In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scal...
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Jan 09, 2012
I wrote a review for this book but it was actually for Gawande's book Better. I'm just fixing this mix up. That review is now in the right place and I'm reading Complications now.
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Mar 29, 2008
reabdimation
rated it: 
Hmmm... I love surgery, it means.. when a handy book of more-humanity-and-less-cut of surgery was published.. how can i resist?
Well.. for being honest, it makes me feel bored when i've red the middle-part. it turns 'in' again in a few last chapter. I agree to middle-rating, (in Indonesia means, lumayanlah.. bukan buku sampah) of this book. but i truly disagree when sumone gave only one star rating to this stuff. (Cari deh di tinjauan lain. Huh. You make me angry dude.. pelit amat sih More...
Well.. for being honest, it makes me feel bored when i've red the middle-part. it turns 'in' again in a few last chapter. I agree to middle-rating, (in Indonesia means, lumayanlah.. bukan buku sampah) of this book. but i truly disagree when sumone gave only one star rating to this stuff. (Cari deh di tinjauan lain. Huh. You make me angry dude.. pelit amat sih More...
Jul 15, 2011
Lucy
rated it: 
this was a very interesting book. i liked his writing style, too. it was far more engaging than the stupid tree book. isn't this author bio a bit sickening, though? "atul gawande, a 2006 macarthur fellow, is a general surgeon at the brigham and women's hospital in boston, a staff writer for the new yorker, an assistant professor at harvard medical school, and a frequent contributor to the new england journal of medicine. gawande lives with his wife and three children in newton, massachusett
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Apr 18, 2009
Libby
rated it:
Although I am interested in the medical profession, motivation to learn more about it often elludes me. Gawande was able to keep my attention and present points that I could understand in spite of my limited medical knowledge.
Admittedly, some of his information scared me. After reading some points about surgery, I wondered how I ever allowed anyone to cut into me and place a plate and seven screws in my leg. Also, some of his writing made me squeemish. I had to pause or skip plac More...
Admittedly, some of his information scared me. After reading some points about surgery, I wondered how I ever allowed anyone to cut into me and place a plate and seven screws in my leg. Also, some of his writing made me squeemish. I had to pause or skip plac More...
Feb 04, 2008
Ben
rated it: 
This book wss filled with about 25 anecdotes flimsily tied together by Gawande's less than inspiring reflections. I have the book in front of me at the moment and I am paging through rereading sections that I noted along the way:
"I had come into residency to learn how to be a surgeon. I had thought that meant simply learning the repertoire of move and techniques involved in doing an operation or making a diagnosis. In fact, there was also the new and delicate matter of talking More...
"I had come into residency to learn how to be a surgeon. I had thought that meant simply learning the repertoire of move and techniques involved in doing an operation or making a diagnosis. In fact, there was also the new and delicate matter of talking More...
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Oct 24, 2007
Elizabeth
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Complications is a book of anecdotes about a surgical resident’s experiences and impressions of the current health care environment. Gawande divides his stories into three sections: fallibility, mystery, and uncertainty. The fallibility section demonstrates that doctors can make mistakes. Some fallibility arises from there being a learning curve. For example, it is hard to do a central line correctly the first time. But for a doctor to learn how to do a central line, he must have a first pa
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May 30, 2010
Osho
rated it:
"Re-read" as an abridged audiobook.
I like Gawande and I liked this book when I read it a few years ago. The audiobook, which is abridged, was less enjoyable for me. Not having the physical book in front of me when I listened, I can't say where the abridgments took place, but I did notice that at a number of points, I thought, "That's an oversimplified explanation" or "That's a romantic interpretation of that data." Perhaps the boring scientific stuff, wh More...
I like Gawande and I liked this book when I read it a few years ago. The audiobook, which is abridged, was less enjoyable for me. Not having the physical book in front of me when I listened, I can't say where the abridgments took place, but I did notice that at a number of points, I thought, "That's an oversimplified explanation" or "That's a romantic interpretation of that data." Perhaps the boring scientific stuff, wh More...
