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adviksh's review
3.0
More practical and less philosophical than Complications. Gawande’s examples are interesting in a How Stuff Works sense. I didn’t find the insights as striking as the stories. It’s fun to read about what he notices.
biobibliophile's review
3.0
I heartily recommend this to my doctor friends, and I think they will probably rate this higher than I have. Well-written and with a clear vision to talk about humanizing medicine, Gawande both tells of academic studies and shares his personal experiences about the challenges of being a good doctor and what that even means. I enjoyed the read, but being a medical doctor is just not something I'm all that interested in.
athouse's review
5.0
This is his best written book. The last chapter and the afterword are phenomenal. Some of the content in the middle is maybe a bit more for laymen than physicians but every physician living should read at least the afterword. It’s perfect.
terrimarshall's review
5.0
I think I liked this second book by this author even better than the first. Interesting essays on controlling polio outbreaks in India, how surgery during war has evolved so that far fewer injured soldiers are dying, how surgery and hospitals do business in India, how doctors fee schedules came to be, etiquette for examining patients in the office with chaperoned, clothes on/off, etc. An interesting look at many aspects of medicine.
noahbw's review
5.0
This is an excellent combination of examination of interesting facets of varying elements of medicine, narrative, ethical questions, and reflections on personal and systemic decision making.
lexiejex's review
4.0
I thought this was going to be a memoir so I was very confused the first like 1/4th of the book LOL but he goes through something interesting things in medicine and tells stories about polio vaccination, malpractice, cystic fibrosis, rural medicine, and some other things! Super interesting and I like him a lot, I love how he said to always question things and always strive to be better because that’s how we will progress as a society.
wolvereader's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.0
A series of mostly unconnected essays about the medical field, especially from a surgeon’s point of view.
This book has been on my shelf forever, and now that I’ve read it, that was probably fine. I think when I bought it I was expecting some insights that could be taken over to the business world, but this was just mostly interesting facts about medicine in the US. The “performance” mentioned in the title was basically: be diligent, sweat the details, and never give up. Still, it was an interesting glimpse into US healthcare and well written, so 3 stars.
This book has been on my shelf forever, and now that I’ve read it, that was probably fine. I think when I bought it I was expecting some insights that could be taken over to the business world, but this was just mostly interesting facts about medicine in the US. The “performance” mentioned in the title was basically: be diligent, sweat the details, and never give up. Still, it was an interesting glimpse into US healthcare and well written, so 3 stars.
lediamond4's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Gawande has a true gift for writing. He has the ability to tell stories of the medical field in a way that someone like me can almost fully comprehend. Complex terms are explained, connections with strangers are made, and a better understanding is gained.