3.83 avg rating — 29,970 ratings

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

3.93 avg rating — 326,031 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 — 43,556 ratings

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

4.06 avg rating — 392,091 ratings

4.36 avg rating — 948,473 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 58,073 ratings

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

4.24 avg rating — 38,197 ratings

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

4.09 avg rating — 14,607 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 — 30,087 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 — 76,905 ratings

"Everything by Oliver Sacks is worth reading."

4.21 avg rating — 438,051 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 — 61,413 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 185,606 ratings

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

4.33 avg rating — 367,580 ratings

4.21 avg rating — 90,703 ratings

3.98 avg rating — 2,165,889 ratings

4.02 avg rating — 336,530 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 — 475,562 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 — 53,738 ratings

4.21 avg rating — 91,387 ratings

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

4.34 avg rating — 119,150 ratings

"Excellent popular science book on oncology."

4.16 avg rating — 126,022 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 — 440,991 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 1,639,889 ratings

4.20 avg rating — 798,427 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 833,488 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 — 250,499 ratings

4.04 avg rating — 255,945 ratings

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

3.92 avg rating — 33,604 ratings

4.13 avg rating — 66,788 ratings

4.15 avg rating — 24,393 ratings

4.35 avg rating — 12,257 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 17,919 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 — 615,614 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 9,539 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 13,529 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 — 10,155 ratings

4.01 avg rating — 35,049 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 — 10,812 ratings

4.17 avg rating — 1,462 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 — 18,881 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 7,704 ratings

3.96 avg rating — 9,177 ratings

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

3.93 avg rating — 14,112 ratings

3.55 avg rating — 12,266 ratings

3.80 avg rating — 2,358 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 6,169 ratings

3.84 avg rating — 8,795 ratings

3.98 avg rating — 734 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 6,862 ratings

4.42 avg rating — 21,243 ratings

4.18 avg rating — 5,398 ratings

3.80 avg rating — 4,048 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 5,265 ratings

4.07 avg rating — 4,297 ratings

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8,308 ratings

3.89 avg rating — 2,444 ratings

4.22 avg rating — 14,897 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 3,359 ratings

3.70 avg rating — 13,701 ratings

3.83 avg rating — 4,830 ratings

4.05 avg rating — 6,384 ratings

4.19 avg rating — 16,342 ratings

4.36 avg rating — 88,627 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 — 43,033 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 — 1,131 ratings

4.14 avg rating — 1,992 ratings

3.93 avg rating — 53,205 ratings

3.88 avg rating — 12,419 ratings

3.99 avg rating — 32,592 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."

4.29 avg rating — 5,082 ratings

4.10 avg rating — 5,988 ratings

4.18 avg rating — 382 ratings

3.92 avg rating — 1,328 ratings

3.85 avg rating — 803 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 — 4,665 ratings

4.06 avg rating — 28,709 ratings

4.25 avg rating — 91,095 ratings

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

4.06 avg rating — 439 ratings

4.01 avg rating — 11,164 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 — 1,477 ratings

3.83 avg rating — 837 ratings