic that particularly relates to me and am having a very hard time choosing a book. Can you suggest any that you may have read and tell me a bit about it? I want to be sure that it is a popular book so that I can easily do a literary search on it. I prefer it to be not too long. Thank you for your help.

 

[banannie]

Try "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I guarantee you will love this book, and I vaguely recall reading articles about the book's themes related to medicine, illness, etc., so there should be some background material out there for you.

 

[Street Philosopher]

One book that I managed to read was Touched By Fire which was a book about the team of Doctors without Borders serving in Rwanda. It was surprisingly insightful about the motivations of physicians to do these things (quite unexpected). It also described humanism in an environment of savage violence, responsibility in an atmosphere of hopelessness, and strength through tragedy and despair. I highly recommend it.

 

[xanthines]

I like the book Arrowsmith but Sinclair Lewis (No, not The Jungle guy!). I don't know about 2 long appealing, but it was one of the four books for which he won the Nobel Prize.

It's about a guy thinks he wants to go to medical school, but in the end he probably shouldn't have. It has surprisingly relevant social issues related to medicine despite being nearly 100 years old. The perception of medicine/doctors by the public, public health, medical research, and the list goes on.

It might be a refreshing change from House of God, Love in the Time of Cholera etc standbys...

Just opining....

-X

 

[missMD]

I think an excellent book to read would be Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health. Although the entire book is pretty thick, it is broken down into smaller chapters and I would do a project on any one of them that interests you. It has chapters on the plague in India and lack of help, ebola and curruption, collapse of Russian public health, the American public health system, and bioterrorism. I highly recommend it!

 

[quideam]

I second SP's suggestion that you read "Touched By Fire" - excellent, thought-provoking book. Along those same lines, you could also read "The Dressing Station" - it's about a surgeon who does a bunch of volunteer missions in some pretty insane places.

- Quid

 

[twinklz]

By novel, I take it you mean fiction. If so...

I would recommend The Plague by Camus, The Metamorphosis by Kafka (a bit of a stretch, but you could talk about the estrangement of a patient and family grief), W;t by Margaret Edson (actually thats a play, but its very good), or Graham Greene's "A Burnt-Out Case."

If non-fiction (but still literary)

"A Not Entirely Benign Procedure" by Perri Klass or "The Blood of Strangers" Frank Huyler.

"Arrowsmith" is a good reccomendation, but its very long. And although a good read, I got rather annoyed with the main character about halfway through.

 

[Amit1]

The House of God.

I think every pre-health student should read it.

 

[xanthines]

Oooh! Good suggestions!

Originally posted by twinklz
By novel, I take it you mean fiction. If so...

I would recommend The Plague by Camus, The Metamorphosis by Kafka (a bit of a stretch, but you could talk about the estrangement of a patient and family grief), W;t by Margaret Edson (actually thats a play, but its very good), or Graham Greene's "A Burnt-Out Case."

Yeah, he is a bit whiny.

Originally posted by twinklz

"Arrowsmith" is a good reccomendation, but its very long. And although a good read, I got rather annoyed with the main character about halfway through.

 

[medical22]

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. I'll so some more research on them. Do you know of any books on Family medicine as that is what i'm interested in or about medicine in India (comparison with US). I'm originally from India and would love to read about that if it's out there.

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

Arrowsmith is solid but very, very, very, very long.

What about something written by or about a cancer survivor/survival? At a minimum it will make you stand out from your PA classmates and offer a different and more humanistic outlook on the topic of disease. Be Different. Peace.

 

[RedBlanket]

I would second (or third) the recommendation of Arrowsmith. It will take a chunk of time but it is rife with rich topics for discussion.

If you are interested in Family Med and cultural issues I would say the "gold standard" is _The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down_ by Anne Fadiman. In brief summary it is a complex true life tale of providing medical care across radically different cultures. Complex issues of power, belief, etc. It is somewhat popular so it might be too obvious of a choice, but still worth a read.

Of personal interest, I have always thought that the film "Chinatown" actually dealt with some broad themes that pertain quite well to medicine.

Camus' _The Plague_ and Kafka's _Metamorphosis_ would be a big bite methinks, and would probably be better only if you've had some experience in studying or at least thinking about existential philosophy in the past.

_The House of God_ is an all too obvious choice, but it's a classic of medical literature for a reason.

I just remembered _My Own Country_ by Abraham Verghese. I confess I haven't actually read it, but it written by an Indian doctor describing his experiences treating AIDS patients in rural America (relatively early in the epidemic).

 

[xanthines]

He talks about being a foreign doc and tracking the unlikely AIDS epidemic in rural Tenn (i think it was Tenn). It's short and a good read.

-X

Originally posted by RedBlanket

I just remembered _My Own Country_ by Abraham Verghese. I confess I haven't actually read it, but it written by an Indian doctor describing his experiences treating AIDS patients in rural America (relatively early in the epidemic).

 

[rjmst]

Blokes in Toyland

 

[LaurieB]

Can one of you tell me who wrote "Touched By Fire?" I looked on Amazon and only found romances and a book about the civil war.

THANKS!

 

[digambara]

The recommendations are excellent. Love in the Time of Cholera is a personal favorite - Garcia Marquez looks at relationships in a very poignant and honest manner. He almost seemlessly interweaves issues of aging and disease in context to the protagonists' own changing feelings towards love and life.

If interested in a work focused on India, I would suggest Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali. Taking place in the nineteenth century, it looks at the decay of an entire culture through the tidings of one family. Disease and health are persistent themes, and the work as a whole is very evocative and quite moving.

Not sure of availability, but my own copy is from New Directions Paperbook Originals.

 

[climberchick]

Doctors by Erich Segal, a great read!!