Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

Rating:
Summary: Candid look into the medical profession
Review: Complications is an extremely well written set of short candid looks into different, often difficult situations that physicians in the medical profession may deal with. It contains a good balance of tragedy and triumph. Gawandi does a superb job of presenting the reader issues in modern medicine without sugar-coating problems and mistakes. This is a excellent read for anyone, particularly those in the medical field.

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly what I was expecting, but still a great read
Review: A fair amount of the stories in this book have only tangential ties to surgery. I was expecting the vast majority of the book to be straight from the operating room. Instead, there are several stories outside the surgical setting, as exemplified by passages on life-threatening vomiting during pregnancy and surgical conventions. Nevertheless, I was captivated while reading every page of this book. The author comes across as a very caring clinician, and this helped rope me into the reading. Also, there is enough humor to balance the necessary descriptions of the grosser side of our internal functions. I certainly didn't buy the book to learn about vomiting, but I now have a deep respect for the act. If any one of my three sons finds himself in a high school rock band, I'll recommend "retrograde giant contraction" (page 131) as a band name, and possibly suggest "prodromal phase of emesis" (page 130) as the name for the band's first CD. Don't let me mislead you, the author whips out precise surgical jargon only occasionally. I have no medical training, and I found the book a smooth read. I just finished reading the book yesterday. I'll probably read it again soon.

Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: In this book, Gawande dissects many of the current problems in medicine from both the patient's and doctor's point of views. His unbiased approach allows the reader to get both sides of the story. He illustrates that medicine is fallable just like every other profession and proposes ideas of how to make the practice of medicine safer for the patient. Gawande's engaging prose kept me interested throughout the book and really made me examine why I decided to enter into the medical profession and in what ways will I be able to improve my future profession. This is a must read for anyone considering entering the medical field.

Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Insightful and a Fun Read
Review: Gawande manages in this one little book to gel many ideas I've been mulling for years. He succinctly gets across with his examples the uncertainty and fear doctors feel at times, as well as the caring and even exhilaration. The book is very readable and fun. I'm so glad he dealt with the case of the orthopedic surgeon gone bad--so often these cases are dealt with one-dimensionally, as if these were just inherently evil people. I quite disagree with the reviewer below, as I think it's clear from Gawande's writing that he feels this doctor was wrong to keep practicing as he was, and that his peers were wrong to let him keep going as long as he did, but his treatment helps us see how that could have happened so we can think more comprehensively about what it will take to help prevent other situations like this. I also disagree with the reviewer that doctors be held to a higher standard than the other professions he mentions--lawyers who make mistakes can be responsible for financial ruin, lifetime incarceration, or death of their client.