Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance

Description

The struggle to perform well is universal, but nowhere is this drive to do better more important that in medicine. In his new book, Atul Gawande explores grippingly how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable. His vivid stories take us to battlefield surgical tents in Iraq, to a polio outbreak in India, and to malpractice courtrooms around the country. He discusses the ethical dilemmas of doctors' participation in lethal injections, examines the influence of money on modern medicine, and recounts the astoundingly contentious history of hand-washing. And he gives a brutally honest insight into life as a practising surgeon. Unflinching but compassionate, Gawande's investigation into medical professionals and their progression from good to great provides a detailed blueprint for success that can be used by people in every area of human endeavour.

One of the world's most distinguished doctors, he is a staff writer on the New Yorker, advised President Clinton on health policies, teaches surgery at Harvard Medical School and practises it in Boston. He has lectured in the UK and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.

'I found I had been gripping the book so hard that my fingers hurt... it calls to mind one of the great classics of medical literature, Mikhail Bulgakov's A Country Doctor's Notebook. Few modern authors can stand that comparison, but Gawande can.' Sunday Times 'His book is riveting: packed with insights, its luminous prose lifting effortlessly off the page... It is essential reading for doctors and should be handed out with the antibiotics to all users of the NHS. It has already been described as a modern masterpiece - and so it is.' Independent 'It seems unfair that a surgeon should be able to write so beautifully... Better is perfect bedside reading - although it might keep you awake - for doctors as well as patients...All will learn something of value from this infinitely wise and humane surgeon' Daily MailSunday Times - '...this wise and often profound book should be an inspiration to doctors all over the world.'