Best books to get interested in medicine and medical school
The motivation to pursue medicine varies widely and is often fueled by personal experiences, altruistic values, and influence from mentors. Literature can also prompt this motivation. Here is a list of some of the most convincing books that cover different fields and aspects of medicine.
The Best Books about Medical School and Residency
Med School Confidential — Robert H. Miller And Daniel M. Bissell, M.D.
Comprehensive guide on the medical school process — from applications, through pre-clinical and clinical years.
White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School — Ellen L. Rothman, M.D.
Covers Dr. Rothman’s 4 years as a medical student at Harvard and her personal transformationn
The Soul Of A Doctor — Susan Pories, M.D., Sachin H. Jain, And Gordon Harper, M.D.
A number of essays by medical students that dive into the humanist aspects of medicine as well as personal formative experiences.
Becoming a Doctor: A Journey of Initiation in Medical School — Melvin Konner, MD
A wonderful introduction to medical school (more specifically, third year of medical school) as the author navigates the different third year rotations. Konner, who was an anthropologist prior to pursuing medicine, provides an unique viewpoint on medical school as well as a global critique on the changing humanity in medicine.
The Intern Blues — Robert Marion, MD
Dr. Marion asked three pediatric interns to keep diaries during their intern year. This book tells stories from their intern year…some funny and many deeply harrowing.
Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation — Sandeep Jauhar, MD
Dr. Jauhar kept a journal during his intern year in internal medicine; this eventually became compiled into Intern. He eventually became a cardiologist.
A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years as a Medical Student — Perri Klass, MD
Dr. Klass, a pediatrician, recounts her time as a medical student (during which time she was also a first time mother).
The Real Grey’s Anatomy: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Real Lives of Surgical Residents — Andrew Holz
A medical correspondant, Mr. Holz follows a number of surgical residents to make comparisons with the hit TV show.
The Best Books on Specific Medical Specialties
Anesthesiology
This Won't Hurt a Bit: (And Other White Lies): My Education in Medicine and Motherhood — Michelle Au, MD
Author of a hit blog and medical comic series, ScutMonkey, Dr. Au goes into her education and how she became an anesthesiologist. Witty and fun.
Emergency Medicine
Something for the Pain: One Doctor's Account of Life and Death in the ER — Paul Austin, MD
A stark, real view on life in the emergency room as an ED doctor and its strains on personal relationships.
Emergency Doctor — Edward Ziegler And Lewis R. Goldfrank, M.D
Covers the emergency room at Bellevue Hospital, one of the most recognizable hospital names in the world, and the endless work undertaken by its nurses and doctors.
Internal Medicine/Family Medicine
Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries — Lisa Sanders, MD
With all the intrigue of a House episode, Dr. Sanders discusses some of her most interesting cases and how she finally made the right diagnosis.
Letter to a Young Female Physician: Notes from a Medical Life — Suzanne Koven, MD
Discusses the hurdles that Dr. Koven underwent and overcome as a woman physician.
Hundreds of Interlaced Fingers: A Kidney Doctor's Search for the Perfect Match — Vanessa Grubbs, MD
A fascinating love story between a physician woman and a man who was dying from kidney disease in which the physician woman finds that she is a match for the man.
The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last — Azra Raza
Internal Medicine: A Doctor's Stories
Neurology
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat — Oliver Sacks CBE, FRCP
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Womb With a View: Tales from the Delivery, Emergency and Operating Rooms”
This Is Going To Hurt By Adam Kay
Oncology
The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer — Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD
Pathology
Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd
Working Stiff Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
Psychiatry
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jameson
Surgery
Open Heart: A Cardiac Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table
The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris
BLUE COLLAR, BLUE SCRUBS: THE MAKING OF A SURGEON BY MICHAEL COLLINS
Under the Knife: A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations by Arnold van de Laar
Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality
When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales from Neurosurgery — Frank Vertosick Jr. MD
When Breath Becomes Air — Paul Kalanithi, MD
Gifted Hands — Ben Carson, MD
The Best Books on Medicine as a whole
Being Mortal — Atul Gawande, MD
House of God — Samuel Shem, MD
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital - Sheri Fink
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World — Tracy Kidder
A widely influential book with the premise that one caring person can make a global difference. Kidder follows the work of Dr. Farmer, an infectious disease specialist and Harvard professor and anthropologist, who uses his grasp of medicine, social policy, and global health to affect populations.
Cutting for Stone — Abraham Verghese, MD
What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine — Danielle Ofri, MD