Medicine Science Books

I bought this book as part of my coursework in Public Health Nursing. It is a wonderful book. It speaks to our general lack of cultural awareness from the medical community standpoint. It also opened my eyes to a strong and brilliant culture (Hmong). I am glad that my instructor recommended this book.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Never received the book. Was very upset. Would never utilize a 3rd party buyer again. A complete waste of my time.

Well-written, gripping, thoughtful, thorough investigation into the tragic and seemingly unavoidable events in the life of a sick young girl and her loving family. Everyone wanted the best, but it all went terribly wrong. A compelling example of why we all need to keep learning from each other.

As the title implies, this book offers an alternative perspective of epilepsy, or seizures, as seen through the lens of the Hmong people. It also provides a fresh view of Western so-called civilization itself, and most particularly Western medicine.

I doubt there's any American today who doesn't harbor at least some ambivalence about how medicine's practiced in the United States, and I'm not just talking bills and insurance. Foua and Nao Kao Lee didn't trust the doctors who tended to their baby daughter Lia when she began to have seizures; they worried about doing damage to their baby's soul. In the Hmong culture, sickness is a signal of disturbance to the soul, and healing is a matter of tending to that soul. When did you last see an American doctor do that?

Even had the doctors who cared for Lia known of this tenet of the Lees' belief system, they probably wouldn't have given it consideration. As things were, they knew little about their patient's family: not only did the Lees not understand English, but the Hmong culture is so far from that of anything remotely American, the doctors hadn't the ears to hear, eyes to see, or consciousness to absorb any of it. To them, as to many Americans, the Hmong are a "Stone Age" people, ignorant and superstitious.

Certainly Hmong rituals and healing ceremonies are strange and arcane--but no stranger than those of the Catholic or Jewish faith: all utilize symbols, whether it's wine standing in for the blood of Jesus, drops of wine spilled onto a plate for Egyptian plagues, or a wooden bench transformed into a winged horse carrying a healer in search of a sick person's soul. Why is it that the good citizens of the United States laugh only at the latter?

Writer Anne Fadiman decided to look at American medicine through the prism of Lia Lee's sad story. She discovered, and conveyed to readers, the richness of Hmong culture, devoid of sentimentality. Fadiman is careful not to imbue the Hmong with the kind of romanticism that European Americans tend to hold about Native Americans: she does not evade the fact that they can be extremely difficult. By allowing them full humanity, she brings them vividly to life the same way a novelist does her characters--though non-fiction, thi book is as compelling as a great novel.

The Hmong came to America in the 1980s courtesy of war in Southeast Asia. They'd been living in the mountains of Laos, to which they'd migrated from China. The Hmong never assimilate into the culture of the country they inhabit, and have suffered persecution for centuries. Much like the Roma or the Jews, they're a migratory tribe without a homeland--but I doubt they ever felt quite as displaced as they did when they got to the United States. Because they helped the CIA in Laos, the Hmong were promised they'd be welcome in the U.S.--but when the troops left, they jetted only generals and hotshots out of the country, leaving the rest of the populace to fend for themselves. With the Laotian army hunting them down as enemies of the state, Hmong families set off on foot, carrying whatever they could manage. Many, particularly the old and the young, died along the way. Most possessions were shed, too heavy to carry, on the days-long journey. When they arrived in Thailand they were placed in refugee camps, where they waited to be rescued by the Americans. Those who were finally brought to America were `resettled' all over the map, without regard for family cohesion or transferability of survival skills: in Detroit, Minneapolis, Utah, Vermont--the Hmong were distributed all over the country so as to not unduly `burden' any one locality.

The Hmong tend to have large broods of 12 or 13 children, who they deeply adore, and they view disability as a consequence of some parental transgression, for which they atone by treating children with disabilities extra lovingly. They're used to living near relatives, who they see frequently, if not daily. The diaspora of the Hmong represented unspeakable hardship--which they resolved with what they call their `second resettlement.'One family would pack up a hastily purchased jalopy and drive off, looking for a spit of land hospitable to growing vegetables and the herbs necessary for healing rituals. They'd end up where all pioneers do, in California, and send news to relatives in Detroit or Chicago or Billings, Montana. Eventually, pockets of Hmong were clustered in a few locations around the country. Of these, Merced, California, where the Lee family settled, is one of the largest.

