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Looking to expand your summer reading list with books on the medical profession or health field? Look no further. The following titles are great reads for anyone within the medical profession…or those considering entering it.
- House of God by Samuel Shem. Samuel Shem is like the Kurt Vonnegut of the medical field. This searing satire is full of larger-than-life characters and a darkly cynical view on medicine. This title is often listed as a must-read for future doctors or first-year interns.
- Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande. Surgeons tend not to talk about the dangers of their art, but Gawande takes an unflinching look at his practice’s complications. “Doctors are people,” this book argues, and imperfect people at that. An interesting read for both doctors and patients alike.
- Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives: Tales of Life and Death from the ER by Pamela Grim. Grim is a seasoned Emergency Room doctor faced nightly with what many consider to be the underbelly of society: drug addicts, drunks, or the mentally deranged. Grim chose to flee her ER burnout by joining Doctors Without Borders, and her tales of Nigeria and Bosnian refugee camps are harrowing. Makes you want to immediately install home security systems.
- The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett. Well-written, well-researched, and incredibly enlightening, this book is at the forefront of a fascinating, underlooked science: microbiology. The microbes and viruses within this book will simultaneously creep you out and leave you utterly fascinated. Expect an intense, worthy read that’s not for the faint of heart.
1. Makes you want to immediately install home security systems.