Books about Medicine
Here are a few that I think are good portrayals of disease affected life and medicine. Some of them I have mentioned at random times in class. If you ever want a break from textbooks and syllabi, I think these provide some good lessons.
1) Cry Bloody Murder, Elaine DePrince. Hemophilia A and Factor VIII HIV infection. Written by an angry mother and sometimes can be overwhelming, it is moving nonetheless.
2) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. Epilepsy and the Hmong culture interaction with US MDs. Excellent read.
3) The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon - a good depiction of depression. Informative.
4) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddal. A well-written, quick read about autism.
5) Complications, Atul Gawande. Well written journal from a surgeon discussing a variety of issues in medicine.
6) Anatomy of Hope, Jerome Groopman. Interesting discussion of the role of hope, faith and religion in healing.
7) Stiff, Mary Roach. The subtitle of this book is the lives of human cadavers, and it is an interesting read.
8) Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom. A widely read story of a professor dying from Amytropic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease).
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions about these or any others, please post them!
posted by Kekam @ 9:52 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Great list! I second Complications (should be required reading for med students) and Stiff (just plain fun). Haven't read the others yet. Another page-turner is When the Air Hits Your Brain - fascinating even if (like me) you're not going to be a neurosurgeon.
Living Beyond Breast Cancer, is an excellent book, the author escapes me at the moment, but great to offer loved ones, or patients in need of information.
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