3.83 avg rating — 29,422 ratings

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

3.93 avg rating — 315,995 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 — 43,189 ratings

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

4.06 avg rating — 379,482 ratings

4.37 avg rating — 920,762 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 57,319 ratings

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

4.25 avg rating — 37,846 ratings

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

4.09 avg rating — 14,472 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 — 29,797 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."

3.94 avg rating — 75,883 ratings

"Everything by Oliver Sacks is worth reading."

4.21 avg rating — 431,927 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 — 61,006 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 183,613 ratings

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

4.33 avg rating — 365,002 ratings

4.21 avg rating — 90,015 ratings

3.98 avg rating — 2,130,468 ratings

4.02 avg rating — 326,914 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 — 468,397 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 — 53,316 ratings

4.21 avg rating — 90,549 ratings

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

4.34 avg rating — 117,316 ratings

"Excellent popular science book on oncology."

4.16 avg rating — 124,360 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."

4.34 avg rating — 435,730 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 1,623,308 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 791,516 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 822,022 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 — 246,244 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 251,946 ratings

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

3.92 avg rating — 33,216 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 64,642 ratings

4.15 avg rating — 24,168 ratings

4.35 avg rating — 11,998 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 17,758 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 — 614,154 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 9,464 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 13,468 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."

3.96 avg rating — 9,891 ratings

4.01 avg rating — 34,568 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 — 10,776 ratings

4.17 avg rating — 1,450 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 — 18,580 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 7,697 ratings

3.96 avg rating — 9,086 ratings

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

3.93 avg rating — 14,009 ratings

3.55 avg rating — 12,106 ratings

3.80 avg rating — 2,340 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 6,109 ratings

3.84 avg rating — 8,691 ratings

3.98 avg rating — 725 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 6,809 ratings

4.42 avg rating — 20,963 ratings

4.16 avg rating — 5,091 ratings

3.79 avg rating — 4,013 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 5,224 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 4,267 ratings

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8,114 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 2,421 ratings

4.23 avg rating — 14,714 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 3,323 ratings

3.71 avg rating — 13,245 ratings

3.83 avg rating — 4,794 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 6,312 ratings

4.19 avg rating — 16,108 ratings

4.36 avg rating — 86,730 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 — 42,240 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 — 1,124 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 1,954 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 52,648 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 12,130 ratings

3.99 avg rating — 32,189 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 — 5,003 ratings

4.10 avg rating — 5,951 ratings

4.17 avg rating — 380 ratings

3.92 avg rating — 1,317 ratings

3.86 avg rating — 790 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 — 4,574 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 28,409 ratings

4.25 avg rating — 88,770 ratings

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

4.06 avg rating — 432 ratings

4.01 avg rating — 11,076 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. "

3.79 avg rating — 1,451 ratings

3.83 avg rating — 828 ratings