About one in every six residents of Merced, formerly an all-white rural area, is now Hmong. Here their culture and community thrived, parallel to the dominant culture, assimilating as little as possible. One way they did have to assimilate is medically: since 80% receive some form of government assistance, social services closely monitor them. American social workers do not have a high level of tolerance for cultural difference, and many Hmong practices, like gardening on the living room floor, or animal sacrifice, put parents in danger of losing their children to foster care--an unthinkable consequence that did occur, for a period of time, to Lia Lee.

The Hmong had heard about Western medicine even before arriving on these shores. They approved of antibiotics--swallow a pill and get well in a week--but not of much else. Surgery was anathema, since cutting the flesh or removing organs risks the flight of the soul. When their daughter Lia fell into the hands of the medical establishment, the Lees suffered deep agony over every procedure, from IV insertion to spinal taps.

Fadiman explores the interactions between the Lees and their daughter's medical caretakers in exhaustive detail. Whenever Lia suffers a setback, the Lees blame the doctors and their methods. The doctors accuse the Lees of "noncompliance" when they fail to properly dose Lia with three different kinds of anti-convulsants at the various times of day prescribed, not realizing that the Hmong don't even use clocks. Fadiman presents a balanced picture, blaming neither the family nor the hospital, but cultural barriers, for what goes wrong--and eventually things do go terribly wrong. By the age of four Lia is brain dead. The hospital hooks her up to feeding tubes, expecting her to die within days, but the Lees insist on taking her home, where they disconnect every tube and treat Lia as a favored family member. They take turns carrying her around on their backs; like a mama bird, Foua pre-chews her daughter's food and feeds it to her orally; they sacrifice pigs in healing ceremonies; and Lia sleeps with her parents every night. To the astonishment of the medical community, Lia does not die, and by the end of the book, years after being declared brain dead, she's still alive. As I write this, Lia Lee is still alive and lovingly cared for by her mother and siblings. Her medical condition has not changed. Her father, Nao Kao Lee, died in January of 2003.

This book enriched, and possibly changed, my life. I can't recommend it too highly.

A fascinating case study of a Hmong family's profoundly frustrating encounter with a county medical center in rural California. The book is very well written, and gave me fresh insight into what it really means for us to be a "nation of immigrants." My only frustration was with the organization of the book. As it jumped backed and forth between the micro and the macro, and between the recent and more distant past, the narrative lost some of its momentum. But that said, it is one of those rare books that has made me look at the world in a new way, and for that reason, I highly recommend it.

We use Netter's atlas for anatomy lab and in our own personal studying. The atlas has excellent cut-aways and has proven to be incredibly helpful when pulling all of the information together for exams.

If you're taking anatomy, you need this book...period. Very good illustrations of all the structures. I would recommend getting the hard cover since mine is falling apart slightly.

I couldn't have passed my anatomy test without this book. I like the way that each diagram peels away a part so you can see the underlying layers: it's a great tool in seeing and understanding where the muscles lie. The pictures are clearly readable and are of a decent size (inlcuding the text).

From what I have been able to gather online from the publisher (Elsevier), the Professional Edition is the only one that is supposed to come with the CD, which is purported to contain "over 80 of the most important anatomy illustrations from the book to use in presentations and lectures."

View the differences between the editions:
Professional 4th Edition:
http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/product.jsp?isbn=9781416036999
Soft Cover 4th Edition:
http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/product.jsp?isbn=9781416033851

It seems to be $60 more (at least, depending on where you look) for just for the CD (and the Hardcover opposed to the Soft Cover). The Professional Edition is more like a Reference book for a library, but hey maybe you need that. The 4th Ed. Soft Cover still comes with the ability to log onto "www.netteranatomy.com" for "Ninety plates from the book as well as a powerful and varied bank of ancillary material, unique to this atlas, are available online" through that Netter Anatomy Website. Through I'm fairly certain that the Professional Edition also comes with that ability.

