Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance
by: Atul Gawande
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National Bestseller
The struggle to perform well is universal: each of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives may be on the line with any decision.
Atul Gawande, the New York Times bestselling author of Complications, examines, in riveting accounts of medical failure and triumph, how success is achieved in this complex and risk-filled profession. At once unflinching and compassionate, Better is an exhilarating journey, narrated by "arguably the best nonfiction doctor-writer around" (Salon.com).
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Rating: 
- Much better
This book is a compilation of essays some of which have been published elsewhere as was the case with his first work, COMPLICATIONS. There the comparison ends. Dr Gawande's writingand attitude have grown and matured.Here we see the professor who provokes us to thought as well as teaches.
The book opens with an introduction which was a story of how a senior resident senses that a patient may be sicker than her vital signs reveal. Following his clinical judgment he is more judicious than ... Read More
Rating: - A Medical Drama - an insider looking out
Atul Gawande asks the hard questions.How can a doctor who is just a human be expected to be a god?Gawande looks at the profession from the mundane (hand washing) to the ethical mountain tops (physicians attending executions).The odd thing is that the death row docs have not killed nearly as many people, in the big picture, as the ones who forget to sufficiently scrub up.
Dr. Gawande tells us about the challenges and changes in obstetrics, cystic fibrosis, and the use of chaperones ... Read More
Rating: - Complications is better, better is still very good
Gawande is a witty, practical, intelligent, and interesting writer who can relate and sympathize well with a wide range of people.On top of this, he is an innovator (see the recent article on [..] that describes his new protocols being applied in hospitals and drastically eliminating serious errors). I'm sure many professional writers wish they had half his talent.I think his first book Complications was better because it had more interesting stories and I was captivated about his admittance and ... Read More
Rating: - Wow - from start to finish!
Even better than his first book, Dr. Gawande bravely speaks out about the very real aspect of human fallibility in our health care system and his quest to eliminate errors in medicine.Quite frankly, I can't remember which of his first two books, "Complications" or "Better" the discussion about 'pre-flight' style check lists for surgical teams was mentioned in - because I read both of his books back to back in one day, but the idea is catching on and showing staggering statistical success.Dr. Gawande's ... Read More
Rating: - Even "Better" than Complications
Insightful, well-written, and goes beyond the limited scope of "Complications" to include medicine outside the walls of U.S. hospitals.
- Much betterThis book is a compilation of essays some of which have been published elsewhere as was the case with his first work, COMPLICATIONS. There the comparison ends. Dr Gawande's writingand attitude have grown and matured.Here we see the professor who provokes us to thought as well as teaches.
The book opens with an introduction which was a story of how a senior resident senses that a patient may be sicker than her vital signs reveal. Following his clinical judgment he is more judicious than ... Read More
- A Medical Drama - an insider looking outAtul Gawande asks the hard questions.How can a doctor who is just a human be expected to be a god?Gawande looks at the profession from the mundane (hand washing) to the ethical mountain tops (physicians attending executions).The odd thing is that the death row docs have not killed nearly as many people, in the big picture, as the ones who forget to sufficiently scrub up.
Dr. Gawande tells us about the challenges and changes in obstetrics, cystic fibrosis, and the use of chaperones ... Read More
- Complications is better, better is still very goodGawande is a witty, practical, intelligent, and interesting writer who can relate and sympathize well with a wide range of people.On top of this, he is an innovator (see the recent article on [..] that describes his new protocols being applied in hospitals and drastically eliminating serious errors). I'm sure many professional writers wish they had half his talent.I think his first book Complications was better because it had more interesting stories and I was captivated about his admittance and ... Read More
- Wow - from start to finish!Even better than his first book, Dr. Gawande bravely speaks out about the very real aspect of human fallibility in our health care system and his quest to eliminate errors in medicine.Quite frankly, I can't remember which of his first two books, "Complications" or "Better" the discussion about 'pre-flight' style check lists for surgical teams was mentioned in - because I read both of his books back to back in one day, but the idea is catching on and showing staggering statistical success.Dr. Gawande's ... Read More
- Even "Better" than ComplicationsInsightful, well-written, and goes beyond the limited scope of "Complications" to include medicine outside the walls of U.S. hospitals.