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Aug 10, 2007
Katie
rated it:
An very well written book in which Gawande argues that surgery is an evolving and imperfect art. He begins by describing in compulsively readable detail some occasions during which it has failed its patients. An overarching theme in the book is an idea of what makes a good surgeon; Gawande points out that it's not about innate talent. It's about practice, commitment, a willingless to learn new things, a willingness to teach others, specialization, and perhaps attentiveness to the patient. (I
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Apr 15, 2009
Sue
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Atul Gawande writes for The New Yorker, and I always read his articles as soon as I spot the by-line. I read "Better" last year and think it is even, yes, better. But both books have rare qualities. Gawande is a physician who can step back from his ego and write with compassion and insight about the relationship between vulnerable sick people and those whose skill and judgment they are compelled to trust.
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Nov 29, 2010
Danae
rated it:
This was a fun and interesting book, full of little insights and things to think about. The author is a doctor, who also happens to have written columns for a couple of on-line magazines, and several of the chapters began as such columns-- which is about how the book reads. It's like sitting down and reading a fairly interesting magazine article, which you may find yourself thinking about later, or mentioning in a conversation, but the book itself doesn't really have any clear objective or age
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Feb 28, 2009
browse
rated it:
I've been on the very outer fringes of the medical profession for years now, with a mom as a nurse, a girlfriend studying to be a doctor and having several hundred hours training myself as a massage therapist. I was a big fan of the 1990's television series, "The Operation". So I confess up front to being the target audience for a first-hand account of what it's like being a surgeon today.
The author, Dr Atul Gawande, does not flinch away from controversy and contradiction. More...
The author, Dr Atul Gawande, does not flinch away from controversy and contradiction. More...
Jan 27, 2012
Sanhita
rated it:
After a long time I read a non-fiction and was totally riveted by it.
The true cases have been described without compromising on the human side of the trauma, diagnosis, surgery and after effects. Not written in a detached way though.Himself being a doctor, his book could have been suitable for becoming the part of scientific/medical journals and kept the reader in awe of the science. Instead he has written about the fallibility, uncertainties, questions, imperfections, doubts surrounding More...
The true cases have been described without compromising on the human side of the trauma, diagnosis, surgery and after effects. Not written in a detached way though.Himself being a doctor, his book could have been suitable for becoming the part of scientific/medical journals and kept the reader in awe of the science. Instead he has written about the fallibility, uncertainties, questions, imperfections, doubts surrounding More...
Jan 15, 2012
Dave
rated it:
Well worth the read, as the author details several medical topics with interesting stories from inside the OR. I learned things like: the reduction in the frequency of autopsies is limiting medical advances; citing the wrong cause of death happens about 1/3 of the time, the same frequency as it did 40 years ago, despite the advances in nuclear medicine, imaging, etc.
If you blush too much you can have surgery to stop it all together. However, you won't be able to sweat above your ches More...
If you blush too much you can have surgery to stop it all together. However, you won't be able to sweat above your ches More...
