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Masters at Work
Becoming a Neurosurgeon
Author John Colapinto brings to vivid life what neurosurgeon Dr. Bederson’s professional life is like to show all the varied facets of his work, from extensive study and research to brain operations, one-on-one consultations with patients, and even staff meetings with fellow surgeons and students. Since Mt. Sinai is a teaching hospital, we learn alongside the residents and interns how Bederson trains neurosurgeons, passing along the knowledge and skills he honed over decades. The result is a multidimensional portrait of a man and a department, a practical guide for how to enter and learn the profession, as well as a moving glimpse into the world of patients and doctors who face some of life’s most harrowing challenges.
177 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 2, 2019
About the author
John Colapinto
13 books86 followersAn award-winning journalist, author and novelist and is currently a staff writer at The New Yorker.
Prior to working at The New Yorker, Colapinto wrote for Vanity Fair, New York magazine and The New York Times Magazine, and in 1995 he became a contributing editor at Rolling Stone,[1] where he published feature stories on a variety of subjects ranging from AIDS, to kids and guns, to heroin in the music business, to Penthouse magazine creator, Bob Guccione (his Guccione story was a finalist for the ASME award in profile writing in 2004). In 1998, he published a 20,000 word feature story in Rolling Stone titled The True Story of John/Joan, an account of David Reimer, who had undergone a sex change in infancy—a medical experiment long heralded as a success, but which was, in fact, a failure. The story, which detailed not only Reimer's tortured life, but the medical scandal surrounding its cover-up, won the ASME Award for reporting and in 2000, Colapinto published a book-length account of the case, As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised As A Girl. The book was a New York Times bestseller and the film rights were bought by Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Colapinto also wrote a novel, About the Author, a tale of literary envy and theft. It was published in August 2001 and was a number 6 pick on the Booksense 76 list of best novels of the season; it was a nominee for the IMPAC literary award and for a number of years was under option by Dreamworks, where playwright Patrick Marber (Closer and Howard Katz) wrote a screen adaptation. The film rights to the novel have since been acquired by producer Scott Rudin.
As a writer for The New Yorker, Colapinto has written about subjects as diverse as medicinal leeches; Sotheby's auctioneer Tobias Meyer; fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld and Rick Owens; the linguistic oddities of the Pirahã people (an Amazonian tribe); and Paul McCartney. His piece on the Piraha was anthologized in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing" (2008); his New Yorker story about loss prevention (anti-theft in stores) was included in "The Best American Crime Reporting" (2009);[2] and his New Yorker profile of neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran was selected by Freeman Dyson for inclusion in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing" (2010).
John Colapinto lives on New York City's Upper East Side. He is married to fashion illustrator and artist, Donna Mehalko, and they have one son.
-Wikipedia
Prior to working at The New Yorker, Colapinto wrote for Vanity Fair, New York magazine and The New York Times Magazine, and in 1995 he became a contributing editor at Rolling Stone,[1] where he published feature stories on a variety of subjects ranging from AIDS, to kids and guns, to heroin in the music business, to Penthouse magazine creator, Bob Guccione (his Guccione story was a finalist for the ASME award in profile writing in 2004). In 1998, he published a 20,000 word feature story in Rolling Stone titled The True Story of John/Joan, an account of David Reimer, who had undergone a sex change in infancy—a medical experiment long heralded as a success, but which was, in fact, a failure. The story, which detailed not only Reimer's tortured life, but the medical scandal surrounding its cover-up, won the ASME Award for reporting and in 2000, Colapinto published a book-length account of the case, As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised As A Girl. The book was a New York Times bestseller and the film rights were bought by Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Colapinto also wrote a novel, About the Author, a tale of literary envy and theft. It was published in August 2001 and was a number 6 pick on the Booksense 76 list of best novels of the season; it was a nominee for the IMPAC literary award and for a number of years was under option by Dreamworks, where playwright Patrick Marber (Closer and Howard Katz) wrote a screen adaptation. The film rights to the novel have since been acquired by producer Scott Rudin.
As a writer for The New Yorker, Colapinto has written about subjects as diverse as medicinal leeches; Sotheby's auctioneer Tobias Meyer; fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld and Rick Owens; the linguistic oddities of the Pirahã people (an Amazonian tribe); and Paul McCartney. His piece on the Piraha was anthologized in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing" (2008); his New Yorker story about loss prevention (anti-theft in stores) was included in "The Best American Crime Reporting" (2009);[2] and his New Yorker profile of neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran was selected by Freeman Dyson for inclusion in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing" (2010).
