Doubtless, we’ve all heard of When Breath Becomes Air, Being Mortal, and other “must-read” books written by medical professionals. What about other books on Medicine? Increasingly, doctors are writing about their unique experiences in a certain specialty or unconventional career pathway. Selected here are five of the most inspiring, well-written books on specific medical careers, several of which were actually published in recent years (When Death Becomes Life, War Doctor, and The Prison Doctor were all 2019 releases.)
On being a neurosurgeon: Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
Published in 2014, this memoir is an unflinchingly honest account of Dr Henry Marsh’s career as an eminent neurosurgeon in London. As he dives into the intricacies of each procedure and recounts real patient encounters, we readers are transported into the operating theatre by his side. Drilling into patients’ skulls, wielding delicate instruments through a microscope, knowing full well that one millimetre could mean the difference between a successful operation and catastrophic haemorrhage—these are not your everyday encounters. Yet it has been Dr Marsh’s day-to-day work for more than thirty years. He tells his story with the utmost candour and compassion.
On being a transplant surgeon: When Death Becomes Life by Joshua D. Mezrich
Gripping and evocative, this book is particularly eye-opening, given how little most of us know about the medical aspects of organ transplantation. Weaving his personal experiences with fascinating medical history, Dr Mezrich brings us onto helicopters caught in violent thunderstorms and into the lives of both donors and recipients of this extraordinary gift of life. The ethical issues surrounding organ donation and transplantation are also thoughtfully discussed, from a fresh perspective of someone working on the front line.
On working in conflict zones: War Doctor by David Nott
From Syria to Sarajevo—places we see only in the news as distant battlegrounds of numerous warring factions—Dr David Nott has dedicated himself to life-saving work. For more than twenty-five years, Dr Nott has taken unpaid leave from his job as a general and vascular surgeon with the NHS to volunteer in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones. Treating trauma wounds requires another level of skill; repeatedly putting oneself in mortal danger to save others demands a whole new level of courage and compassion. You have to give this extraordinary story a read.
On working in prisons: The Prison Doctor by Amanda Brown
Leaving her stable job as a GP, Dr Amanda Brown enters an even more unpredictable world where violence, drugs and suicide are the norm. Her compassion carries her through the challenging times working in Britain’s most notorious jails, from young offenders’ institutions to Europe’s largest women-only prison. Where despair and retribution pervade, Dr Brown’s purpose to heal sets a jarring contrast. Through long hours, multiple insults and harrowing emergencies (“Code Blue” in prison vernacular), she still found these years to be the most fulfilling in her entire medical career.
On improving health care for the poor: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
This is the only book on this list that isn’t a first-person account. Nonetheless, it is just as profound and powerful. We journey along with Dr Paul Farmer, an eminent medical anthropologist and physician from Harvard, as he seeks to combat infectious disease and bring modern medicine to those who need it most. In Haiti, Peru, Cuba and Russia, Dr Farmer works to solve global health problems and provide medical care to the most impoverished communities.