Jul 29, 2011
Donna
rated it:
This was a very well written book with some interesting, surprising and shocking insights into the medical industry. One thing Gawande makes very clear throughout the book: doctors are human and thus as fatally flawed as the rest of us! His use of real cases is underpinned by something more striking: his knowledge of his patients as people beyond the hospital. He is not afraid to speak against his peers and admit that there are failings in the medical system itself and with individuals and th
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Jul 24, 2011
Elliot
rated it:
Except for hypochondriacs, everyone should read this book. The surgeon-scribe Gawande is the perfect Virgil, escorting us through the Hell and Purgatory (and many happy endings) of uncertainties, mysteries and ambiguities of medicine. He shows us how physicians deal with learning curves in surgery, how they evaluate and deal with mistakes (discussed in large weekly sessions), what their trade conferences are like, and how institutions deal with bad doctors. Using unforgettable cases—a girl with
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Jun 17, 2011
Matthew
rated it:
I liked this one well enough. Gawande brought larger issues like obesity/bariatric surgery, cosmetic surgery as a whole, failing doctors, and other medical issues to life by skillfully linking the medical idea with a human story, a patient, that readers could identify with. Establishing a "character" to follow allows him to orbit broad issues and provide different perspectives on singular cases. He's a skillful writer and clearly a talented doctor. So why only three stars? Well, each c
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May 01, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
Complications deals with the mysteries and uncertanties of medicine, beginning with a reminder that doctors are (like the rest of us) fallible humans, and ones who often have to pretend they know more than they really do. He brings up difficult questions, like the quandary of giving a patient full disclosure ("Hi, I'm Dr. Gawande, and this is the first time I've ever performed this complicated surgery. But don't worry! The other doctor in the room has done it plenty of times and will be her
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Apr 02, 2011
Sareen
rated it:
(Written 5/9/08)
This book excited me not only because I am/have always been excited about the human side of medicine, but because this comes at a very exciting period in my life. After only being a volunteer CST for 7 days, I already understand so much more about surgery than I ever have before. Central lines, guidewires, heart bypass machine... These are terms I could guess what they meant, but now I have actually seen this in action.
I devoured this book and the interesting More...
This book excited me not only because I am/have always been excited about the human side of medicine, but because this comes at a very exciting period in my life. After only being a volunteer CST for 7 days, I already understand so much more about surgery than I ever have before. Central lines, guidewires, heart bypass machine... These are terms I could guess what they meant, but now I have actually seen this in action.
I devoured this book and the interesting More...
Mar 06, 2011
Katie
rated it:
This book was so fascinating... one of those page-turner nonfiction books, this one about doctors and medical mistake-making. He basically analyzed mistakes in medicine and their causes--imperfect human decision-making, fatigue, incompetence, and just the natural complexity of the human body. Don't read it if you are skittish about going to the doctor though. :-) But I found it completely fascinating. Of course, doctors make mistakes, just like everyone else, and I've always been irritated by t
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Jan 23, 2011
Danna
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About 30 pages into this book, I felt like I would never be able to trust a physician again. The first section, "Fallibility", is a series of stories describing tragic failures, ineptitudes, and misdiagnoses in medicine. Nonetheless, I found myself roped in and could not stop reading. The second section, "Mysteries," was less interesting to me. Gawande addresses a number of medical mysteries, including the tale of a chronic blusher and an unbearably nauseous pregnant woma
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Nov 13, 2010
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
Gently dismantling the myth of medical infallibility, Dr. Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science is essential reading for anyone involved in medicine--on either end of the stethoscope. Medical professionals make mistakes, learn on the job, and improvise much of their technique and self-confidence. Gawande's tales are humane and passionate reminders that doctors are people, too. His prose More...
Gently dismantling the myth of medical infallibility, Dr. Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science is essential reading for anyone involved in medicine--on either end of the stethoscope. Medical professionals make mistakes, learn on the job, and improvise much of their technique and self-confidence. Gawande's tales are humane and passionate reminders that doctors are people, too. His prose More...
Nov 13, 2010
Lavona
rated it:
COMPLICATIONS-A SURGEONS NOTES ON AN IMPERFECT SCIENCE
Science is very much a work in progress, where unanswered questions are accepted and experimentation is encouraged. But in medicine, where lives are at stake, things are very different. We look for doctors and surgeons to be faultlessly skilled and well-informed, and for medicine to be a field of order, knowledge and procedure.
In Complications, American surgeon Atul Gawande tells us otherwise. Seen through his insider eyes, me More...
Science is very much a work in progress, where unanswered questions are accepted and experimentation is encouraged. But in medicine, where lives are at stake, things are very different. We look for doctors and surgeons to be faultlessly skilled and well-informed, and for medicine to be a field of order, knowledge and procedure.
In Complications, American surgeon Atul Gawande tells us otherwise. Seen through his insider eyes, me More...