John Colapinto lives on New York City's Upper East Side. He is married to fashion illustrator and artist, Donna Mehalko, and they have one son.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 30, 2020
I'm trying to write a review for another Colapinto book, This Is the Voice. I'm glad I perservered with this author because although this book wasn't very interesting and the writing was just ok, the Voice is really much better on both counts. But I can't think of a review....
This book reminds me of When Breath Becomes Air in which the author, a man in early middle-age, a neurosurgeon, chronicles his coming death from cancer. It reminds me because his career was so short. It is 16 years at least to become a neurosurgeon, the training is almost a career in itself..
The author writes about neurosurgeon Dr. Bederson's career from all aspects, anecdotes, dealing with patients, diagnoses, surgery, training students and all associated gore. It's an ok book, interesting, but nothing special. I usually prefer doctor stories written by the doctor themselves to ones written by a journalist.
What really captures my imagination in a medical story are the little things that I hadn't thought of, the small details that the author/doctor lived through and recalled when writing the book not the broad strokes that an author, a journalist brings. This is purely a personal preference. The book is well-written and interesting. But not very memorable.
This book reminds me of When Breath Becomes Air in which the author, a man in early middle-age, a neurosurgeon, chronicles his coming death from cancer. It reminds me because his career was so short. It is 16 years at least to become a neurosurgeon, the training is almost a career in itself..
The author writes about neurosurgeon Dr. Bederson's career from all aspects, anecdotes, dealing with patients, diagnoses, surgery, training students and all associated gore. It's an ok book, interesting, but nothing special. I usually prefer doctor stories written by the doctor themselves to ones written by a journalist.
What really captures my imagination in a medical story are the little things that I hadn't thought of, the small details that the author/doctor lived through and recalled when writing the book not the broad strokes that an author, a journalist brings. This is purely a personal preference. The book is well-written and interesting. But not very memorable.
July 17, 2022
Won’t start on writing up aims for my neuro pre-doc dissertation but will binge this before bedtime. 10/10 fascinating glimpse into neurosurgery training and practice, where the top programs are across the States, and the different qualities that accomplished neurosurgeons hold.
October 9, 2019
Fascinating and wonderful. I only wish it had been longer.
January 12, 2022
Lots of vivid and fascinating detail about how brain surgery is done, and about the personalities attracted to this work.
I would have liked a longer book with more in depth exploration of the history and technology of neurosurgery.
I would have liked a longer book with more in depth exploration of the history and technology of neurosurgery.
July 2, 2024
i actually really liked this book. it was surprisingly light but i found it super interesting to read and liked that it had a lot of personal details and stories while also keeping focus on the topic of neurosurgery.
May 29, 2022
I really enjoyed this book, I was worried going into it that I would become bored but there wasn’t an instance where I felt confused, bored or tired of the book. Colapinto writes non fiction in such a captivating way, I felt like I was in the OR with Bederson- it felt more like fiction than non fiction. A truly inspiring read.
August 22, 2025
I am really interested in medicine, so my aunt decided to order me this book from Amazon and I honestly learned a lot from it. I was not quite sure what to expect before reading this book, but it truly exceeded my expectations. I read about Dr. Bederson’s professional life at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. It truly felt like I was there with him.
The topic of neurosurgery being the one of the most difficult fields of medicine to study was brought up a number of times. The physical and emotional demands it puts on a person can be so draining, but Dr. Bedersen never gave up. Mt. Sinai is a well-known teaching hospital that tests the skill and knowledge of all interns and residents. The research, consultations, and studies just bring to life how complex becoming a neurosurgeon is. I feel like when most people think about becoming surgeons, they look closely at the money aspect of it and not about the lives they could be changing. This book shares all the ups and downs of doctors with the most nerve-racking experiences.
I believe young adults who are currently studying medicine or want to go somewhere in the field should definitely look into this book. It almost shares that one-on-one feeling of shadowing a neurosurgeon. Neurology is without a doubt a challenging study, but if you keep aiming for success, you can do it.
