Anybody read these?

[pickle]

Have just been out shopping to celebrate the end of exams and have bought a couple of books. I was just wondering if people have read them and what they thought of them?

'Letters to a Young Doctor' by Richard Selzer.
- Seems like a good read.

'The rise and fall of modern medicine' by James Le Faun
- Looks interesting

'Opening Skinner's Box' by Lauren Slater
- Just had to get this after I read a few pages!

[S Knights]

Haven't read any of them, though I do hear good things about Letters to a Young Doctor . It is on the woryingly long Amazon wish list .

[Daedalus]

'The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine' is a good read, but beware.

The first half is a really good exposition of the development of medicine in the last 60 odd years, but the remainder of the book as somewhat opinionated and negative.

I don't think the arguments in the second half are all that strong or convincing, although there are some good points, but you certainly shouldn't take it all to heart.

[caster]

Letters to a Young Doctor by Richard Selzer is excellent. It is a series of short stories or letters which are addressed to a medical student/resident, reflecting on Selzer's own practice of surgery as a young man, what he might have done differently, why he did various things, etc. It is written in quite a flowery style, which I personally like, but I know that some people say it is a bit over the top, and dislike it for that reason. However, I like the florid descriptions and real feelings and emotions which are brought up in just the few pages for which each letter/story lasts. I would highly recommend it to anyone starting out on a medical career. Although Selzer was a surgeon, and his writing therefore focusses on surgery, the book is just as relevant and moving for medical hopefuls, as it is more about the patients he sees and his own reaction to them, than the actual procedures he is performing. Selzer has also written a lot of other books, mainly also short stories. If you like Letters to a Young Doctor, you might also want to try Confessions of a Knife, or Mortal Lessons.