I’m not sure I liked it more than Being Mortal. Then again, they broach two vastly different subject matters. This one felt valuable and timely for me to read. A reassurance that continuing to push re: some medical issues I have is, perhaps, wise. And reminds me to have grace for the medical professionals I encounter. Some, sure, are crusty and burnt out. Most are doing the best they can with the data they have in an ocean of otherwise uncertainty.

Interesting stories, and a very realistic discord on the human side of the health system and the people who work in it. Don't read this if you want to go to hospital with a blind faith that doctors are infallible! Read if you want to understand the human side of the caring professions and the dedication and care that most health professionals show.

I should not have been surprised to learn from the Author's Acknowledgement that Gawande is friends with Malcolm Gladwell -- this book is the doctor's equivalent of a Gladwell book. I really learned a lot from this book and have found myself sharing some of the points with others as I've read it. I should say that Gawande is very graphic in decribing medical procedures and conditions, and there were times I felt a little squeamish (Like reading the chapter on nausea as I was eating lunch; also I'll never be able to hear that TV doctors are about to "put it a line" without wincing) and realized I didn't want to know all this detail, but I'm still glad I read this book.

Some of my favorite points were:
That every patient wants an experienced doctor, but the only way a young doctor becomes an experienced doctor is by performing procedures (very much like a teacher).
The evolutionary purpose of morning sickness
The role of intuition in medicine
How some doctor's go "bad"
The ways doctors try to police themselves
How much doctors and medical researchers still don't know -- the amount of uncertainty and subjectivity.
Other doctors have much to learn from palliative doctors, who take the patient's suffering as seriously as the symptoms.

I also liked reading Gawande's descriptions of his role as a surgical resident -- although how he managed to juggle writing this book with his work and family life (he has a wife and 3 kids) boggles my mind.

You'e read these essays in the New Yorker, but they are still excellent "insider" pieces about the medical culture.

Utterly captivating.

The author wrote 14 medical-related articles. He grouped these articles into 3 general categories. I’ve very briefly described the articles (and categories) since your interest in this book may depend upon your interest in the topics the author has chosen to include in this book. Each article typically includes a specific patient’s case, which very nicely carries some of the general discussion over to relatable real-world impact. Well written. Interesting. Easy for a layman to understand. But fairly general (i.e., no real surprises and not much new information).

FALLIBILITY (I.e., doctors make mistakes) -----
EDUCATION OF A KNIFE: New surgeons learning their craft by operating on real patients.
COMPUTER & THE HERNIA FACTORY: Using computers and ultra-specialization to reduce medical errors.
WHEN DOCTORS MAKE MISTAKES: Most doctors make mistakes. How can they be reduced?
NINE THOUSAND SURGEONS: What it’s like at going to a surgeon’s convention.
WHEN GOOD DOCTORS GO BAD: When an experienced doctor’s performance markedly declines.

MYSTERY (I.e., not everything about medicine is known) -----
FULL MOON FRIDAY THE 13th: Does the emergency room really get unusually busy on these superstitious evenings?
THE PAIN PERPLEX: What causes pain? What drives the intensity of pain?
A QUEASY FEELING: Nausea. Like pain, sometimes hard to determine its cause or alleviate its discomfort.
CRIMSON TIDE: Nope, it’s not about periods – it’s about blushing.
THE MAN WHO COULDN’T STOP EATING: Hunger and the gastric-bypass operation.

UNCERTAINTY (I.e., what’s really the right thing for the doctor to do?) -----
FINAL CUT: Autopsy
THE DEAD BABY MYSTERY: SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
WHOSE BODY IS IT, ANYWAY?: Letting patient’s make informed decisions about their own medical care.
THE CASE OF THE RED LEG: Diagnostic uncertainty, doctor’s gut instinct and flesh-eating bacteria.

Pretty good. The main message is that doctors are humans, and like all humans, make mistakes. It questions how much we can control or prevent this, and what impact that has on the decisions we make in medicine, both as doctors and as patients.

This book is also chock full of interesting real life stories (with names changed, of course) of patients that have been affected one way or another by their own choices or by the choices of their doctors.

Great writer, with consideration for his fellow human beings. He always makes me feel hopeful about humanity.