Search - Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance

Quite a bit different from the other medical memoirs I've read lately, including Gawande's own Complications.

"Better" is about finding ways to do the job of medicine better - thinking out of the box, using resources at hand, and just plain hard work. He shows that medicine can be "better" using these tools, irrespective of technological and other medical advances.

From cystic fibrosis clinics to fighting an outbreak of polio in Southern India, he takes you on a tour of the world showing some incredibly innovative, hard working medical professionals who have strived to do "better" using their wits and whatever situation is handed to them.

Absolutely fascinating.

Atul Gawande scores again with his second book, Better. Similar in format to his first book, Complications, this one explores some ideas and parts of the medical profession that are current and thought provoking. For example, as a physician whose duty it is to save people's lives, how do you reconcile attending an execution? Someone has to sign the death certificate. He talks about excellence in many areas...saving lives in Iraq, doctors who do it all in India, and what makes the best Cystic Fibrosis center in the US the absolute best. It is a book filled with inspiration and stories of people who go far above and beyond to do their best, thus making the system a little bit better.

I generally don't read medical books, but Gawande is a fascinating author. Writing somewhat in the style of Malcolm Gladwell, he writes about medical issues in such a way that they are interesting. I can't adequately describe the genre, but I will say that this book provides things that you ponder and things that you bring up in conversation, just because you want to tell somebody this fascinating fact or story you read.