If you’re looking for some medical (non-textbook) books to read in your limited amount of spare time, check out some of my favorites below:
The House of God by Samuel Shem
A classic pre-medical school book. It details residency life in the 1970s. You can talk about this book with almost any medical student or attending. It is practically a medical school requirement.
Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation by Sandeep Jauhar
A more modern look into medicine residency intern year from the perspective of Cardiologist Dr. Sandeep Jauhar. Comes with the highs and lows you can expect. After having been through 6 months of residency, I would say it is very accurate.
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson. Just because I find Ben Carson incompetent as a politician does not mean I do not respect him as a doctor. He is a phenomenal pediatric neurosurgeon and this book details his story.
On Doctoring: Stories, Poems, Essays by Richard Reynolds
A book of stories and poems from doctors throughout time and also from famous poets and authors depicting their views of medicine.
Private Practice: In the Early Twentieth-Century Medical Office of Dr. Richard Cabot by Christopher Crenner
An interesting look into a Boston medicine clinic from the early 1900′s. With excerpts from old patient notes which I found very interesting.
And if you have an interest is something more dark:
Blind Eye by James B. Stewart
The real story of a doctor murderer from the 1990′s who killed multiple patients without getting caught for several years.
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The story of the World’s Fair in Chicago in the late 1800′s. A great look into the history of Chicago and the murderous doctor who roamed its streets.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Just a great book in general. My favorite.
Suggested by other users:
The Making of a Woman Surgeon by Dr. Elizabeth Morgan
Suggested by http://thetay-in-the-757.tumblr.com
This book is my all time favorite, as I am a female aspiring to work in the healthcare system myself. Dr. Morgan chronicles her own journey in the male-dominated arena of medicine in the 1970s and 1980s, as she struggles to maintain an appropriate balance between remaining empathetic towards her patients and yet must toe the line of not becoming too emotionally involved with her patients so that she burns out, as well as maintaining her own femininity in a man’s world.
When Breath Become Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi
Suggested by http://nandemokandemo.tumblr.com
When Breath Becomes Air is an autobiography written by an esteemed neurosurgeon who discovers he has Stage IV lung cancer in his final stages of residency. It appeals to not only medical students, with his profound impressions of cadaver dissection and his first life and deaths, but also to current medical professionals by questioning philosophical domains of mortality and what a meaningful life is, as well as to non-medical professionals with moving thoughts on family, life, death and meaning. It is not a novel to be missed by any person.
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