Name of the Author: Atul Gawande
No. of Pages: 240
Publisher: Penguin
Year of Publication: 2002
About the Book:
The book is a non-fiction account of the experiences of a young surgeon in practice. Gawande shares his experiences and thoughts as a surgeon still developing expertise and perfection in his art. His dilemmas and doubts in his own abilities to perform life saving procedures makes one empathise with the tough decisions a “life saving doctor” is required to make. The uncertainties, the mistakes, and the resultant realisation that as doctors they are not gods, as their patients would like to believe.
Gawande also brings forth the complexities in a surgeon’s life, owing to the constant need to update one’s skills with technological progress, better surgical procedures and the pressure of handling emergencies and traumas. The section on the bazaars in medical conferences is interesting and somewhat disillusioning.
The book is largely a collection of factual descriptions of anecdotes that Gawande has collected from his own and his colleagues’ experiences. There could have been a better organisation of the anecdotes for easy reading. It is interesting to read about some off beat cases and gives you an inside perspective to the life of a doctor.
Final Analysis:
I have grown up reading medical fiction, so I thought I would find this one interesting. However, I found it written in too detached a fashion. I found it somewhat boring and less gripping than I would expect a surgeon’s life would be. All in all, a little slow paced for me.
Favourite Quote: None