Also in response to the earlier post, the Interactive Atlas of Human Anatomy 3.0 CD only comes with the 3rd Edition, not the newest 4th Edition. Here is the link just to that 3rd Edition CD:
Interactive Atlas of Human Anatomy 3.0, 3rd Edition:
http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/product.jsp?isbn=9781929007141

Hope this helps.

Frank Netter, M.D. created approximately 20,000 paintings of the human body and provided countless medical students with an invaluable educational resource. He can be credited for teaching multiple generations of doctors worldwide. Although he is now deceased, his legacy continues to provide students with intricate knowledge that only a physician and gifted artist could have given. I am thrilled to have purchased what I consider an educational necessity for such a reasonable price.

Here is the low down. This book is not a book that you can even consider reading through! It is, however, one of the best references that you can buy. I felt like the text was clear and detailed on every anatomical part that I wanted to know about. In medical school, there were times that I needed to reference something because I didn't understand. This book did a great job of filling that roll. It is comforting to know that I have this one on my shelf, and I am still referencing it. The pictures are clear and informative, but it is a text. It is not an Atlas or a review. It will explain things to you in words with a few picutres to supplement. In hindsight, however, it wasn't necessary. It is nice to have, but you can do without if your class doesn't requre it.

This is an excellent text no matter what health profession you are in. I very rarely read the text. The pictures accompanied with the tables are basically what I used. You would see the picture and have a table of origin, insertion, action and nerve. If you really want to go into depth then you can read it. Moore did a great look at and then I would recommend a real life atlas such as Rohen to compliment the cartoons with cadaver pictures.

This book was helpful in understanding the clinical applications and benefits in knowing and understanding one's anatomy. It made the simple and complicated anatomical topics digestible, and it helped organize the body easily.

Moore's Anatomy text was a great buy for me. I used it in my 2nd year anatomy course and am now using it in 3rd year anatomy. Diagrams are clear and concise and there also a variety of additional boxes which supply info about the types of disease/trauma states which significant impact on anatomy. A great buy for any biomedical anatomy major or medical student.

As 1st year med student, this book has been extremely helpful in bringing the gross anatomy lab memorization to actual practice. Clinical "Blue boxes" very helpful and interesting. Also lists muscles with innervations and blood supply very clearly.

If you have ever wondered to yourself what happens to bodies when they die, this book offers that and more. Much more. I was astounded at what is done - both stateside and abroad - with the physical body. Who'da thought? The humor keeps you from being entirely grossed out and I found myself somewhere between morbid fascination and uncontrollable laughter. Super book.

This book is an enthralling read about journey of the cadaver. Roach goes into great detail about things like organ donation, medicinal uses, crime scene usage, cannibalism and a whole host of research and experimentation that have been done to cadavers. Also covered are ways to dispose of your own corpse-compost heap anyone?

This book is not for the squeamish. Roach goes into very detailed accounts of every trial a cadaver is put through. So if you don't like watching surgery on TV, I would not recommend this book.

I found this book much easier to read than Bonk, Roach's book about the history of sex research. The material is not as dry and the book never bogs down like Bonk did. In fact, when I reviewed Bonk, I gave it 4 stars but after reading Stiff I would give it only 3.

