I know we have some Read Fast, Eat Slow readers that would love to be a fly on the wall in the operating room. Until such a feat becomes possible, you might get your fix by reading Atul Gawande’s Complications.
Many chapters originally appeared in his column in The New Yorker.
As a fly on Gawande’s wall, you will witness him making his incisions, guiding tiny scopes and frightful needles into the dark cavities of the body, snipping, fixing, and patching. You will also discover that experts in scrubs aren’t always sure where to stick that scope or needle; sometimes they’re just learning, and there’s no way to learn except by doing.
So, you may not want to read his very elegant and humane book right before your next delicate operation.
They really do want to get it right, though. They are drawn to medicine because of its power to make lives better. It’s heady stuff, taking on a human being who limps into the office and changing them into a happy, energetic and cured customer.
Gawande covers some of medicine’s fascinating frontiers. For instance, doctors find new ways of understanding and relieving pain. Or how about blushing? Yes, there’s a tiny snip that cures that. (Sign me up!)
You will meet people coping with morbid obesity, wildly fatal bacteria, and even professional burn-out. Yeah, you don’t want that doctor taking out your gallbladder.
As for applicable life lessons, I wanted to take notes on the wise and gentle ways physicians convince reluctant patients to undergo difficult but life-saving treatments.
Reading Complications is nearly as good as binge-watching your favorite hospital drama.
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