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.