With bright humor, wicked insights and a strong stomach, appropriately-named author Mary Roach pierces the veil that separates -- if not death from life -- then the dead from the living. Ever wonder how crash test dummies so closely mimic the human body's frailties? Ponder on how plastic surgeons practice the craft of sticking knives into people's faces? Curious about how analysts can tell whether a plane crash victims were killed by explosions or by impact with water (hint: it all about broken ribs skewering lungs)? Perplexed about whether footwear worn by mine clearers will protect their feet? Wonder no more! Roach explains how human beings -- at least their corporeal remains -- find usefulness even when their current occupants no longer do. Her travels to her to embalming rooms, anatomy classes and open fields where cadavers are set up to study decay rates. While she does not meet with any truly ghoulish characters, the activities of the people she does interview engage in activities that are as gruesome, distasteful and repugnant as they are necessary and even potentially lifesaving. She deals with the ethics of damaging dead bodies in the name of science and safety, and whether relatives have a right to decide whether Granddad will get slammed into a wall to test a new airbag design. Roach also deals with how medical people and others try to depersonalize their test subjects -- who so easily "read" as people -- not test dummies. There's enough talk of beheading, putrefaction, maggots and cadaver bashing to make the squeamish think twice. But Roach, gauging her text by her own limit of repulsion, draws the veil shy of the disgusting to reveal a world in which the recently dead still have a chance to serve the living.

This book is fantastic FUN! Roach is an interesting and hilarous writer. She thinks like most of us do and isn't afraid to put her thoughts on paper.
A must read for anyone!

Had I done so, I would have missed out on one of the funniest books I've read in a very, very long time. When I first saw this book I asked myself, "who in the right mind would write a book about dead bodies?" Even more disturbing to me was, "why would anyone want to read such a book?" Just the same, I thought I'd pick it up and glance through it (maybe that could be called the "National Enquirer Effect?"). Surprisingly, my cursory glance through it seemed to tell me that this might, just might be interesting to read.

I did not; however, decide to purchase it right away. Instead, I looked at a lot of other books (all of which seemed to on more altruistic topics) before I finally decided to pick up a copy on my way to the checkout counter. Even though, I couldn't help but wonder - what is the clerk going to think of me if I buy a book on DEAD BODIES.

Then, to compound matters, I came down with a summer cold (what could be worse?) later that evening and, not feeling like doing anything (even reading was tough) so I picked up what I thought might be the most mindless (no pun intended) book in my pile of things to read - and this was a no-brainer. While I'm not quite over the horrible summer cold yet (between the meds, sleeping, and normal cold things), I've spent the last couple of days laughing all the way through this amazingly hilarious and yet highly informative book (I admit, I have had to put it down many times whenever my coughing hacks and postnasal drip got the best of me).

Stiff was not only highly entertaining (and a good respite from the death grip my cold had on me), but was actually an extremely fascinating and enlightening look about one of the most taboo topics in our culture - what happens to our bodies after they die. Not wanting to provide any spoilers (many others already have), I will say that Roach looks at just about everything imaginable (with the exception of turning your dead grandmother into a diamond - a process that may not have yet been invented at the time Stiff was written).

Never in a million years would I have thought I might recommend a book on cadavers to anyone. After reading Stiff, I would recommend this book without hesitation - believe me, it'll just kill you. :)

I read the book, explored their website,watched the videos and decided to attend the seminar in Denver. I was amazed to see the many, many demonstrations by Dr. Bartlett seemingly collapse people's body control as they would slowly bend backwards or suddenly slump to the floor, out like a light for 10 to 20 minutes; sometimes accompanied by the subject's peals of relieved laughter. When the audience of over 400 people were asked to practice the processes with their seating neighbors, I was truly amazed when I was personally able to "collapse" several men and women with my own initial practicing of these "Zero Point" exercises. (N.B.,this constitutes empirical evidence!) Dropping people to the floor was not the point of the exercise; it is just a side effect which occurs about 80% of the time during process application. I myself was rid of a shoulder-neck muscle-knot with chronic dull ache which my conventional Chiro never was able to satisfactorily treat, and I did not collapse to the floor; just wobbled a bit. Dr.Bartlett says the secret seems to come from using creative, imaginal humor. Well whatever, it worked for me and 400 others that week. Go ahead; it works...enjoy and empower yourself before the FDA, AMA,and various medical schools figure out how to burn Dr. Bartlett and 400 witnesses at the stake. When the penny drops for them, they will need to conduct another embarrassing funeral for hard science as they experience the power of the mind over matter. Hah! Welcome to the Third Millenium folks.

