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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
The author wrote 14 medical-related articles. He grouped these articles into 3 general categories. I’ve very briefly described the articles (and categories) since your interest in this book may depend upon your interest in the topics the author has chosen to include in this book. Each article typically includes a specific patient’s case, which very nicely carries some of the general discussion over to relatable real-world impact. Well written. Interesting. Easy for a layman to understand. But fairly general (i.e., no real surprises and not much new information).
FALLIBILITY (I.e., doctors make mistakes) -----
EDUCATION OF A KNIFE: New surgeons learning their craft by operating on real patients.
COMPUTER & THE HERNIA FACTORY: Using computers and ultra-specialization to reduce medical errors.
WHEN DOCTORS MAKE MISTAKES: Most doctors make mistakes. How can they be reduced?
NINE THOUSAND SURGEONS: What it’s like at going to a surgeon’s convention.
WHEN GOOD DOCTORS GO BAD: When an experienced doctor’s performance markedly declines.
MYSTERY (I.e., not everything about medicine is known) -----
FULL MOON FRIDAY THE 13th: Does the emergency room really get unusually busy on these superstitious evenings?
THE PAIN PERPLEX: What causes pain? What drives the intensity of pain?
A QUEASY FEELING: Nausea. Like pain, sometimes hard to determine its cause or alleviate its discomfort.
CRIMSON TIDE: Nope, it’s not about periods – it’s about blushing.
THE MAN WHO COULDN’T STOP EATING: Hunger and the gastric-bypass operation.
UNCERTAINTY (I.e., what’s really the right thing for the doctor to do?) -----
FINAL CUT: Autopsy
THE DEAD BABY MYSTERY: SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
WHOSE BODY IS IT, ANYWAY?: Letting patient’s make informed decisions about their own medical care.
THE CASE OF THE RED LEG: Diagnostic uncertainty, doctor’s gut instinct and flesh-eating bacteria.
FALLIBILITY (I.e., doctors make mistakes) -----
EDUCATION OF A KNIFE: New surgeons learning their craft by operating on real patients.
COMPUTER & THE HERNIA FACTORY: Using computers and ultra-specialization to reduce medical errors.
WHEN DOCTORS MAKE MISTAKES: Most doctors make mistakes. How can they be reduced?
NINE THOUSAND SURGEONS: What it’s like at going to a surgeon’s convention.
WHEN GOOD DOCTORS GO BAD: When an experienced doctor’s performance markedly declines.
MYSTERY (I.e., not everything about medicine is known) -----
FULL MOON FRIDAY THE 13th: Does the emergency room really get unusually busy on these superstitious evenings?
THE PAIN PERPLEX: What causes pain? What drives the intensity of pain?
A QUEASY FEELING: Nausea. Like pain, sometimes hard to determine its cause or alleviate its discomfort.
CRIMSON TIDE: Nope, it’s not about periods – it’s about blushing.
THE MAN WHO COULDN’T STOP EATING: Hunger and the gastric-bypass operation.
UNCERTAINTY (I.e., what’s really the right thing for the doctor to do?) -----
FINAL CUT: Autopsy
THE DEAD BABY MYSTERY: SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
WHOSE BODY IS IT, ANYWAY?: Letting patient’s make informed decisions about their own medical care.
THE CASE OF THE RED LEG: Diagnostic uncertainty, doctor’s gut instinct and flesh-eating bacteria.
Pretty good. The main message is that doctors are humans, and like all humans, make mistakes. It questions how much we can control or prevent this, and what impact that has on the decisions we make in medicine, both as doctors and as patients.
This book is also chock full of interesting real life stories (with names changed, of course) of patients that have been affected one way or another by their own choices or by the choices of their doctors.
This book is also chock full of interesting real life stories (with names changed, of course) of patients that have been affected one way or another by their own choices or by the choices of their doctors.
Great writer, with consideration for his fellow human beings. He always makes me feel hopeful about humanity.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
"Practice is funny that was. For days and days, you make out only the fragments of what to do. And then one day you´ve got the thing whole. Conscious learning becomes unconscious knowledge, and you cannot say precisely how."
I loved this book...very well written. The author strikes the perfect balance of describing complex medical coinditions without "writing over the reader's head". Each chapter describes a different, challenging medical case. The stories about a woman with extreme morning sickness and another person with the dreaded "flesh-eating" bacterial skin infection were particularly good.
I won't lie, I initially put this book down. I do not posses the strongest of stomachs. The detailing of a tracheotomy, was too much for me. If the entire book was to be that vividly descriptive, I wouldn't last. If the book was to be an exploration in the ethics of the medical profession, then I'd be down for that. As it turned out, it was both. So I'm glad I picked it back up.
Dr. Gawande would outline a medical issue, specific surgery, or even a doctor. Then he would talk about the complications of the theme. (Hence the title). I learned about why autopsies aren't done anymore, about what happens when a surgeon makes a mistake (read: Mortality and Morbidity weekly meetings), and about the problem with giving the patient the final say over what happens to her (or his) body.
While I had to skim over some of the gory sections, it really did make me think. I would definitely read another book by Dr. Gawande.
Dr. Gawande would outline a medical issue, specific surgery, or even a doctor. Then he would talk about the complications of the theme. (Hence the title). I learned about why autopsies aren't done anymore, about what happens when a surgeon makes a mistake (read: Mortality and Morbidity weekly meetings), and about the problem with giving the patient the final say over what happens to her (or his) body.
While I had to skim over some of the gory sections, it really did make me think. I would definitely read another book by Dr. Gawande.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
funny
informative
medium-paced