Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
A Surgeon's Notes on Performance
by Atul GawandeIt was inevitable that Better and
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman would be widely compared by reviewers
when they published in hardcover just weeks apart last year. While both share a
similar premise, that the performance of physicians is less than
perfect and can be improved by close scrutiny, the scope of
Better is wider, from a medical, geographical and ethical
point of view which, in this reader's opinion, makes it the
more interesting book.
Following on from his 2002 collection of essays,
Complications, Gawande's latest book consists of 12 essays,
some original and some previously published, in which he whisks the reader around the world from medical facilities on
the cutting edge of science to doctors performing miracles with
the barest of supplies. Five of the previously published essays
are available to read in full
online (see sidebar) and the Introduction is reproduced in full
at BookBrowse.
While Better explores a number of practical ways in which
doctors can improve the survival rate of their patients, such as
the hospital that reduced the number of patients infected by
MRSA* from a national average of 10%+ to zero, it is Gawande's
focus on ethical dilemmas and his strategies for improving
medical success rates that make for the most interesting
reading, not least because much of what he has to say can be
applied to fields other than medicine.
Better offers inspiration to any of us who are tempted to
settle for average. If you're looking for an inspiring graduate
gift this year, instead of falling for the tired old retreads
that publishers target specifically at the graduate market,
consider giving Better!
*MRSA is a particularly virulent bacteria resistant to most antibiotics.
Essays from The New Yorker that are reprinted in Better
Essays from the New England Journal of Medicine that are reprinted in Better
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in April 2007, and has been updated for the February 2008 edition. Click here to go to this issue.
If you liked Better, try these:
Award-winning New York Times reporter Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal reveals the dangerous, expensive, and dysfunctional American healthcare system, and tells us exactly what we can do to solve its myriad of problems.
Immune explores the incredible arsenal that lives within us - how it knows what to attack and what to defend, and how it kills everything from the common cold to the plague bacterium.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.