Apr 02, 2010
Jaimie
rated it:
“We are all, whatever we do, in the hands of flawed human beings. The fact is hard to stare in the face. But it is unescapable. Every doctor has things he or she ought to know but has yet to learn, capacities of judgment that will fail, a strength of character that can break.”
Gawande states this obvious yet somehow alarming fact in his essay entitled “When Good Doctors Go Bad”. Most people want to believe that doctors somehow exist above the mortal coil and are always wise, compassio More...
Gawande states this obvious yet somehow alarming fact in his essay entitled “When Good Doctors Go Bad”. Most people want to believe that doctors somehow exist above the mortal coil and are always wise, compassio More...
Jan 11, 2010
Richard
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 05, 2009
Andrew
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Atul Gawande is a gifted writer. After reading his second book Better, I decided to read Complications, which was also highly touted by my friends and colleagues. The book lived up to all the high expectations. Gawande's narration is credible and nuanced. The confessional and honest tone of the book drew me in and I could not put the book down. The thesis is basically that medicine is imperfect, even though perfection is demanded when lives hangs in the balance. It describes the shades of gray i
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Sep 19, 2009
Catherine
rated it:
This is a fascinating book about the doctors and their decisions, patients and theirs, and if you're someone who worries about being the 5% of people who have X reaction to Y drug, this is not the book for you. This is a book about instinct and hunches as much about science, and it would give anyone pause, I think, to consider how little science is employed in hospitals, and how medicine is an art. That said, the book also has much to say about the things we can do to heal the human body that
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Jul 19, 2009
Alan
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an inner journey
Atul Gawande's book "Complications" is a rewarding read on many levels. The reader is drawn in smoothly along a thread of entertaining medical vignettes. These anecdotes serve as the framework for a set of well reasoned essays that explore the inner life of the surgeon. Gawande's primary purpose is to convey the various challenges, surprises, and contradictions that he has encountered as a surgical resident. His scrupulous honesty in describing the motivations More...
Atul Gawande's book "Complications" is a rewarding read on many levels. The reader is drawn in smoothly along a thread of entertaining medical vignettes. These anecdotes serve as the framework for a set of well reasoned essays that explore the inner life of the surgeon. Gawande's primary purpose is to convey the various challenges, surprises, and contradictions that he has encountered as a surgical resident. His scrupulous honesty in describing the motivations More...
Jul 19, 2009
Peggy
rated it:
In full disclosure I picked up this book because I've been watching Grey's Anatomy and am totally fascinated by what goes on in surgery and in an hospital. This book covers a range of topics, from practicing as a resident to decision-making to the physiology and psychology of pain. Apparently what happens to you once you enter a hospital can really be a crapshoot (he was able to diagnose someone with flesh-eating bacteria despite the absence of obvious symptoms bc he had come across a case not t
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Jun 17, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
Atul Gawande explains in the intro that his book is divided into three parts: One, the fallibility of doctors; Two, on medical mysteries (e.g. chronic back pain but no physical injury evident); Three, on uncertainty. My favorite chapters where the last ones in the Uncertainty section. Dr. Gawande describes cases where the "human" element was necessary. In other words, these were cases that went against mathematical logic and even some evidence based medicine. But the doctors had a hunc
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May 25, 2009
Belinda
rated it:
Dear Bill Bryson --
Next time you'd like to have lunch with a like-minded writer who loves the backstory, the implications, the big picture, and the human element in crafting an engrossing story, I recommend you call up Atul Gawande.
Bill, I think Atul is a guy after your own heart. He loves the telling of a good story that often gently delivers a moral lesson, and Atul also obviously cares about the people he writes about.
And, since Atul's field -- medicine, and surg More...
Next time you'd like to have lunch with a like-minded writer who loves the backstory, the implications, the big picture, and the human element in crafting an engrossing story, I recommend you call up Atul Gawande.
Bill, I think Atul is a guy after your own heart. He loves the telling of a good story that often gently delivers a moral lesson, and Atul also obviously cares about the people he writes about.
And, since Atul's field -- medicine, and surg More...
