In Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, Atul Gawande, an experienced general surgeon, discusses the limitations and obstacles one must face in the world of medicine today. Throughout the book, he reveals stories and patient cases he has faced in order to instill his point in his audience: medicine is human, and with that, it is not perfect. Gawande’s writing flows very well, and the stories he presents can be enjoyed and analyzed by a wide audience. However, persons with a medical background may find the information given in the book to be slightly more interesting than those without it only because it is so medicine-based. I believe this book completely fulfilled its purpose. The lessons taught in this book about the humanity
…show more content…
He presents a case where a young boy arrived to his hospital with a large tumor on his lungs that was nearly killing him. In the end, Gawande and other medical staff were able to save the child through what was, in essence, a lucky guess at the best procedure possible. Even after the procedure went well and the boy survived, Gawande still followed up with research to see if there was a better way to go about saving the child. In most cases, you would expect this to only happen if the surgery would have gone wrong, and then the doctor would try to learn from his or her mistakes. Even though the procedure was a success, Gawande still put in time and effort to see how he could have done better, and that relays to the audience how genuine and curious of a doctor that Gawande really is. This was a fitting introduction, as it establishes Gawande with a sense of credibility and trust for readers to keep in mind throughout the rest of the book. He also presents the idea that doctors are not perfect, they are humans who make mistakes along with everyone else. He brings doctors down to a relatable level by saying that when someone has an illness or injury, they call on a doctor – “A doctor with good days and bad days. A doctor with a weird laugh and a bad haircut. A doctor with three other patients to see and, inevitably, gaps in what he knows and skills he’s still trying to learn” (5). With this …show more content…
This may be due to the fact that when I started the book, every topic and story mentioned was new and unlike any other story I have heard on medicine before in a text. As a result of this, Gawande captures the attention of his audience immediately and carries it across the entire first half of the book. He recounts stories of the highs and the lows of his career thus far and the learning moments he had along the way. I found that the insights Gawande offered in this part were my favorite takeaway from the entire book. I think that an audience pursuing or already in the field of medicine will find themselves wanting to incorporate some of the thoughts that Gawande presents into their outlook on the profession of medicine. One of the quotes that stood out to me most was in the section of the book discussing mistakes that doctors make. “No matter what measure are taken, doctors will sometimes falter, and it isn’t reasonable to ask that we achieve perfection. What is reasonable is to ask that we never cease to aim for it” (74). Even for audience members not in medicine, this reinforces Gawande’s main argument that medicine is human and not
He presents a case where a young boy arrived to his hospital with a large tumor on his lungs that was nearly killing him. In the end, Gawande and other medical staff were able to save the child through what was, in essence, a lucky guess at the best procedure possible. Even after the procedure went well and the boy survived, Gawande still followed up with research to see if there was a better way to go about saving the child. In most cases, you would expect this to only happen if the surgery would have gone wrong, and then the doctor would try to learn from his or her mistakes. Even though the procedure was a success, Gawande still put in time and effort to see how he could have done better, and that relays to the audience how genuine and curious of a doctor that Gawande really is. This was a fitting introduction, as it establishes Gawande with a sense of credibility and trust for readers to keep in mind throughout the rest of the book. He also presents the idea that doctors are not perfect, they are humans who make mistakes along with everyone else. He brings doctors down to a relatable level by saying that when someone has an illness or injury, they call on a doctor – “A doctor with good days and bad days. A doctor with a weird laugh and a bad haircut. A doctor with three other patients to see and, inevitably, gaps in what he knows and skills he’s still trying to learn” (5). With this …show more content…
This may be due to the fact that when I started the book, every topic and story mentioned was new and unlike any other story I have heard on medicine before in a text. As a result of this, Gawande captures the attention of his audience immediately and carries it across the entire first half of the book. He recounts stories of the highs and the lows of his career thus far and the learning moments he had along the way. I found that the insights Gawande offered in this part were my favorite takeaway from the entire book. I think that an audience pursuing or already in the field of medicine will find themselves wanting to incorporate some of the thoughts that Gawande presents into their outlook on the profession of medicine. One of the quotes that stood out to me most was in the section of the book discussing mistakes that doctors make. “No matter what measure are taken, doctors will sometimes falter, and it isn’t reasonable to ask that we achieve perfection. What is reasonable is to ask that we never cease to aim for it” (74). Even for audience members not in medicine, this reinforces Gawande’s main argument that medicine is human and not