I note that many of the 5 star reviews here are about Richard Bartlett and his seminars...and that the lower ratings deal more with the book itself.
The book has only one chapter dealing directly with the technique and the rest of the book is just a jumble of stuff about quantum physics and about the seminars.
Unless you are considering attending one of the seminars I really cannot see much value in this book at all. You can have some fun trying the technique as described in the book but unless you attend a seminar, or Bartlett creates a DVD of the seminar, it would be much better to stick to Quantum Touch, Trigger Point Technique and the like.
Hope this helps.

'The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles and Belief' by Gregg Braden is a scientifically grounded book that provides evidence to indicate that there is an energy that connects everything in our lives, including ourselves with the universe.

This new scientific evidence shows that you have the potential to communicate with the force that links the entire creation. This power exists in you.

What I like most about this book is that the author takes you on a remarkable journey that bridges sprirituality and science.

You will understand how the applied principles of quantum physics promotes healing. This is the essence of energy medicine!

Reads well along with 'Nexus' by Morrison & Singh, a spiritual novel about an interesting group of people in search of healing and their true happiness.

Nexus: A Neo Novel

I found the book interesting, though I resented the use of hypnotic suggestions aimed at the reader. It also made me wonder whether subtle hypnotic suggestions account for success for workshop participants. My biggest problem, however, was with the Kindle edition of the book. According to the book, the "key" to unlocking the videos on the Matrix Energetics web site specifically meant for those who have purchased the book is to be found on a specific page and paragraph. The Kindle edition does not have page numbers, relying instead on sections. Repeated emails to several departments at Matrix Energetics to determine which section of the Kindle edition has the "key" were unanswered. The only email response I received was from the sales department, offering me a DVD for $35. After ten phone calls to the number listed on their site--having got an answering machine that does not take messages--I gave up.

I absolutely love this book. I have an extensive library ranging from self -help to metaphysics to quantum physics, etc. This is in the top 5 of over hundreds of books I have read over the years. I liked that it wasn't just a pitch for his seminars, it has a lot of meat. I have read it several times and go back to it from time to time for a little inspiration. Also it was a quick read, easy to get through.

Funny how the author describes this book as designed for people who have "no previous background in statistics." I have taken three stats classes in the past, so I thought this would be well understood and well written. Not so! My professor at the Rollins School of Public Health here at Emory University also apparently thought this chunk of wood wasn't as poorly written and poorly explained as it is in reality. The author throws definitions out there w/o explaining them, and just breezes right on through to incomprehension. His explanations are derivations of formulas!? On page 14 he is already talking about the geometric mean and antilogs as if they were an old friend. Most of people I talked with in my class about the book commented that they couldn't even use it! This is the first book I've reviewed for Amazon, and I felt compelled to warn people about it. If you're a stats major, fine, but if you need a well written book to instruct you, however, this isn't it. Professor Rosner, you better bring yourself down from the clouds at Harvard.

Bought this for my first statistics class. Don't like the way the book was written. The information was very hard to understand. Examples were extremely difficult to follow.

I was in a sense forced to purchase this text as it was the official text for my class. Unfortunately, if you are a researcher just trying to obtain a basic understanding of the field of statistics, this is not the book for you. There is very little that is understandable to a beginner or even to someone with some basic knowledge in the field. This book is purely meant for the statistican. Norman and Streiner's text on biostatistics and Andy Field's text on Statistics and SPSS are written in plain language. They are easy to understand and get the concepts across with only the bare minimum of formulas thrown around. This book's primary usefulness is its comprehensiveness, but that only goes so far when the text is just unintelligible to most of us mere mortals.

This book is a necesary complement for epidemiology, and basic investigatigation. The chapter's organization is very adecuate for novice and experienced. Every chapter has an easy form to learn the content. The exercises are very congruent with the objetive of evry theme.

