Gawande, Atul - Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance
As noted in the subtitle, this is a book about bettering performance in the medical sphere, though Gawande's findings can be applied to more general situations as well. He covers hand-washing compliance in hospitals, medical professionals and legal executions, the standardization of child-birth, the increasing rates of success for medical procedures in the battlefield, and many other topics.
Some feel like they're more related to the topic than others: the chapter on legal executions and doctors was fascinating, but more tangentially related to betterment. Still, Gawande is clear, accessible, uncondescending, and very thoughtful, so I didn't particularly care if he went off-topic or not. He does note his biases, particularly in the chapters on what surgeons and doctors earn and on malpractice cases, but I liked that he looks at the other side, particularly how he interviews the surgeon-turned-malpractice-lawyer.
I'm not sure how interesting or new these essays will be for people already in the medical profession. My sense of it was that Gawande's take on topics is thoughtful enough to be engaging to anyone, but given that I know nearly nothing about the medical profession, all these points of view could already be well-represented.
I enjoyed reading this a great deal, partly because I like reading about work in different industries and the specific complications and dilemmas that arise in them, and partly because Gawande is very good at presenting things in an engaging manner. While many of his insights about betterment aren't ground-breaking -- getting people to make suggestions makes for better compliance than top-down rules -- it's still a good reminder on what I want and expect from myself, particularly in terms of activism and getting my actions to match my beliefs. Several of his suggestions for betterment in the final chapter seemed particularly applicable to anti-racism and feminism, particularly "count something" and "change."
I left this book feeling like I could do better, in the sense of having something to strive toward and hope for, not in the sense of crushing lack of self esteem. Really neat book, recommended for people who like Malcolm Gladwell, and I am checking out Complications as soon as I can.
Links:
- sanguinity's review
- minnow1212's review
Some feel like they're more related to the topic than others: the chapter on legal executions and doctors was fascinating, but more tangentially related to betterment. Still, Gawande is clear, accessible, uncondescending, and very thoughtful, so I didn't particularly care if he went off-topic or not. He does note his biases, particularly in the chapters on what surgeons and doctors earn and on malpractice cases, but I liked that he looks at the other side, particularly how he interviews the surgeon-turned-malpractice-lawyer.
I'm not sure how interesting or new these essays will be for people already in the medical profession. My sense of it was that Gawande's take on topics is thoughtful enough to be engaging to anyone, but given that I know nearly nothing about the medical profession, all these points of view could already be well-represented.
I enjoyed reading this a great deal, partly because I like reading about work in different industries and the specific complications and dilemmas that arise in them, and partly because Gawande is very good at presenting things in an engaging manner. While many of his insights about betterment aren't ground-breaking -- getting people to make suggestions makes for better compliance than top-down rules -- it's still a good reminder on what I want and expect from myself, particularly in terms of activism and getting my actions to match my beliefs. Several of his suggestions for betterment in the final chapter seemed particularly applicable to anti-racism and feminism, particularly "count something" and "change."
I left this book feeling like I could do better, in the sense of having something to strive toward and hope for, not in the sense of crushing lack of self esteem. Really neat book, recommended for people who like Malcolm Gladwell, and I am checking out Complications as soon as I can.
Links:
- sanguinity's review
- minnow1212's review