Better a surgeon's notes on performance

The struggle to perform well is universal: each of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. Author Gawande explores how doctors strive to cl...

Full description

Main Author: Gawande, Atul.
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: New York : Metropolitan, 2007.
Edition: 1st ed.
Subjects:
Summary: The struggle to perform well is universal: each of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. Author Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable. Gawande's stories take us to battlefield surgical tents in Iraq, to labor and delivery rooms in Boston, to a polio outbreak in India, and to malpractice courtrooms around the country. He discusses the ethical dilemma of lethal injections, examines the influence of money on modern medicine, and recounts the contentious history of hand washing. And he gives us an inside look at his own life as a practicing surgeon, offering a firsthand account of a field where mistakes are both unavoidable and unthinkable.--From publisher description.
Physical Description: x, 273 p. ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 9780805082111
0805082115
Author Notes: Atul Gawande is a surgical resident in Boston and staff writer on medicine and science for The New Yorker. A former Rhodes scholar, he received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He lives with his wife and three children in Newton, Massachusetts.

(Publisher Fact Sheets)