The topic of neurosurgery being the one of the most difficult fields of medicine to study was brought up a number of times. The physical and emotional demands it puts on a person can be so draining, but Dr. Bedersen never gave up. Mt. Sinai is a well-known teaching hospital that tests the skill and knowledge of all interns and residents. The research, consultations, and studies just bring to life how complex becoming a neurosurgeon is. I feel like when most people think about becoming surgeons, they look closely at the money aspect of it and not about the lives they could be changing. This book shares all the ups and downs of doctors with the most nerve-racking experiences.
I believe young adults who are currently studying medicine or want to go somewhere in the field should definitely look into this book. It almost shares that one-on-one feeling of shadowing a neurosurgeon. Neurology is without a doubt a challenging study, but if you keep aiming for success, you can do it.
May 6, 2026
A part of a book series trying to sell and guide students into what career they want to pursue. And that's exactly what it felt like, an ad about this cool person doing cool stuff and helping people. Sure do they speak of hazing and harshness but it felt more like a pat on the neurosurgeons back. I have not learned more about neurosurgery, the career, i have learnt about how cool this person is, his hobbies and achievements but not really anything applicable to my ambitions.
Maybe great for a high-school student that dreams to get into premed but beyond that it felt mid.
Maybe great for a high-school student that dreams to get into premed but beyond that it felt mid.
May 13, 2023
Brevity shouldn't come in the way of making an impact, and this book is a prime example of that. Within the span of less than two hundred pages and taking hold of a handle of neurosurgeons, Colapinto is able to make the reader feel like they've gleaned so much about this field of medicine
May 28, 2021
Enlightening. Especially with my new experiences with back neurosurgery at work
November 4, 2023
Good book, covered the essential history of the field while following a present day surgeon. I think journalists who write on topics like this tend to do a good job.
July 27, 2026
An interesting look at the day in the lives of life-changing neurosurgeons
February 11, 2023
{4/5}
prior to getting into med school, I liked the idea of neurosurgery. now, i didn’t really know much about the other specialities, and my interest in this speciality was admittedly out of pure ego, knowing that it’s one of the most respected fields- but also the most strenuous and disappointing.
getting into med school and being slapped by the ugly reality that none of this will be easy quickly snatched the idea of neurosurgery out of my mind and i was on survival mode.
my interest in the field was rekindled as I was doing my surgery rotation. I had the incredible opportunity to attend a craniotomy and tumor resection of a 7 year old and it was done by an incredible neurosurgeon (who was annoyingly a very well rounded person). at this point, i was fascinated but mortified by what I was doing - the most gruesome work was being done to a tiny child. the entire time, i kept thinking how in hell will this child recover, never mind get his tumor resected.
a couple of weeks later, i saw the same child in the pediatric unit and i didn’t even recognize him until his mother told us he had an operation. the boy looked completely normal - no one would suspect he had a life changing operation.
i kept thinking a lot afterwards - what is there not to love about a field that is so gruesome but life-saving.
while i’m still unsure if I want to pursue neurosurgery as a career (it feels like signing a deal with the unforgiving devil) but I have major respect for all surgeons, specifically neurosurgeons.
prior to getting into med school, I liked the idea of neurosurgery. now, i didn’t really know much about the other specialities, and my interest in this speciality was admittedly out of pure ego, knowing that it’s one of the most respected fields- but also the most strenuous and disappointing.
getting into med school and being slapped by the ugly reality that none of this will be easy quickly snatched the idea of neurosurgery out of my mind and i was on survival mode.
my interest in the field was rekindled as I was doing my surgery rotation. I had the incredible opportunity to attend a craniotomy and tumor resection of a 7 year old and it was done by an incredible neurosurgeon (who was annoyingly a very well rounded person). at this point, i was fascinated but mortified by what I was doing - the most gruesome work was being done to a tiny child. the entire time, i kept thinking how in hell will this child recover, never mind get his tumor resected.
a couple of weeks later, i saw the same child in the pediatric unit and i didn’t even recognize him until his mother told us he had an operation. the boy looked completely normal - no one would suspect he had a life changing operation.
i kept thinking a lot afterwards - what is there not to love about a field that is so gruesome but life-saving.
while i’m still unsure if I want to pursue neurosurgery as a career (it feels like signing a deal with the unforgiving devil) but I have major respect for all surgeons, specifically neurosurgeons.
April 1, 2020
Anyone who has ever had a crazy idea of becoming a neurosurgeon needs to read this! Full of insight and valuable information.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews