Customer Reviews

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was on my "suggested" reading list for my first year of medical school. I was dreading this list, so I started with this book first. I was extremely surprised to find this book easy to read, entertaining, and enlightening. I managed to read it in less than a day, and it left me with many impression on what to really expect when I undergo my training as a physician and beyond when I am really going to be expected to be a machine.

I've enjoyed Gawande's work with The New Yorker for a number of years - his subject material is fascinating, and his honesty is compelling. As always, he makes his way to the heart of the matter - the fallibility of highly skilled physicians and why everyone pretends this isn't so - in an elegant spiral that takes us through numerous case studies. The case study approach seems to have an inherent fascination (at least it does for me), and Gawande puts this model to excellent use.

What I find remarkable, among other things, is that Gawande doesn't sacrifice his own honesty for the sake of a clear conclusion. What happens to the woman with "The Red Leg" leaves us in a quandary - the decision tree said not to investigate further, Gawande's own instinct was heavily influenced by the sheer chance that he had seen a similar case recently, so what are we left with? Is it just sheer chance? We may not want to think so, but the book ends with marvelous ambiguity.

Ce livre discute de biens des aspects de la pratique médicale courante.

De nombreux exemples concrets sont expliqués et permettent de bien saisir la dimension humaine de la vie d'un médecine.

Le langage est accessible au grand public. Les enjeux portent à réfléchir des attentes et mettent en perspective des situations souvent mal présentées dans les médias.

Une lecture d'été qui est un must pour tout professionnel de la santé ou citoyen intéressé.

One must think to themselves whether or not they trust the man behind the mask. Before reading this book I had never given second thought as to putting my life in my doctor's hands, however that quickly changed.

In the book COMPLICATIONS: A SURGEON'S NOTES ON AN IMPERFECT SCIENCE by Atul Gawande many successes and failures are explored through out his journey as a surgical resident. These stories are interesting as well as informational. As a person in the emergency medical field as well I realized that I see things on a daily basis that parallel the experience as a resident. This book contains multiple essays written by Gawande and it is an easy read if you can stomach the gruesome details. I would recommend this book to anyone especially those in a health care field.

Complications: by Atul Gawande
A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

Surgery is often perceived as the most respected of all the medical professions, but one surgeon's bravely written insiders essays paints a bittersweet picture of the medical practice of surgeons. In fact, "practice" is the operational word in describing what makes for a "good" surgeon - and Dr. Atul Gawande describes how the surgeon needs plenty of opportunities to wield the scalpel before he or she feels as competent as they look when they use one. "Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science" by Atul Gawande is a personal collection of spell binding first person medical stories. Gawands presents the reader with a physician who's as creative with prose as he appears to be with surgical sutures. Gawande is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker Magazine. Usually retrospective physicians in a reading group I participate in were unusually animated about "Complications" and validated some of Gawande's stories with similar versions of their own.
"Complications" is not a medical "who-done-it"; nor is it a non-fiction version of the popular television show "ER". It's about one surgeon's practice, but the stories are, to a certain extent, similar to the shared experiences of all physicians, regardless of their specialty. A surgeon must have a good medical education, lots of practice doing procedures that develop proficient skills and a fair amount of good luck.
Sometimes surgery helps patients to physically recover but the psychological side effects cannot be measured as easily as physiologic symptoms. One essay brings that point home titled, "Crimson Tide", about a girl who seeks a surgical cure for uncontrollable blushing. In this case, the patient felt her spontaneous blushing was holding her back as a television news anchor because it affected her job performance. After her successful surgery obtained in Scandinavia, she discovered she was self conscious about having it done in the first place, even though it cured her blushing! Essays in "Complications" begin with real people, identities protected, who somehow, either positively or not, are affected by medical treatment. One essay is about the conditions of physicians themselves, titled "When Good Doctors Go Bad". Gawande is certainly a terrific storyteller. Too bad the surgical profession has taken hundreds of years to finally support one of their own to tell their stories "in their own words". "Complications" also received an impressive distinction as a National Book Award Finalist.

If you have ever been a surgical patient, or expect you might become one in the future, I highly recommend that you read Dr. Atul Gawande's "Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science". If you are a medical student, I highly recommend that you read the book twice - once for you and then again for your patients.

Gawande, as a seventh year Harvard surgical resident, offers reflective insight regarding his observations and experience as a surgeon. From failed attempts to insert a central line as a new resident, to his pride of attending his first medical conference with more senior house personnel, readers easily share in his frustrations, delights, and challenges.

This book will encourage you to appreciate the ethical dilemmas surgeons face as they evaluate new procedures and self-police their own performance and that of their peers. Gawande reveals that even surgeons are mystified by the amazing human body and sometimes cannot explain how or why our bodies react the way they do to surgery.

This book should not be mistaken for a gruesome account of risky surgical procedures performed late at night by sleepy-eyed residents. Gawande's descriptions of his patients and their surgical cases are detailed, but he provides them as intellectual case-in-points rather than the yellow journalism of blood and guts shown on TV and in the movies.

This book will make you think...sometimes harder than you want to...it may even make you realize that surgery is not perfect and neither are even the best surgeons.

A real page turner and a fast read. Don't cheat yourself by skipping over this one!

This book describes the imperfect science that is medicine. From the training of up and coming doctors to the burnout that befalls those on top of their game, Atul Gawande deftly explains the power and fallibility that comes with wearing a white coat. His stories talk about some of the wonders and mysteries of medicine. Gawande also explores the delicate process of how doctors balance their need to train with respecting their patients' rights to quality health care. This author also raises some interesting questions that are part of everyday medicine and presents the challenges of being in a demanding profession. His stories are delivered in an unbiased manner that is both provocative and entertaining. I enjoyed the style of this book and the issues that were addressed. This book also made for good small group discussion and I would recommend it to students who are pursuing careers in medicine.

This is a clear, well-written and thought-provoking consideration of the humanity of the people who provide us with medical treatment and services. Well-balanced, insightful and a truly educational experience. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Gawande's style is enthralling and straightforward. His book is broken into short stories that share the beauty, mystery, honesty, and challenge of medicine. I appreciated that Gawande presented his stories in a straightforward manner without shading the information for or against medicine. They leave you with a sense of wonder and reflection. Most of all, they provide the reader with an appreciation for what is means to be a physician and what the world of medicine is really entails.

I think this book is an excellent selection for anyone who is in the field of medicine, considering the field of medicine, or has experienced the field of medicine. It is a truly enjoyable read with much to offer.

This book has a great benefit both for those in the medical profession and those outside it. Gawande explores the relationships between doctors and patients by taking us through his own experiences in his medical training. We can see through Dr. Gawande's eyes the tensions that develop between doctor and patient, and between doctor and self. Time and again we are shown the dangerous ease in which patients stop being people and become "cases". Dr. Gawande conveys in a moving way his regret that medicine can so easily alienate and isolate both doctor and patient.
The topics of bedside teaching and morbidity and mortality conferences are handled in a way that allows the reader to see some of the difficulties encountered by both the student physicians and teaching physicians. This may help the non-medical professional see through the aura of infallibility that so harmfully surrounds medicine as a profession, and help them to realize that physicians are, in fact, only human.