Medical related books? (not textbooks, like actual stories?)

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Gallix23

Gallix23

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Hey everyone,

Recently, I just finished "Complications" by Atul Gawande, and it was an awesome book. I know that he has a sequel to that book out, but I am interested in also getting some more. I'm not looking for text books, I'm looking for actual books written by residents/physicians or even just good books about medicine.

Do you guys have any to recommend?

Thanks
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The universal answer you're going to get is House of God.
 
broken tibula said:
The universal answer you're going to get is House of God.
Click to expand...

I've heard of that, but is it really good? Like from the initial impression I got it was to kind of make people steer clear of med school...is that true?
 
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Definitely get Atul's "Better". I've read both of his books and Better was by far the superior of the two, which is saying quite a lot when I also thought of Complications as a good book.

I've also got "The Soul of a Doctor" which is a book of essays by Harvard medical students and their impressions. It's a pretty decent book.

I've got "How Doctor's Think" by Jerome Groopman, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I'll probably read it after I finish Atlas Shrugged (awesome book) and Candide.
 
Some of the other ones I have read in order I enjoyed:
"Better" Atul Gawande
"Another Day in the Frontal Lobe" Katrina Firlik
"How Doctors Think" Jerome Groopman
"Final Exam" Pauline W. Chen
"On Call in Hell" CDR. Richard Jadick
 
Thanks guys, I'm definitely going to pick up "Better" soon, I just had no idea of any other books written by doctors like Gawande's are. I'll check all of those out that you guys suggested!
 
Every Second Counts - esp if you are into cardiology.
 
Gallix23 said:
Hey everyone,

Recently, I just finished "Complications" by Atul Gawande, and it was an awesome book. I know that he has a sequel to that book out, but I am interested in also getting some more. I'm not looking for text books, I'm looking for actual books written by residents/physicians or even just good books about medicine.

Do you guys have any to recommend?

Thanks
Click to expand...
If you ever wondered what it would be like to be completely paralyzed and unable to voice your thoughts with the world, but you could still see and hear everything...

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" by Jean-Dominique Bauby
 
"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman.

This is one of my all-time favorite books, and sparked my interest in medical anthropology when I was in undergrad. The subtitle/tagline is: "A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures." The book is about a young Hmong girl with epileptic seizures and her family's encounter with American doctors and biomedicine. The book opens readers' eyes to the culture of biomedicine. It's written by a reporter, based on a true story, but reads like a novel. Highly recommended.

I've also just ordered a few books on amazon including Complications, How Doctors Think, and Kitchen Table Wisdom.
 
I really liked "The Hot Zone" when I was in high school.

It doesn't get you too involved in the actual delivery of medical care to individuals, but it talks about epidemiology and infection control. It's definitely worth a read.
 
I have read many of the books listed above and agree that they're worth reading. Also consider getting "Intern Blues"...it's basically a day by day log of 4 intern's experiences during their first year.
 
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Depakote said:
I really liked "The Hot Zone" when I was in high school.

It doesn't get you too involved in the actual delivery of medical care to individuals, but it talks about epidemiology and infection control. It's definitely worth a read.
Click to expand...

That was actually a book for our summer reading in school like two years ago. I saw it over a friend's house and picked it up and finished it that day, hahah it was an awesome book.

Thanks again for all the suggestions guys, I can't wait to check all these out!
 
Depakote said:
I really liked "The Hot Zone" when I was in high school.

It doesn't get you too involved in the actual delivery of medical care to individuals, but it talks about epidemiology and infection control. It's definitely worth a read.
Click to expand...
:thumbup: Loved this book, turns out its a required reading for my World History course that im taking for GE next quarter. O_O
 
I just finished Complications; it was a great book!

Now I am reading "Intern" by Dr. Sandeep Jauher

Intern is awesome, highly recommended. It gives insight into the problems of internal medicine.

I am also going to read Better..

