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Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
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Binding: Paperback
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Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: April 01, 2003
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Editorial Review: Gently dismantling the myth of medical infallibility, Dr. Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science is essential reading for anyone involved in medicine--on either end of the stethoscope. Medical professionals make mistakes, learn on the job, and improvise much of their technique and self-confidence. Gawande's tales are humane and passionate reminders that doctors are people, too. His prose is thoughtful and deeply engaging, shifting from sometimes painful stories of suffering patients (including his own child) to intriguing suggestions for improving medicine with the same care he expresses in the surgical theater. Some of his ideas will make health care providers nervous or even angry, but his disarming style, confessional tone, and thoughtful arguments should win over most readers. Complications is a book with heart and an excellent bedside manner, celebrating rather than berating doctors for being merely human. --Rob Lightner
In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel’s edge. Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is—uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Great book on surgery
Atul Gawande gratefully takes the reader to the back of the OR, a place open for a few, yet intriguing for many. Dr. Gawande is extremely frank and poignant, as he describes actual cases from his own surgical practice. He admits that cutting someone open for the first time is hell, praises surgery which gives chance to obese people, wonders about doctor's intuition, and remains human in every case.
As always, Atul Gawande is not just writing about medicine; this book reaches far beyond ... Read More
Rating: - Interesting insight into the world of being an intern and a doctor
The first part of the book is the typical medical error conversation - the system needs changes, but, instead, the last doctor to touch a patient is always ultimately responsible. The last two sections of the book are full of interesting patient stories and antecdotes, leaving the reader with a sense of "why do I pay so much for services that are not consistent and not scientifically proven?" Gawande does an excellent job pointing out some of the uncertaintaties of medicine and some of the major health ... Read More
Rating: - I didn't finish
I just couldn't finish this book! I thought it would be better--but as I am reading the words they are more and more unfamiliar. I don't want to read a book where you spend more than 3/4 of the time looking up the words!
Rating: - Humble Human makes a Great Doctor!
An amazing thriller...
Dr.Atul's superb portrayal of finest qualities of a doctor, yet the limitations of an individual, their weekness,strengths, system flaws etc with vivid examples of real life cases makes "Complications" the best medical book I'v ever read.It's not the content of the book alone that deserves appreciation, it's also the flow of words that blend with the topic.
Certainly the pinnacle of the book is the story of Joseph Lazaroff, Atul's Anguish depicting the finest ... Read More
Rating: - I've been slashed
I find this book which has gotten such rave reviews disappointing. Dr. Gawande addresses a number of issues which are pertinent to surgical practice. However,I found the book to be superficial and lacking of "heart".
I will elicudate. Dr. Gawande states frequently that surgeons slash their way into a patient.I suspect that this is for dramatic effect.There are other examples of this such as the description of an autopsy.He tones it down later.He treds lightly on the fact that doctors don't want ... Read More
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