Pathophysiology: The Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults And Children


Kathryn L. McCance - 1990
    Part One presents the general principles of pathophysiology and discusses the influence of the environment and the role of genetics in the development of disease. Part Two, organized by body system, examines normal anatomy and physiology, alterations of function in adults, and alterations of function in children.

Coping with Prednisone: (*And Other Cortison-Related Medicines) It May Work Miracles, But How Do You Handle the Side Effects?


Eugenia Zukerman - 1997
    Provides a guide to making treatment with this steroid as effective and trouble-free as possible.

Bad Call: A Summer Job on a New York Ambulance


Mike Scardino - 2018
    BAD CALL is a memoir about working on a New York City ambulance in the 1960s. Bad Call is Mike Scardino's visceral, fast-moving, and mordantly funny account of the summers he spent working as an "ambulance attendant" on the mean streets of late-1960s New York. Fueled by adrenaline and Sabrett's hot dogs, young Mike spends his days speeding from one chaotic emergency to another. His adventures take him into the middle of incipient race riots, to the scene of a plane crash at JFK airport and into private lives all over Queens, where New Yorkers are suffering, and dying, in unimaginable ways. Learning on the job, Mike encounters all manner of freakish accidents (the man who drank Drano, the woman attacked by rats, the man who inflated like a balloon), meets countless unforgettable New York characters, falls in love, is nearly murdered, and gets an early and indelible education in the impermanence of life and the cruelty of chance. Action-packed, poignant, and rich with details that bring Mike's world to technicolor life, Bad Call is a gritty portrait of a bygone era as well as a bracing reminder that, though "life itself is a fatal condition," it's worth pausing to notice the moments of beauty, hope, and everyday heroism along the way.

When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon


Joshua D. Mezrich - 2019
    Joshua Mezrich creates life from loss, transplanting organs from one body to another. In this intimate, profoundly moving work, he illuminates the extraordinary field of transplantation that enables this kind of miracle to happen every day.When Death Becomes Life is a thrilling look at how science advances on a grand scale to improve human lives. Mezrich examines more than one hundred years of remarkable medical breakthroughs, connecting this fascinating history with the inspiring and heartbreaking stories of his transplant patients. Combining gentle sensitivity with scientific clarity, Mezrich reflects on his calling as a doctor and introduces the modern pioneers who made transplantation a reality—maverick surgeons whose feats of imagination, bold vision, and daring risk taking generated techniques and practices that save millions of lives around the world.Mezrich takes us inside the operating room and unlocks the wondrous process of transplant surgery, a delicate, intense ballet requiring precise timing, breathtaking skill, and at times, creative improvisation. In illuminating this work, Mezrich touches the essence of existence and what it means to be alive. Most physicians fight death, but in transplantation, doctors take from death. Mezrich shares his gratitude and awe for the privilege of being part of this transformative exchange as the dead give their last breath of life to the living. After all, the donors are his patients, too.When Death Becomes Life also engages in fascinating ethical and philosophical debates: How much risk should a healthy person be allowed to take to save someone she loves? Should a patient suffering from alcoholism receive a healthy liver? What defines death, and what role did organ transplantation play in that definition? The human story behind the most exceptional medicine of our time, Mezrich’s riveting book is a beautiful, poignant reminder that a life lost can also offer the hope of a new beginning.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup


John Carreyrou - 2018
    Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.

A Surgeon’s Knot


William Lynes - 2020
    This medical thriller will stay with you long past the final chapter." -Best ThrillersJackson Cooper, MD will never forget that first day, its stunning conclusion forever etched in his mind. His year as a surgical intern is a story of medical suspense, tragedy, and occasional terror, as a young physician deals with the world of surgery.The surgeon's knot is a surgical tie used in the operating room which the intern practices ceaselessly. The knot refers, as well, to the tangled world of the protagonist.Jackson's life soon becomes burned-out, resulting from events beyond his control as well as destructive behavior. Physicians, patients, and cases ranging from humorous to tragic are present.A Surgeon's Knot is a story of the dignity of medicine, the overwhelming duty to man, failure and recovery.

When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery


Frank T. Vertosick Jr. - 1996
    In other words, by all of us."--Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of Love, Medicine and MiraclesRule One for the neurologist in residence: "You ain't never the same when the air hits your brain." In this fascinating book, Dr. Frank Vertosick brings that fact to life through intimate portraits of patients and unsparing yet gripping descriptions of brain surgery.With insight, humor, and poignancy, Dr. Vertosick chronicles his remarkable evolution from naive young intern to world-class neurosurgeon, where he faced, among other challenges, a six week-old infant with a tumor in her brain, a young man struck down in his prime by paraplegia, and a minister with a .22 caliber bullet lodged in his skull. In candid detail, WHEN THE AIR HITS YOUR BRAIN illuminates both the mysteries of the mind and the realities of the operating room."Riveting."--Publishers Weekly

The World I Fell Out Of


Melanie Reid - 2019
    She was 52.Paralysed from the top of her chest down, she was to spend almost a full year in hospital, determinedly working towards gaining as much movement in her limbs as possible, and learning to navigate her way through a world that had previously been invisible to her.As a journalist Melanie had always turned to words and now, on a spinal ward peopled by an extraordinary array of individuals who were similarly at sea, she decided that writing would be her life-line. The World I Fell Out Of is an account of that year, and of those that followed. It is the untold ‘back story’ behind Melanie’s award-winning ‘Spinal Column’ in The Times Magazine and a testament to ‘the art of getting on with it’.Unflinchingly honest and beautifully observed, this is a memoir about the joy – and the risks – of riding horses, the complicated nature of heroism, the bonds of family and the comfort of strangers. Above all, The World I Fell Out Of is a reminder that at any moment the life we know can be turned upside down – and a plea to start appreciating what we have while we have it.