Are there any books about how students survive their undergraduate years. Books that will motivate me to study more. :p
 
Hospital by Julie Salamon, more about the business of running a hospital, but an excellent read

Body of Work: Meditations of Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab by Christine Montross

Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter by Rob Rommel-Hudson - not super medical, but amazing if you're interest in peds/developmental disabilities.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy - if you're interested in plastics

Where is the Mango Princess? by Cathy Crimmins - if you're interested in neuro
 
A book I've read not yet listed in this post is "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story"

It's the story about the first neurosurgeon to successfully perform a hemispherectomy, well actually, it's more about how he came out of the Chicago's ghetto to become Hopkins grad.

It also has a religious undertone, if that's your thing.
 
Oh yeah, I read gifted hands back in the day. My neighbor gave me the book; she's a seventh day Adventist.
 
Darklord said:
Oh yeah, I read gifted hands back in the day. My neighbor gave me the book; she's a seventh day Adventist.
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That's not surprising, it was given to me by one of my way religious (non-science) professors. The book itself isn't overly religious though. The only thing that was a little out there was that "dream" he had before is chem final.
 
Hot lights Cold Steel - Michael Collins
On Call- something transue (honestly its not the best, it was ok though)
 
The Knife Man: The Extraordinary Life and Times of John Hunter, Father of Modern Surgery By Wendy Moore

Stiff: The Curious Lifes of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
 
We read that for a quarter project in freshman bio. It kind of freaked me out at first, but was very exciting and compelling. Also, for a later quarter, we read The Cobra Event. Also epidemiology, but creepier and a bit more science fiction than The Hot Zone(which is based on a true story).
 
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World

Recommended to anyone, not just those interested in medicine. It is a story of a Harvard graduate who looks at health care from a very different perspective. As an anthropologist, he treats the source of the problem and not just the symptoms. Great book, I thought.
 
Has anyone here read The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett? I definitely recommend if you're remotely interested in epidemiology. The early chapters are extremely readable for someone with very limited medical knowledge. The later chapters are a littler more dense, but anyone can read and understand the entire book pretty easily.
 
Gallix23 said:
I've heard of that, but is it really good? Like from the initial impression I got it was to kind of make people steer clear of med school...is that true?
Click to expand...

House of God, by Samuel Shem (a pen name) is THE most important book to read as a premed -- everyone in med school (particularly attendings) will expect you to have read it. You won't be allowed to outwardly behave like any of the folks in that book -- it was very callous and hostile to patients, but it paints a good, albeit humerous, look at a certain prestigious hospital in the 70s, and is a must read. Sadly, you will see that a lot of what was complained/joked about in that book is still true at many internships, but the behavior has cleaned up a lot.

I also agree that good books are Complications by Gawande, and I liked a number of the internship related books by Perri Klass, a woman who did her training at one of the Harvard hospitals.
 
body of work by christine montross. the subtitle is "meditations on mortality from the human anatomy lab." it's awesome.
 
A little off topic, but I did a search for books about life as a medical student...I came across one title only...The Soul of a Doctor. Any other recommendations? :)
 
Hey guys, just an update: So far I have read Body of Work which was great, and right now I'm reading "Intern" because my teacher bought it for me and I'm loving it so far. I plan on reading House of God next, and then I'm going to scan this list to see what else catches my eye:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
I dunno if you're looking purely for fiction or just for non-text medicine-related books, but I really enjoyed Marcia Angell's The Truth About Drug Companies. Check it out.
 
I highly recommend any of Atul Gawande's books, my favorite in particular was "Complications: A surgeon's notes on an imperfect science."
 
Gallix23 said:
Hey everyone,

Recently, I just finished "Complications" by Atul Gawande, and it was an awesome book. I know that he has a sequel to that book out, but I am interested in also getting some more.
Click to expand...

I was disappointed by the sequel. It's mostly just full of Gawande's opinion of how things "should be" instead of interesting case stories. It might be worth reading, but don't expect it to be similar to Complications.

I also recently read a book called What I Learned in Medical School. Not really worth reading, IMO. Seems pretty politically motivated.

LOL, sorry I don't have any positive recommendations of anything.
 
I recommend The Medical Detectives by Berton Roueche. It's basically what it sounds like - real-life medical mysteries that are written up for the lay public. You'll recognize all these cases from the medical-themed shows on tv today (eg House); I have a suspicion that the writers from those shows have all read this book.
 
Survival of the Sickest is a pretty interesting view of health from a evolutionary geneticist's paradigm.
 
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