So on your advice I'm reading Intern Blues

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
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Maddux


I am reading the newest version, I would have to look at the book to see when it was originally done and re-released, but it does mention that this is a newer version of the book. I will definiteley pick up “something for the pain” next and I will send him an email! Keep recommending!

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I have the follow up, I can pull it off my bookshelf and see if it was ten or twenty years if you like.


Too lazy at the moment.


Was up at 5 a.m. to get to class on time after being sick and having a baby who refused to sleep.


Calgon take me away.

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This is completely off subject…but I’m here so I’m posting it anyway! My doctor prescribed Topamax to me for my migraines and she told me some of the side effects which I was like “oh no big deal” well for the past like 2 weeks (exactly how long I’ve been taking it) I have been thinking that I’ve been coming down with a cold or something because my sense of taste is off…so finally today I do a little research. It’s a side effect of Topamax! Especially carbonated beverages. I feel like an idiot because I was convinced that Pepsi had changed their formula. Convinced! I even convinced a co-worker that Pepsi had changed their formula. Anyway, wayyy off topic but thought I’d share my DUH moment.

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I wish I had topamax to blame my coughing spasms on. But the hycodan is quite nice.

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Sounds great! Let me know when you will be in need of a suggestion! Or anyone else for that matter…

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Another medical author to seek out is Atul Gawande. He has written numerous essays for the New Yorker as well as two books. “Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science” is by far his best known.

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Emergency,


Those are good books as well. I would love to hear if you have any others that I may not have read as of yet? Or ones that you recommend…Thanks!

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Abraham Verghese, My Own Country


Internal Med/Infectious Disease doc in eastern Tennessee in the late 80s, as AIDS was becoming recognized as a disease not confined to San Francisco bathhouses. Beautifully told story, very moving.

29

Ya know, I’ve never read too many of these sorts of books. Not to be trite, but I feel like I live this life and when I have downtime, the last thing I desire to do is attempt to experience the medical world by proxy. Personally, my number 1 choice is, obviously, my family. When I have time to devote to non-family/non-medical things, I tend to do things such as target shooting and listen to music - I am a true music addict & audiophile. If I read or watch TV/movie, they tend to be passive, check-your-brain-at-the-d oor styles of entertainment requiring minimal cortical activity.

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Ah Old Man Dave, I’m such a passafist though. And a self admitted book addict. I long for the days of leisure reading and the more realistic the better. Unless, of course, it’s some steamy historical romance novel, then I’ll take the fantasy.

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I can totally appreciate Daves reference as to not wanting to read about his life in a book. I worked on a CICU floor with 12+ hour shifts, I miss it tremendously. However, this book is absolutely amazing, it is a fantastic read, and I cannot give it enough praise. It is the complete histroy of medicine and it’s benefits and lack of to humanity…I urge everyone to read this, jsut like in the thread I created months ago…It is a greatly done and detailed work of art, and the price on amazon is beoynd reasonable, I purchased it at my local Borders. Please give some input after reading this thread I created urging everyone to check it out.


http://www.oldpremeds.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?t…

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Can it wait until spring break? I can not read anything except my chem and bio books right now.

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LOL!! Of course it can…

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  • maddux31 Said:
I can totally appreciate Daves reference as to not wanting to read about his life in a book. I worked on a CICU floor with 12+ hour shifts, I miss it tremendously. However, this book is absolutely amazing, it is a fantastic read, and I cannot give it enough praise. It is the complete histroy of medicine and it's benefits and lack of to humanity..I urge everyone to read this, jsut like in the thread I created months ago..It is a greatly done and detailed work of art, and the price on amazon is beoynd reasonable, I purchased it at my local Borders. Please give some input after reading this thread I created urging everyone to check it out.

http://www.oldpremeds.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?t...



After this resounding endorsement, I may just have to read the book.
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I think you will thorougly enjoy it. I rank it as one of the most enjoyable and informative books I have read uptil now…

36

I read Intern Blues. Didn’t scare me away. Now I just read “The Making of a Surgeon in the 21st Century” not sure who wrote it as it’s not in front of me. It’s pretty good, reads like a work of fiction rather than about this guys 5 years of residency in general surgery, it’s entertaining. I guess maybe the reason I’m fascinated at this point is because I’m not a doctor yet…I can see where Dave is coming from that once I’m a doctor the last thing I’ll want to come home and watch is Code Blue on Discovery Health. It’s not like police officers come home and watch Cops. Ya know?


I tend to not sleep well at night so that is when I read. And watch mindless television.



37

I really liked ‘Singular Intimacies: Becoming and Doctor at Bellevue’ by Danielle Ofri.


It’s a set of few short stories - each of them can be read separately. The first one starts during Daniel’s first third-year clerkship, and then she takes us through the rest of her med school, intern year, residency etc. Really good account of how she handled things at different times of her journey and how she matured to becoming a physician.



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Thanks! I’ll have to check that one out!

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  • madkasia Said:
I really liked 'Singular Intimacies: Becoming and Doctor at Bellevue' by Danielle Ofri.



Funny you should mention that... I just saw her speak at my school the other day. Earlier this week, she read a few chapters from her book. It was a very interesting experience, and she seemed wonderfully open and sincere. And she read it well!
40

I would like to suggest a book if I may, it is a non-medical book but it changed my life completely and open up my eyes to severe human struggle and insurmountable courage and hope. I hope to work with refugees, particularly from Africa, after med school(need to get there first, but a pre-med can dream!). The book is called “They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Alphonsion Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak”. It is a book that left me in tears after every chapter and just at a loss for words and it fueled and reaffirmed my desire to help refugees and understand that the world has such horrible nightmares in it, yet people can dream so beautifully. Mehgan