After keeping up the book reviews for a while, I decided to look around for what books others are recommending for doctors. The first port of call is the BMJ which runs a series called BMJ Confidential. It interviews people it calls ‘movers and shakers‘ in healthcare. One of the 24 questions asked is : What book… Read More BMJ Book Recommendations
The Elements of Style Authors: William Strunk and E.B. White BOOK CONTENTS This book eases the difficulty we all have in writing by advocating ‘rules of grammar phrased as direct orders’ (page xiv). The forward to the book acknowledges that ‘writing is hard, even for authors who do it all the time’ (page ix). The book… Read More The Elements of Style
Patient Safety Author: Charles Vincent BOOK CONTENTS This book addresses the wide-ranging subjects that constitute patient safety. This important topic is ‘…the foundation of good patient care…and the heart of healthcare quality’ (page ix). The author, a clinical safety research professor, sets out to explain ‘…the basic principles, characteristics and direction of the field’… Read More Patient Safety
Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions Author: Gary Klein BOOK CONTENTS This book is a comprehensive review of naturalistic decision making (NDM), the use of experience to make judgments in field settings. It describes how experts make decisions in dynamic situations characterised by time pressure, high stakes, inadequate information, ill-defined goals, and poorly defined processes… Read More Sources of Power
Bad Medicine: Doctors Doing Harm Since Hippocrates Author: David Wootton BOOK CONTENTS This book is an exploration of Medicine’s murky past. The author, a history professor, shines a light at a time when medical practice was ‘a fantasy of science’ (page 11) that ‘…killed when it claimed to cure’ (page 8). Medicine’s preoccupation with prognosis… Read More Bad Medicine
The Design of Everyday Things Author: Donald A. Norman BOOK CONTENTS ‘I am famous for doors that are difficult to open, light switches that make no sense, shower controls that are unfathomable’ (page vii). The author introduces his book with this statement, a reflection of his reputation in the field of equipment design. He says ‘far… Read More The Design of Everyday Things
Subliminal: The Revolution of the New Unconscious and what it Teaches Us about Ourselves Author: Leonard Mlodinow BOOK CONTENTS The contribution of the subconscious to human acts has captivated the imagination of lay people for centuries, and popularised by figures such as Sigmund Freud. This book sheds light on the scientific rather than the pseudoscientific… Read More Subliminal
