Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
ISBN:9780312421700 read summary

It could well be that you will refuse to go to a hospital for anything if you read this book, but I found it fascinating. It is in three parts: Part one about the fallibility of doctors; part two about mysterious things doctors can't cure, and part three about the uncertainty of medicine. Throughout the book this interesting author holds the reader's attention.

When I was in college many years ago, my summer job was as a nurse's aide in a teaching hospital. After any death, the hospital asked the patient's family if they could perform an autopsy. Where I live now I understand the family has to actually pay if they want an autopsy. How in the world can doctors improve themselves if that is the case? I would jump at the chance for having a definitive answer about a loved one's death. Apparently, even when the doctor isn't sure why his/her patient died, he/she doesn't like to ask for an autopsy. I find that weird.

Any, I loved this book and will read all this doctor writes because his writing draws the reader in.

I enjoy reading about science/medical issues but have more of a liberal arts background than anything else and found this book nearly impossible to put down. A little bit into reading it, I jumped into the pool to track down my husband to let him know that if ever we or anyone we knew needed hernia surgery, there was a specific place in Canada we needed to go to. I was equally delighted to report to him about the uncertainty of the cause of panic attacks in a man who was having separate brain surgery and when they zapped a specific area in the brain, for which the response was normally a tickling sensation in the chest area, he responded with full-blown panic attack symptoms. That was the appeal of this book - balancing the known and the unknown of medicine and attempting to convey things in a way that made sense and allowed the reader to use the information and speculate on what was unknown.
The book is broken up into a series of essays, but they don't read like essays that were independently published and in fact, I did not know that they were until I'd finished the book. It reads quite smoothly. I found that there was an enormous amount of practical information, a decent amount of humility, and an attempt to explain the failings of medicine to solve all of man's problems, all from the perspective of someone who is often looking at these issues through the lens of surgery, which is typically how people look at medicine since it's the most tangible way to approach these things. Clearly, Gawande is a balanced and well-rounded individual - the book contains the only information I've ever come across about gastric bypass surgery outcomes that makes sense, despite it not being certain - and this from someone who clearly has never dealt with the complex issues those who need the surgery have.
In sum, an excellent book, easy pretty short read.

This is the 3rd (and last) time I'll try to send a review for this book. The book was in great condition and the sellers went out of their way to get it to me quickly for a book club report without charging extra. My only complaint is about trying to tell them so. Thanks!

The Secrets of Modern Medicine Revealed
This book offers a highly accurate and inspiring story of the day-to-day life experiences of a highly dedicated surgeon striving to provide perfect medical care in an imperfect world. Surgery, indeed, is a specialty that is more about action than about words. Quick thought, timely intervention and attention to details are the absolute qualities needed to practice surgery. Normally surgeons do not get the luxury of time to involve in long conversations and reflections. They are considered men of action rather than men of words. It is, therefore, very incredible and surprising to see how well Dr. Gawande has been able to put his thoughts and reflections in a way to catch attention of a wide variety of readers- both medical and non-medical.
As a medical doctor and the author of the book "The Secrets of Modern Medicine Revealed", I feel that the message of Dr. Gawande's book and my book is very similar. We are both trying to describe the inside knowledge and day-to-day "trade secrets" of the medical world in plain English so that general readers can understand the challenges today's doctors face when attempting to provide the best medical care.
The point of view of a surgeon and that of an Internal Medicine Physician obviously differ in minute details. But from the thoughts of Dr. Gawande, it seem like we are looking at the same thing only from a slightly different angle of observation.
I highly recommend the readers of my book to read Dr. Gawande's book as the thoughts and ideas are complimentary to each other and you will be able to get the whole picture of the modern medical practice.
Thank you
N Sapkota, MD
Board Certified in Internal Medicine

As a pre-med post-bacc changing careers, I have been reading lots of similar books. I enjoyed this book although there were a couple of chapters where the discussion of research was a little long in the tooth for me, so I skipped those passages. Otherwise, a good read although not as page turning as Intern Blues and a couple of others I have recently read. I would recommend this book.