Customer Reviews
Insightful read - By: T. Chew, 18 Oct 2008 
This book is certainly an excellent read. It is particularly good if as a medical doctor like myself you gain insight into the medical experience & life of a colleague battling & struggling with similar difficult decisions. Medicine often comes across to the non-medical world as an exact & perfect science. I suspect much of this comes from us within the medical profession as we speak so confidently of diagnoses that are often times just educated guesses. Reading this book will open your eyes to the struggles we have as doctors on a daily basisin determining the ultimate result - the best possible care & outcome for the individual patient.
Highly Reccomended - By: Ibrahim Ali, 24 Mar 2008 While the author occasionally falls into old medical clichés & his conclusions may be predictable this is still an insightful & wonderfully readable book. The author, a surgical residentin America, discusses various topics of relevance to those bothin & out of the medical profession. He considers the nature of medical teaching, autonomy, mistakes & mysteries. Particularly thought provoking are his reflections on how doctors learn. Experienced doctors arein society's interest & experience is only gained through practise. However on an individual level it's notin ones interest to have someone practise upon you. The author illustrates thisin examples from his own lifein discussing the treatment of his young sons congenital heart defect.
The articles are well written & well researched, he has achieved an ideal balance between scholarship & accessibility which means even the seasoned doctor has much to learn & ponder upon after reading the book. After reading this book I'm incredibly eager to read the next volume of his essays.
Absolutely superb - By: Rob Sawyer, 19 Sep 2007 I have workedin medical devices (implants for orthopaedics (hips & kness) & general surgery (bums & tums)) for over 20 years so know a little about surgery, & saw this book on a browsing trip on Amazon, & impulsively thought I might enjoy it.
If you have the remotest interestin surgery then you must read it. It's writtenin a very readable style (slight irritation of US spellings!!) & with the use of case studies, I found it almost un-put-downable!
I think Gawande leaves the best till last (I won't spoil it for you) & this case was particularly relevant as one of the products I have worked with has been used successfullyin a similar case.
I learned a lot about surgery, medicine, surgeons & the difficulties that exist that I suspect most of us wouldn't consider.
An excellent thought provoking book - loved it!
View from a non medic - By: Kieran K. Timmons, 28 May 2007 This is a fascinating book of great insight & honesty.
Everyone should read it!
Complications - By: , 09 Jan 2006 I read this book the week before I started as a Consultant Surgeonin the UK. It is just the book for surgeons & their patients to read. The book inspires & at the same time shows man & medicine are not as realiable as machines but today until technology changes they are all we have & things do not always go as surgeons & their patients would wish & that is not necessarily anyones fault. The important word to describe the surgeon & his book is 'honest'.
