Good Books to read for Pre-med?

[NescacPremed]

I'm look for an educational book about science* that interesting to read that is not a textbook. Non-Fiction or fiction. Something that is typically read for leisure and that can help me in some way prepare for the MCAT or high level science classes!

* medicine, MCAT related subjects, biology, chemistry, psychology etc..

For example, I have previously read and highly recommend The Emerpor of all Maladies the Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

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[rilte4]

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

 

[Psai]

Fooled by Randomness

www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Chance-Markets/dp/B006Q7VFGO

Should be required reading for every single physician. So few people understand statistics. No one seems to understand distributions or randomness in general. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence! And there's a good chance that your statistically significant finding is just noise or clinically insignificant data

 

[deleted407021]

How Doctors Think, by Dr. Jerry Groopman.

Many interesting comments on medical education, physician cognition, the place of evidence based medicine and how good and equitable communication with patients can mean the difference between years of suffering and finding a cure.



EDIT: OP, if you've been an avid reader for years, you've been preparing for CARS the whole time

 

[Green Grass]

House of God. I'm not sure if it'll help you on the MCAT, but it's good and gives you a fair representation of real medicine. The Fat Man lives in us all.

 

[tessellations]

Anything by Atul Gawande. His books and his New Yorker pieces are wonderful.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Fooled by Randomness

www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Chance-Markets/dp/B006Q7VFGO

Should be required reading for every single physician. So few people understand statistics. No one seems to understand distributions or randomness in general. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence! And there's a good chance that your statistically significant finding is just noise or clinically insignificant data

I think I might actually pick this one up - seems both interesting and highly relevant.

Some of the reviews on goodreads seem to really knock his writing style though

 

[JustAPhD]

The Spark of Life by Frances Ashcroft is a good read. Bonus points if you like ephys.

 

[deleted709753]

Not science related, but if you want a book to help you prepare for classes/MCAT, consider this book if you want to learn how to really gun

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School by Scott Turrow

 

[Pyruvate]

As @tessellations mentioned, everything Atul Gawande writes is good, but, personally, I would most highly recommend Being Mortal. It is one of the most influential and thought-provoking books I have ever read independent of my medical school aspirations.

 

[pyrrion89]

If you like Global Health, Mountains Beyond Mountains

 

[Psai]

I think I might actually pick this one up - seems both interesting and highly relevant.

Some of the reviews on goodreads seem to really knock his writing style though

I actually got it because I'm trying to learn more about investing but it was more a treatise in probability and behavioral economics. We like to think we are logical but our decisions are greatly affected by our emotions.

In his book he says that reviews by people with expertise are the only ones that really matter. Those made by random people are more of a reflection of the author of the review, rather than the book.

 

[Crayola227]

As @tessellations mentioned, everything Atul Gawande writes is good, but, personally, I would most highly recommend Being Mortal. It is one of the most influential and thought-provoking books I have ever read independent of my medical school aspirations.

I hated checklist and felt like I didn't get enough back given how much time I had spend reading it
that and it was required reading at my school which I'm sure as @Psai says colors this

 

[Psai]

I liked complications. Better and checklist manifesto are just way too preachy. The message is solid but he talks down to you like you're a wayward child. Oh hey why aren't you using checklists to save patients' lives? If a surgeon in Iraq can work for 48 hours two times in a row with only a few hours of sleep and spends a bunch of time inputting data why can't you? It's silly.

Being mortal was really an excellent book and I really don't understand why we send so many people to rot in nursing homes when we can give them control over their lives and let them live a little with assistance. People suffer when they have a set schedule, especially when it's incredibly rigid. When someone forces you to wake up at the same time every day, eat the same crap at the same time every day, do the same boring things like bingo every day then that's not a life worth living. It's a big reason for why the preclinical years are so nice while residency is so crappy.

 

[tessellations]

I liked Checklist - but it was definitely a bit preachy. I actually liked it more for its exploration of the flight and construction industries' approach to checklists than for the surgery checklist. My father is really into planes so it reminded me of him, which certainly colored my experience of the book.

Complications was great and I've been enjoying reading Being Mortal. I haven't read Better though.

 

[Psai]

The problem with checklists in medicine is that they're being distorted into something they aren't, which is actually addressed in his book. Checklists are a guide, especially for when you're in a new situation or when you want to make sure that nothing is missed. But when people start paying you based on whether you gave a patient a beta blocker before surgery, even when it's not indicated and potentially harmful for a patient, that's a distortion of the intention of the checklist. When people want you to sign a patient's belly for liver surgery as a part of a campaign against wrong side surgery, that's a mindless waste of time. When intelligence and critical thinking are replaced by checkboxes from nursing clipboard warriors, there's a big problem.

 

[NescacPremed]

Anything by Atul Gawande. His books and his New Yorker pieces are wonderful.

I went to the New Yorker website and on the homepage first article was by Atul Gawande! Thanks for the tip!

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

Any atul gawande, Confessions of a Sugeron was pretty ok, How Doctors Think is good so far.

 

[NescacPremed]

Just ordered Being Moral by Atul Gawande! Gotta love amazon prime student! Thanks everyone, and feel free to keep the suggestions coming! Ill make a list to read after I finish Being Moral!
Its time for some good o'l summer reading!!!!!

 

[toogoofy]

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is great.

Its about the reflections of a neurosurgery resident who got terminal cancer during his last yesr of residency. He mostly discusses his views on identity, mortality, and why he loved science and writing.

 

[NescacPremed]

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is great.

Its about the reflections of a neurosurgery resident who got terminal cancer during his last yesr of residency. He mostly discusses his views on identity, mortality, and why he loved science and writing.

Oh my gosh! I immediately ordered this book!!!

 

[wanderingorion]

Oh my gosh! I immediately ordered this book!!!

One of my favorite books. The last part by his wife is heart-wrenching

 

[numbersloth]

Five Days at Memorial by Sherri Fink. Also The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee.