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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed reading When the Air Hits Your Brain, from the writing style of Dr Vertosick to the tales from his experience as a neurosurgery resident. Each patient's story had a profound impact on me as a reader - hearbreaking at times, consoling at others. While Dr Vertosick describes neurosurgeons as surgical psychopaths and details his own descent into being a surgeon with a steeled heart, this book has provided me a very human perspective to the lives of surgeons and medical residents everywhere. Every little mistake, every life saved, lost, has shaped them to become who they are today. Although this book is a little dated and I can see how neurosurgery practices have greatly evolved in the 21st century, I still found it very insightful and would recommend it especially to people who enjoy memoirs (not to be daunted by the medical jargon as well!)
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This is one of those books that take you back. I am by no means a neurosurgeon but I am a doctor. This book helped me relive my own training and residency. Every doctor has stories but Dr. Vertosick is a master story teller. This book is sad, funny, reverent, hopeful and full of wisdom for anyone interested in the pathways of human travel.
4.5/5
Not for those who can't read about blood or disease or death.
This was so interesting. I had almost no knowledge of the work that goes into neurosurgery, and this book goes over what it was like to become a neurosurgeon a few decades ago (it mentions in the end what has since changes about neurosurgery).
The book is really about people, and each chapter general focused on one person, a doctor or a patient, and what the author (then a med student) learned from his experience treating or interacting with them, and how it shaped his career choices, view of his job, and how he saw himself.
It was quite heartbreaking, it was stressful and gruesome. I really enjoyed it, and hope that if I'm every unlucky enough to need to get brain surgery, that a robot does it instead XD.
Not for those who can't read about blood or disease or death.
This was so interesting. I had almost no knowledge of the work that goes into neurosurgery, and this book goes over what it was like to become a neurosurgeon a few decades ago (it mentions in the end what has since changes about neurosurgery).
The book is really about people, and each chapter general focused on one person, a doctor or a patient, and what the author (then a med student) learned from his experience treating or interacting with them, and how it shaped his career choices, view of his job, and how he saw himself.
It was quite heartbreaking, it was stressful and gruesome. I really enjoyed it, and hope that if I'm every unlucky enough to need to get brain surgery, that a robot does it instead XD.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I picked this one up on a whim, via audio, and from the very first minute, I was hooked. This was such an insightful book with a perfect balance of the author telling his story without making the whole thing about himself, and enough of the science without anything becoming too complex and heavy.
The stories Vertosick decided to tell in this book were incredibly interesting and there was a good mix of drama, hope, and tragedy. I appreciated that how the stories were told didn’t make the author's life seem all the time glamorous, shocking and exciting, there was plenty of honesty in here. We got to see the reality of life as a neurosurgeon where small decisions could mean life or death.
I won’t lie, I did tear up several times while listening to this one. The book features uplifting stories but it also features ones of sadness. Fair warning there is some tough stuff to read in here, like the story of incurable brain cancer in a little girl called Rebecca, and accidents during surgery that have life-changing and fatal repercussions. There was never a time during these sadder moments that I felt the author was exploiting the story just to make a better book, you could tell the mistakes he’d made throughout his career had had a lasting effect on his memory.
When reading some of the lower-rated reviews for this book, I picked up a lot on the fact that people thought the author was arrogant or flippant whilst telling us some of the harder bits to read. I didn’t personally pick up on this myself, and I find it quite funny that this was a sticking point for people when he literally dedicated a chapter to ‘surgical psychopathy’. In a job where the slightest tremor of your hand could lead to the death of a patient, it’s unsurprising that these people need to put up barriers towards their emotions. That being said, as I mentioned earlier in this review, I think Vertosick does show his emotions throughout and offers up very plainly the reality of his time as a surgeon.
Overall, I loved this book so much and now I’m on the hunt for other medical biographies of a similar ilk.
Please note, this was originally published in 1997 and spans Vertosick’s career from the ’60s onwards. Some of the medical terminologies he uses are now out of date. Also, graphic descriptions of surgery and all that comes with it!
The stories Vertosick decided to tell in this book were incredibly interesting and there was a good mix of drama, hope, and tragedy. I appreciated that how the stories were told didn’t make the author's life seem all the time glamorous, shocking and exciting, there was plenty of honesty in here. We got to see the reality of life as a neurosurgeon where small decisions could mean life or death.
I won’t lie, I did tear up several times while listening to this one. The book features uplifting stories but it also features ones of sadness. Fair warning there is some tough stuff to read in here, like the story of incurable brain cancer in a little girl called Rebecca, and accidents during surgery that have life-changing and fatal repercussions. There was never a time during these sadder moments that I felt the author was exploiting the story just to make a better book, you could tell the mistakes he’d made throughout his career had had a lasting effect on his memory.
When reading some of the lower-rated reviews for this book, I picked up a lot on the fact that people thought the author was arrogant or flippant whilst telling us some of the harder bits to read. I didn’t personally pick up on this myself, and I find it quite funny that this was a sticking point for people when he literally dedicated a chapter to ‘surgical psychopathy’. In a job where the slightest tremor of your hand could lead to the death of a patient, it’s unsurprising that these people need to put up barriers towards their emotions. That being said, as I mentioned earlier in this review, I think Vertosick does show his emotions throughout and offers up very plainly the reality of his time as a surgeon.
Overall, I loved this book so much and now I’m on the hunt for other medical biographies of a similar ilk.
Please note, this was originally published in 1997 and spans Vertosick’s career from the ’60s onwards. Some of the medical terminologies he uses are now out of date. Also, graphic descriptions of surgery and all that comes with it!
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
“When the Air Hits Your Brain is not about the technology, it isn’t even really about the medicine. It’s about the human aspect of disease, the human dimension of those who suffer from it, and the human dimension of those who learn to treat it. And that dimension is timeless.”
I really love medical non fiction and memoirs. This one was an interesting look into the lives of neurosurgeons. I liked that this author didn’t take himself too seriously and called himself out when his behaviour wasn’t acceptable.
When he discusses his time practicing in the UK vs US, you really see how poor the US health system is and how patients are treated as both a dollar sign and statistic.
When he discusses his time practicing in the UK vs US, you really see how poor the US health system is and how patients are treated as both a dollar sign and statistic.
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced