Review (PDF) Kill As Few Patients As Possible: And Fifty-Six Other Essays On How To Be The World's Best Doctor
This oft-quoted all-time favorite of the medical community will gladden--and strengthen--the hearts of patients, doctors, and anyone entering medical study, internship, or practice. With unassailable logic and rapier wit, the sage Dr. Oscar London muses on the challenges and joys of doctoring, and imparts timeless truths, reality checks, and poignant insights gleaned from 30 years of general practice--while never taking himself (or his profession) too seriously.The classic book on the art and humor of practicing medicine, celebrating its 20th anniversary in a new gift edition with updates throughout. Previous editions have sold more than 200,000 copies. The perfect gift for med students and grads as well as new and practicing physicians. Approximately 17,000 students graduate from med school each spring in North America.
Hardcover: 120 pages
Publisher: Ten Speed Press; 2nd edition (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580089178
ISBN-13: 978-1580089173
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 7.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #48,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #19 in Books > Medical Books > Medicine > Doctor-Patient Relations #23 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Doctors & Medicine #37 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional
Having practiced medicine for longer than I'll admit, my sense of humor may no longer be entirely standard. London combines his love of people and hard-learned lessons of practice to produce these essays, fortunately of a length much shorter than Charles Lamb's. These transparently written essays may explain otherwise in-explicable physician behavior. "My daughter told the doctor she knew she wasn't pregnant, but he did a pregnancy test anyway." "My back hurts, and all my other doctors give me narcotics, but Dr London didn't." Other stories of his approach to back pain, stomach pain, etc, may make you wish he were your own doctor.Don't expect him to expose the foibles of his patients; his sharpest barbs are aimed at himself and his colleagues.I keep this on my bookshelf and always enjoy taking it down for a short browsing.
....if so, then this book will cause you a some serious pain! The pseudonymous "Oscar London" is not only a great and funny writer, but almost certainly an excellent doctor as well. And like all good humor, there are also profound truths buried within (well, okay, maybe the term "buried" isn't the best word to use in describing a book on doctoring). In this book, you can see Dr. London, with wit, comedy, tragedy, or irony, tackling all the very serious issues that stress out doctors and push lesser healers into burnout, addiction, or depression. Medical errors, insurance hassles, predatory "financial advisers", professional jealousy, doctor-nurse relations, difficult diagnoses, malpractice attorneys, incompetent medical students, long-winded patients, pill-seeking addicts: Dr. London has seen it all, and has a humorous or insightful take on it that will amuse all and help physicians cope with the significant stressors of practicing medicine. As a practicing physician, I think this hilarious little book is up there among the best books anywhere about not merely being a doctor, but becoming a good (or great) doctor.
The work in question is particularly appealing to physicians, as they have experienced what Dr. London is describing, having traveled the same road through college and medical school and private practice. His wit is keen and often it makes the reader laugh out loud . . . nearly unable to stop. Patients will also enjoy it, but the common understanding of physicians makes M.D.'s the real target of this book.
I am a woman surgeon at Harvard Medical School (48 years). For the past5 years I have presented this very funny but useful book to my graduatingresidents and fellows. They all love it. Recommend it to all - includingnon-doctors.
In one word this book is hilarious (although excellent is another word that comes to mind).I don't agree with every piece of advice given but I admire Dr. London for not being afraid of going against common sense ethics and giving information that can actually be used.The views are fresh, well written and humorous. A book anyone involved in the health industry should read.
Bought this as a gift for one of the doctors I work with, but I cheated and read it first. Very enjoyable, short (1-2 page) chapters. Clever and thought-provoking at the same time. The perfect bathroom reader.
Gave this as a gift. It was found so amusing that we sat over Christmas dinner in a restaurant laughing over how much "truth" was in each passage. It has since been the talk of other colleagues.
Face it folks, anyone in the field of medicine works far too hard to loose their sense of humor! Its dangerous for your health. I will be the first to admit that my sense of humor has always tended more towards satire and pun than crack-falls, and this book serves it up! I even liked it enough to buy another copy as a gift. I definatly reccomend this book for anyone looking for a few laughs in a hard-working profession.
Kill as Few Patients as Possible: And Fifty-Six Other Essays on How to Be the World's Best Doctor Kill as Few Patients as Possible: And 56 Other Essays on How to Be the World's Best Doctor Fifty Shades Trilogy (Fifty Shades of Grey / Fifty Shades Darker / Fifty Shades Freed) Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy (Fifty Shades of Grey Series) What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM): Premenopause: Balance Your Hormones and Your Life from Thirty to Fifty (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About...(Ebooks)) I Have Been Talking with Your Doctor: Fifty Doctors Talk about the Healthcare Crisis and the Doctor-Patient Relationship George Eliot Six Pack - Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, Silas Marner, The Lifted Veil, The Mill on the Floss and Adam Bede (Illustrated with links to free ... all six books) (Six Pack Classics Book 8) Fifty Dresses That Changed the World (Design Museum Fifty) Fifty Bags That Changed the World (Design Museum Fifty) Fifty Ships That Changed the Course of History: A Nautical History of the World (Fifty Things That Changed the Course of History) Essays That Will Get You into Medical School (Essays That Will Get You Into...Series) [Second Edition] (Barron's Essays That Will Get You Into Medical School) The Year THEY Tried to Kill Me: Surviving a surgical internship...even if the patients don't Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed, Books Two And Three Of Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian (Fifty Shades of Grey Series) Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, Book 2) Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, Book 1) Fifty Shades Of Alice In Wonderland (The Fifty Shades Of Alice Trilogy Book 1) The Complete Fifty Shades of Alice: A Fairy Tale for Adults (The Fifty Shades of Alice Trilogy) What We Feed Our Patients: The Journey, the Struggle, the Culture and How One Unrelenting Chef is Changing The Way Patients in Hospitals Are Fed James Baldwin : Collected Essays : Notes of a Native Son / Nobody Knows My Name / The Fire Next Time / No Name in the Street / The Devil Finds Work / Other Essays (Library of America)
