3.84 avg rating — 28,200 ratings

"A tale of surviving an internship. Raucous black humor and only stretches the truth a little bit. "

3.93 avg rating — 297,062 ratings

"A stunning meditation on grief and loss with the author suffering the death of both her husband and daughter in the same year."

3.98 avg rating — 42,470 ratings

"Well written story of the early twentieth century epidemic that claimed more victims than World War I"

4.07 avg rating — 353,934 ratings

4.37 avg rating — 866,431 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 56,043 ratings

"Epidemiology began here with the Broad Street Pump and London's cholera epidemic."

4.25 avg rating — 37,067 ratings

"Dr. Gawande is always a thoughtful writer on the challenges of being a good doctor. Insightful and well written"

4.09 avg rating — 14,085 ratings

"Dr. Sacks cared for a cohort of encephalitis lethargic patients whose movements were frozen and who seemed cognitively absent. When levo-dopa was invented he watched their transformation which unfortunately was all too brief."

4.39 avg rating — 29,198 ratings

"Somewhat dated now, but captures the outrage and bewilderment of the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Fascinating story. Mr. Shilts is a good polemicist."

3.95 avg rating — 74,013 ratings

"Everything by Oliver Sacks is worth reading."

4.22 avg rating — 420,305 ratings

"This is one of favorite popular science books. Bryson always writes lucidly and I enjoyed every chapter of his book. Not confined to medicine."

3.85 avg rating — 60,128 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 181,083 ratings

"Great mystery set in New York. Alienist was the term used for psychiatrist."

4.32 avg rating — 359,547 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 88,505 ratings

3.98 avg rating — 2,062,696 ratings

4.02 avg rating — 312,076 ratings

"When a bubonic plague epidemic strikes Oran in Northern Africa, characters very in their reaction to the rampant suffering and death. An allegory of societies response to the plague of fascism."

4.04 avg rating — 454,618 ratings

"Why did the "Old World" dominate the "New World" The potent effect of disease which virtually wiped out huge native populations is emphasized. Classic analysis."

4.28 avg rating — 52,309 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 88,853 ratings

"When Hmong culture and American medical culture clash the young child with intractable seizures is the loser. Great book."

4.34 avg rating — 113,670 ratings

"Excellent popular science book on oncology."

4.16 avg rating — 121,086 ratings

"Somewhat dated. It is of interest because of the recent Ebola epidemic. When you read about the near disaster in the US as well as the Marburg virus you will be horrified."

4.33 avg rating — 424,886 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 1,589,425 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 777,505 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 800,532 ratings

"There is an excellent reason why this book was on the bestseller list for years. The science and benefits of tissue culture contrast with the tragedy of Henrietta's brief life and the predicaments of her descendants."

4.06 avg rating — 239,008 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 244,927 ratings

"A collection of neurological fascinomas. Dr. Sacks elucidates all of these patients with his usual skill."

3.92 avg rating — 32,395 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 61,019 ratings

4.15 avg rating — 23,691 ratings

4.35 avg rating — 11,646 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 17,409 ratings

"This drama is a poignant document of a woman suffering from terminal cancer. We, the audience bear witness to her decline. She is a professor specializing in the poetry of John Donne. Her sardonic observations transcend cold academia and reveal her humanity."

3.70 avg rating — 611,291 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 9,285 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 13,297 ratings

"Being a doctor means "swimming in a sea of ambiguity." Medical decision making is much more difficult than patients realize. The cognitive vulnerabilities of all physicians are analyzed. An excellent book for both physicians and patients."

3.97 avg rating — 9,276 ratings

4.02 avg rating — 33,596 ratings

"Before PTSD, World War I treated patients for "shell shock." This is the first volume of a trilogy based on the suffering of two famous World War I poets, Siegfried Sassoon and . They are treated by Dr. Rivers also a historical figure. The psychiatrist struggles with their treatment and with the fact that if the treatment is successful and they are returned to combat their survival at the front is 6 weeks."

4.22 avg rating — 10,734 ratings

4.17 avg rating — 1,434 ratings

"This is the classic book that set my heart on fire more than 30 years ago. The history of these great medical discoveries and the stories of the great physicians who made them is still fascinating."

4.15 avg rating — 18,021 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 7,651 ratings

3.96 avg rating — 8,876 ratings

"I like these patient vignettes, but there are better physician writers like Selzer,Sacks, Aronson. Still interesting cases."

3.92 avg rating — 13,742 ratings

3.55 avg rating — 11,801 ratings

3.81 avg rating — 2,304 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 5,969 ratings

3.84 avg rating — 8,526 ratings

3.98 avg rating — 716 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 6,713 ratings

4.42 avg rating — 20,388 ratings

4.16 avg rating — 5,004 ratings

3.80 avg rating — 3,948 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 5,144 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 4,205 ratings

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,672 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 2,346 ratings

4.23 avg rating — 14,266 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 3,223 ratings

3.72 avg rating — 11,911 ratings

3.83 avg rating — 4,714 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 6,157 ratings

4.19 avg rating — 15,703 ratings

4.36 avg rating — 83,247 ratings

"A fictional account of Sigmund Freud's attempt at curing Nietsche of his intractable headaches and psychologic suffering. Also see Yalom's book on Spinoza."

3.93 avg rating — 40,694 ratings

"Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans and a small number of health care professionals feel that it is necessary to suspend medical ethics and carries out mercy killings on people they think will not be able to be evacuated. The physician who makes most of these decisions is an ENT specialist who takes this responsibility onto herself. The heat, the fatigue, the isolation, lack of governmental or corporate support all are contributory. Even as rescues from the outside were beginning a small segment of the staff continued the massive doses of sedatives. How the physician escaped criminal charges is part of the story."

3.83 avg rating — 1,109 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 1,884 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 51,452 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 11,572 ratings

3.99 avg rating — 31,469 ratings

"Styron is a great writer and his brief memoir of the depression that brought him close to suicide and paralyzed his writing is moving."

4.28 avg rating — 4,832 ratings

4.10 avg rating — 5,869 ratings

4.18 avg rating — 379 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 1,274 ratings

3.86 avg rating — 769 ratings

"Stories by the physician-poet William Carlos Williams. He practiced in the tenements of the early 20th century. His stories bring to life the limitations of medical practice."

4.14 avg rating — 4,449 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 27,970 ratings

4.23 avg rating — 84,019 ratings

"If only Garfield hadn't had any doctors he probably would have survived."

4.06 avg rating — 426 ratings

4.01 avg rating — 10,804 ratings

"Sam Kean is a great popular science writer. This volume focuses on genetics. Paganini is the great violinist of the title. Don't miss his disappearing spoon about chemistry and his recent book on neurology. "

3.78 avg rating — 1,387 ratings

3.82 avg rating — 814 ratings