Bernard Rosner is a Harvard Professor of Biostatistics. He has written an introductory text for undergraduate and graduate medical school students. It covers the basics of probability and inference including categorical data. Other topics include regression, correlation and survival analysis. It is written for students with no math beyond high school algebra but common mathematical notation is freely used. It includes a diskette with data for examples. Many examples are given to illustrate the concepts and SAS ouput is used to illustrate the results and familiarize the students so that they can interpret statistical output. Many exercises are given at the end of each chapter. Several require use of the data sets on the diskette. I think the author has been careful to try to make the subject understandable to medical students. He also has used the lectures notes that were the basis of the text in courses he taught in the Harvard Medical School. So he knows his audience. A unique feature is the catergorizing of exercises by medical specialty.

Rosner tries to fill an important need and does a good job. He avoids heavy mathematics without turning the text into a cookbook. This is now the fourth edition. So many improvements have been made. I gave it 4 stars. It probably deserves 4 and 1/2 stars.

I'm homeschooled and wanted to do Forensic Science as an elective. This book is written in a clear, understandable manner and is very informative. I liked how there was a chapter summary, review questions, and a case reading after every chapter. I definietly recomend this book if you want to use it as a text book or even just a good read.

This book came as described and was very useful to learning about Forensic Science

The condition of the book was excellent and the service more than excellent. Received the book; Criminalistics An Intorduction to Forensic Science in time for my son to use it the next week in class. Thank you for the speed of the delivery. I would buy a used book again and hopefully it would be with the bookdude. Sorry this review was late.

The book was in Excellent condition (New) and the service was great. The book arrived right on time.

Now this is one expensive book, but it's well worth it in my opinion. I just finished a 60+ page thesis paper for college and this was one of the Computer Forensics books that I referenced/used a source. It's a thorough book that covers a lot more than just Computer Forensics, but rather aspects of the whole of Forensic Science. The full color pages are detailed and the case studies are thorough.

The author wrote many of these for The New Yorker and other publications; what is even more remarkable, however, is that he wrote these essays when he was beginning his career as a surgeon.

Surgery is among the most controversial, and difficult fields in medicine. The risks are so high, the complications so abounding.

I began reading this book with a jaded and jaundiced eye, hoping to find validation for my subjective impression of a field gone awry.

Intead, I had greater respect for the field of surgery, in the author's well-written and incisive book.

Similar to his other book titled Better, Dr. Gawande divided his book into three sections: Fallibility, Mystery and Uncertainties. As much as I enjoyed reading the five fascinating stories about medical mysteries (Mysteries about Friday the Thirteenth, pain, blushing nausea and food obsession), I found the two other sections more stimulating and inspiring. Speaking from his own experience (many of them gruesome and daunting), he successfully convinced his audience that medicine is full of uncertainties and doctors, just like any other human beings, are not infallible (even though we may hope that we are not).

In Education of a Knife, he candidly and modestly described the enthralling, and at times disappointing and frustrating, learning process he went through to administer a central line on live patients during his surgical training. The discomfort he caused during his first few unsuccessful trials led him into asking the question, "Is it possible to train the novices without harming patients or putting them at risk when only relentless practices can lead to perfection?"

Another story that caught my attention is When Doctors Make Mistakes. I was mesmerized by his honesty and morality in telling the mishap he encountered during his first emergency tracheotomy. We, human beings, have the natural tendency to hide our failure. When we make mistakes, we often shift the blame to others as a damage control. It is incredible that instead of hiding this episode of embarrassment, he laid it all out in complete details and full disclosure (just like a journalist would for the most controversial and intriguing story) to make the point that doctors are infallible no matter how much they strive for perfection because there are always other contributing factors such as "the lack of standardized protocols, the surgeon's inexperience, the hospital's inexperience, inadequately designed technology and techniques, think staffing, poor teamwork, time of day, the effects of managed care and corporate medicine, and so on and so on." If Six Sigma is not achievable in medicine (as possible in other industries) at our current time, the least we should do perhaps is to aim closer to this target?!

Whose Body Is It, Anyway? is another thought-provoking story included in this book. It examined the various questions about patient involvement in decision-making during the treatment process. The key question is not whether patient and their families should be involved in the decision making process, but how best can physicians guide them through the process and work collaboratively with them when they are clearly incapable of making the decision during such vulnerable moments in their lives when emotion overrules logic (as demonstrated by Dr. Gawande's own "childlike regression" during his daughter's hospitalization).

Excellent book on the imperfections of medicine. Keeps the reader interrested through the entire book - it's almost sad when finished...

Atul Gawande gratefully takes the reader to the back of the OR, a place open for a few, yet intriguing for many. Dr. Gawande is extremely frank and poignant, as he describes actual cases from his own surgical practice. He admits that cutting someone open for the first time is hell, praises surgery which gives chance to obese people, wonders about doctor's intuition, and remains human in every case.

As always, Atul Gawande is not just writing about medicine; this book reaches far beyond the realm of the operating room. He touches on the most complicated ethical questions of medicine and society as a whole. Gawande speaks of mistakes and our imperfect judgment; tackling the questions of good doctors gone bad along with malpractice claims and punishments. He makes the case for autopsy as a means of learning. He admits that medical students must practice on cadavers or animals in order to cut people open; all ethical questions are answered by means of vivid examples.

For instance, in the 1980s the death rate from a particular surgery would be about 10%. When the new surgical treatment of heart pathology arose, surgeons started trying the novice. At that training period, the rate of children death from this particular intervention increased to 25% of cases. Sounds horrible? Yes, but after surgeons learned, the rate fell down to just a couple percent. Was it worth it? Sure, granted the number of lives saved in the long run. Never, granted now many kids died just due to surgeons' learning. Would any doctor let anyone practice on his own kid? Never. At the same time, learning is a necessary part of medical progress.

Those questions dominate the book; Gawande ponders at the patient's right to choose, reminds us that doctors are human and prone to mistakes, reveals mysteries of complications, which are usually open only during the M&M - Mortality and Morbidity Conference behind the closed door. Gawande is not afraid to open the doors. Moreover, he is confident that openness is the only way to reduce the complications.

I almost wanted to say the book is too idealistic, except it's written by a person whose profession is to think realistically. Great book!

The first part of the book is the typical medical error conversation - the system needs changes, but, instead, the last doctor to touch a patient is always ultimately responsible. The last two sections of the book are full of interesting patient stories and antecdotes, leaving the reader with a sense of "why do I pay so much for services that are not consistent and not scientifically proven?" Gawande does an excellent job pointing out some of the uncertaintaties of medicine and some of the major health disparities and inequalities - the poor are usually the ones that are used as training tools for interns and residents, and receive subpar-care compared to the well-insured.

A very easy and quick read.

This book was used in my Exercise Phys course last year, and I must say that it is very thorough and presented in an easy-to-understand format. The text has many illustrations and graphs to show you the dynamics of each concept. I had no Exercise Physiology background prior to this class, and this book made all the difference in being successful with the new material. I have, on numerous occasion, referred back to this text for information after completing the class. I highly recommend purchasing this book at least as a reference go-to for any Exercise Science enthusiast.

Book has lots of information. Shows different conclusions when results of studies are dissimilar. Lots of references. Used as text for a class. Well organized.

I am only a few chapters into this book so far, but it seems to be a good read. I have already learned several new things about aging and look forward to my continued reading. My only complaint so far is that while interesting, I think that there are too many statistics. This kind of takes away the importance of some of the more pertinent facts and would be far too many to memorize.

This book is simple to read and it covers all topics related with aging and geriatrics. I think this is a good source, but last semester I used one by John Cavanaugh and I considered that one a level higher than thisone. I mean this is a general topic book. I bouth it for my Social Work with the Elderly college class, and I don't really consider it too deep in the topic of social Work, but more a generalized information book.

Text is laid out very well, easy to read. There is a lot of good information in this book related to aging--physical, emotional, cognitive and social factors. The chapters are organized by topic with a lot of graphs and research info. to back it up. The only negative I have is that there is a lot of research data in the text which can get make reading all of it a little boring.