3.84 avg rating — 28,550 ratings

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

3.93 avg rating — 302,204 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 — 42,659 ratings

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

4.07 avg rating — 360,636 ratings

4.37 avg rating — 881,905 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 56,391 ratings

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

4.25 avg rating — 37,277 ratings

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

4.09 avg rating — 14,191 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 — 29,344 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 — 74,582 ratings

"Everything by Oliver Sacks is worth reading."

4.22 avg rating — 423,516 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."

3.86 avg rating — 60,353 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 181,629 ratings

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

4.32 avg rating — 360,900 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 88,886 ratings

3.99 avg rating — 2,082,563 ratings

4.02 avg rating — 315,986 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 — 458,688 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 — 52,547 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 89,295 ratings

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

4.34 avg rating — 114,633 ratings

"Excellent popular science book on oncology."

4.16 avg rating — 121,735 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 — 427,688 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 1,599,937 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 781,141 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 806,331 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 — 240,839 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 246,877 ratings

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

3.92 avg rating — 32,615 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 61,907 ratings

4.15 avg rating — 23,807 ratings

4.35 avg rating — 11,735 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 17,498 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 — 612,013 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 9,318 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 13,344 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 — 9,458 ratings

4.01 avg rating — 33,814 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 — 10,747 ratings

4.17 avg rating — 1,438 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 — 18,159 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 7,665 ratings

3.96 avg rating — 8,920 ratings

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

3.93 avg rating — 13,788 ratings

3.55 avg rating — 11,874 ratings

3.81 avg rating — 2,312 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 5,995 ratings

3.84 avg rating — 8,556 ratings

3.98 avg rating — 719 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 6,738 ratings

4.42 avg rating — 20,518 ratings

4.16 avg rating — 5,038 ratings

3.80 avg rating — 3,957 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 5,162 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 4,219 ratings

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,788 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 2,349 ratings

4.23 avg rating — 14,352 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 3,231 ratings

3.72 avg rating — 12,107 ratings

3.83 avg rating — 4,728 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 6,193 ratings

4.19 avg rating — 15,786 ratings

4.36 avg rating — 84,222 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 — 41,098 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 — 1,111 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 1,904 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 51,768 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 11,704 ratings

3.99 avg rating — 31,623 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 — 4,874 ratings

4.10 avg rating — 5,885 ratings

4.18 avg rating — 379 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 1,287 ratings

3.86 avg rating — 777 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 — 4,482 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 28,061 ratings

4.24 avg rating — 85,417 ratings

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

4.06 avg rating — 426 ratings

4.01 avg rating — 10,855 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 — 1,411 ratings

3.83 avg rating — 817 ratings