Can anyone recommend these? Books for Med and pre-Med

[Guest Cranius]

The House of God (Shem)

 

The Intern Blues : The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor (Marion)

 

First, Do No Harm (Belkin)

 

Kill As Few Patients As Possible (London)

 

A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years As a Medical Student (Klass)

 

Becoming a Doctor: A Journey of Initiation in Medical School (Konner)

 

These seem to be the most popular books among the medical student body. Just curious, has anyone read any of these and can they recommend them?

[Guest UWOMED2005]

House of God is fantastic. But I've heard warnings that one should read it AFTER residency, as it is (in many ways) both realistic and disheartening. . . you might find yourself quitting (med school, not the book) before you really begin!

 

Haven't read the others.

[Guest cheech10]

Intern Blues was quite boring compared to House of God. Definitely read House of God first.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

I read the Klass book after another, similar tome from the perspective of another woman who spent her four years at Harvard. Although similar, the former was a much better and more interesting read than the latter, although I'm sorry, I read it so long ago that I can't recall the author's name. :rolleyes

 

Cheers and happy reading!

Kirsteen

[Guest DonaldKaufman]

I've read the Konner book. I haven't read any of the others though, so I have nothing to compare it to. It is a bit dated now (I think it was 1st published in 1983), and it focuses entirely on the author's experiences in his 3rd year of medicine. He was an older med student, and an Anthropology Ph.D. at the time, so his perspective is interesting. I would certainly recommend it.

[Guest seedstrike]

Kill As Few Patients As Possible (Dr. London) was pretty good. Its not a novel but rather a compilation of 1-3 page long anecdotes. A very fast read.

[Guest 007]

I think my ethics prof really recommended the Belkin.

[Guest moo]

In addition, youmay want to try The Medical School Survival Guide, a small pinkish book by a former UCSF student. Very easy read and got me through some tough times during my first two years of med school.

[Guest McMastergirl]

There is also a book by Robin Cook, called Year of the Intern, which is fiction but I think loosely based on the author's experiences in residency. I haven't read it yet though.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Here's an interesting off-take on books about medical school; this is probably the most cynical book I have ever read on the subject. It's available on-line, and was written by Michael Greger, MD regarding his third year medical school rotations at Tufts University School of Medicine.

 

Interestingly enough, I had linked to his original website nearly four years ago as I was setting up this premed website, back when he was still in medical school. I do not agree with him on a lot of what happened during his third year, (he definitely has his own personal agenda), but it's an interesting look at how bad things can be.

 

upalumni.org/medschool/

 

Ian

[Guest marbledust]

Like Ian, I read Dr. Greger's book about 4 years ago and it almost made me reconsider going into medicine. It was just as I was studying for my first crack at the MCAT and I was alternating between being super motivated about medicine, and contemplating throwing my big fat MCAT study books into the fireplace. His book was not encouraging. He will make you want to run as far away from medical school (and doctors) as you can get

 

I read an article in a journal a few months ago about veganism - written by none other than Dr. Michael Gregor. He travels around a lot, giving lectures about the benefits of things like being a vegan. I guess he has found some peace with himself and being a doctor. He has a website, vegandoc.com or something like that. Interesting fellow....

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

For anyone with access to The Lancet who is interested in reading more about the author of "The House of God" (Samuel Shem was a pen-name, apparently), check out the following which I stumbled upon this morning while looking for something else Lancettish:

 

Samuel Shem.

Lancet. 2003 Feb 8; 361(9356): 536.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest medicator007]

Thanks for the reference Kirsteen..... interesting read!

[Guest Ian Wong]

Here's the direct link to the article (written by "Samuel Shem" himself, on the Lancet website:

 

www.thelancet.com/journal/vol361/iss9356/full/llan.361.9356.dissecting_room.24531.1

 

And here's the rest of that issue:

 

www.thelancet.com/journal/vol361/iss9356/contents

 

It's a free article for registered visitors; registration takes all of 30 seconds.

 

Ian