Updated on: May 24th, 2013
Carved In Sand: When Attention Fails and Memory Fades in Midlife
Cathryn Jakobson Ramin
Multiple inquiries into how well the brain ages, and possible treatments to restore function.
Every Patient Tells A Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis
Lisa Sanders, M.D.
Comprehensive discussion of the physician’s most difficult and important job: Diagnosis.
Don’t Go There Alone! A Guide to Hospitals for Patients and Their Advocates
Kathy Kalina, Stephen Pew, Diane Bourgeois
The seminal guide for patients and advocates. Educating how to effectively advocate for yourself or others within an alien, confusing environment that has ultimate power over life and death. Emphasizes the benefits of using an informed advocate during your hospitalization or out-patient procedure.
Always On Call: When Illness Turns Families Into Caregivers
Carol Levine, ed.
A United Hospital Fund Book: Essential for understanding the current, and often unpleasant, realities of family caregiving while strongly advocating the need for change.
Better: A Surgeon’s Notes On Performance
Atul Gawande
The fallibility of surgeons and what they do to improve outcomes.
Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science
Atul Gawande
An exploration of why deadly mistakes happen, and the limits of medicine when faced with the inexplicable.
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
Atul Gawande
The title says it all!
The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness
Jerome Groopman
Groopman differentiates true hope from false hope–and how to best understand the potential of this vital emotion.
The Empowered Patient: Hundreds of Life-Savings Facts, Action Steps and Strategies You Need to Know
Dr. Julia A. Hallisy
Current safety issues in health care with easy-to-understand “action steps” to keep patients safe from preventable medical errors.
The Sociopath Next Door
Martha Stout, Ph.D.
Sociopaths can wreak much havoc before they ultimately die a violent or ignominious death. Examples include Genghis Khan and, more currently, Osama bin Laden. Martha Stout is an academician and this was published in 2005, so the research is fairly current. She discusses in some depth that lacking a conscience is certainly a moral disorder and and also classifiable as a psychiatric illness. Food for thought as the DSM-V prepares to eliminate sociopathy as a disorder.
You, The Smart Patient: An Insider’s Book for Getting the Best Treatment
Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz
This book is a great entry into the esoterica of the health care system and how you can navigate for yourself or a family member.
You Bet Your Life! The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes
Trisha Torrey
Trisha Torrey of AdvoConnection was the victim of a gross medical error, and subsequently made it her mission to advocate and provide education for patients.
How Doctors Think
Jerome E. Groopman
How excellent doctors can make honest errors and what patients can do to help prevent them.
Sherwin B. Nuland
A fascinating treatise of the miracle of life and the resiliency of our bodies.
Books from the National Academy Press