How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America


Otis Webb Brawley - 2012
    Otis Brawley is the chief medical and scientific officer of The American Cancer Society, an oncologist with a dazzling clinical, research, and policy career. How We Do Harm pulls back the curtain on how medicine is really practiced in America. Brawley tells of doctors who select treatment based on payment they will receive, rather than on demonstrated scientific results; hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that seek out patients to treat even if they are not actually ill (but as long as their insurance will pay); a public primed to swallow the latest pill, no matter the cost; and rising healthcare costs for unnecessary—and often unproven—treatments that we all pay for. Brawley calls for rational healthcare, healthcare drawn from results-based, scientifically justifiable treatments, and not just the peddling of hot new drugs.Brawley's personal history – from a childhood in the gang-ridden streets of black Detroit, to the green hallways of Grady Memorial Hospital, the largest public hospital in the U.S., to the boardrooms of The American Cancer Society—results in a passionate view of medicine and the politics of illness in America - and a deep understanding of healthcare today. How We Do Harm is his well-reasoned manifesto for change.

Phlebotomy Essentials


Ruth E. McCall - 1993
    This new edition continues the LWW focus on providing accurate, up-to-date, and practical instruction in phlebotomy procedures and techniques, grounded by a comprehensive background in phlebotomy theory. Key additions include updated information on the latest CLSI guidelines, new media to accompany each chapter, more color photos, and the addition of terms to align the text with the International Standards Organization (ISO).Written to be highly accessible to students at all levels, and comprehensive enough for practicing phlebotomists, this text is complemented by a robust ancillary suite to help readers of all learning styles master the material. The online ancillaries, coupled with the text and available workbook and exam review book, help create a dynamic phlebotomy learning experience.

Sidekick to Still Alice: by Lisa Genova


Katherine R. Miller - 2015
    If you have not yet bought Lisa Genova’s novel, make sure to purchase it before buying this unofficial Sidekick. In her debut novel, Lisa Genova takes on the challenging topic of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. By turns delightful and heartbreaking, Still Alice follows the journey of Alice Howland, renowned Harvard professor, as she fights to maintain a sense of identity and purpose even as her memories fade away. Genova’s novel has over a million copies in print and has touched readers all over the world. It has also been endorsed by the National Alzheimer’s Association. With this Sidekick, you’ll: Spend some more time with the characters you’ve come to know and love Take a look at the novel’s underlying themes Learn what you might have missed on your first read of Still Alice Explore a possible alternate ending and imagine ideas for a sequel Get a chance to discuss Lisa Genova’s Still Alice with other readers on our Facebook forum Sidekicks are entertaining and insightful reading companions, filled with delightful commentary and thought-provoking questions. Readers have raved that they "really put you in touch with the many layers of the novel," "keep you entertained even longer," and are "perfect if you want a vivid understanding of the story." Designed to be read side by side with the novels they complement, they’ll give you even more reasons to love some of today’s best books.

Twelve Cases: A Psychiatrist’s True Stories of Mental Illness and Addiction [and Other Human Predispositions]


Daniel Mierlak - 2018
    Daniel Mierlak, a psychiatrist for twenty-five years, on a journey to the stranger corners of human experience. Here you’ll meet: Tony, chauffeur to the fabulously rich, who overcomes crippling anxiety only to find himself descend into a homicidal rage following a botched cosmetic procedure. Amanda, hospitalized for mania, who sees a change to her medicine as an assassination attempt, and then stalks her doctor for a year after discharge. James, a schizophrenic hearing voices telling him to kill himself, whose piano playing leads to a shocking secret about his past. Psychiatric treatment is normally a private encounter and often misunderstood. In describing twelve of his most challenging cases, Dr. Mierlak brings you into his sessions, into his patients’ lives, and into the world of psychiatry. Get ready for some surprises.

Confessions of an Air Ambulance Doctor


Tony Bleetman - 2013
    The first of its kind to carry doctors and surgeons who can take the hospital to the patient. Drug addicts, lorry crashes, open-heart surgery, stab wounds, headless chickens, mating llamas, and strip routines - it's all in a day's work for emergency doctor Tony Bleetman and his team.Whether they are landing in the middle of the M1 or at a maximum security jail, Tony and his crew Helimed 999 are the first on the scene in the most critical of emergencies.This gripping read will make you laugh, cry and marvel at the wonders of life (and death) in equal measure.

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science


Atul Gawande - 2002
    Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is--uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.Complications is a 2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.

Something for the Pain: Compassion and Burnout in the ER


Paul Austin - 2009
    Gritty, powerful, and ultimately redemptive, Something for the Pain is a revealing glimpse into the fragility of compassion and sanity in the industrial setting of today’s hospitals.