Welcome to the Medic Mentor Book Club!
We have created a list of recommended reading for current/aspiring medical students (below). Each book will have its turn on our monthly reading list, at which point it will link to its own blog post where it can be discussed in more detail – please do comment and let us know what you think of any books you’ve read or are currently reading! We’re also running regular meetings via Zoom: October’s meetings include a discussion on ‘Better’ by Atul Gawande, along with our monthly teaching session and debate (topic linked to themes of this months book).
For more information on the book club, please feel free to email:
Book Club Members
Recommended Books
Committee Members
Time to get reading!
We have compiled a book list from recommendations from our Doctors and Medical Student Scholars (see below). Every month we will read one book from the list and come together to discuss it along with additional meetings: look below to see this month’s book and agenda for meetings. For updates and to join the meeting, please join the Book Club using the link on the right!
Our Doctors and Scholars will also be writing book reviews each month.
We will be running 6-monthly applications to join the committee (last applications closed on 4th July). Use the link on the right to learn more about the current committee.
Current Readings
Have a say in the next book by attending the discussion at the start of each month!
September: The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat
This is a fascinating compilation of medical cases focusing on neurology by the late Oliver Sacks. In this book, you will read about patients who tried to throw their own leg out of bed, who cannot maintain their balance or sense where their body is, as well as the infamous man who mistook his wife for a hat!
Discussion date: Thursday 3rd September (virtual Zoom meeting).
October: Better
To explore how to improve performance and patient care, Atul Gawande addresses a variety of subjects under the three distinct headings of ‘diligence’, ‘doing right’, and ‘ingenuity’. His gripping accounts range from the polio eradication campaign to physician involvement in capital punishment, and with each comes Gawande’s valuable insights into medical performance and the healthcare system.
Discussion date: Thursday 1st October (virtual Zoom meeting).
October Meetings
Upcoming Meetings
| Date | Description | Topic |
| Thursday 1st October | Book Discussion | ‘Better’ by Atul Gawande |
| Thursday 10th October | Teaching Session | Interview Series: How to Answer Research Questions in MMIs |
| Thursday 17th October | Debate | TBD |
You can re-watch the Book Club meetings from each month below:
Book Disscussion: ‘This is going to Hurt’ by Adam Kay
Debate: Privatisation of the NHS
You can re-watch the Book Club meetings from each month below:
Book Disscussion: ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’ by Oliver Sacks
Teaching Session: How to approach Ethical Scenarios in MMI’s
Debate: The Intersect Between Preserving Quality of Life and Making Ethical Decisions
Recommended reading list
| Title | Author | Genre |
| Turtles All the Way Down | John Green | Patient perspective (fictional) |
| Thinking Fast and Slow | Daniel Kahnemann | Cognitive psychology |
| The Prison Doctor: My time inside Britain’s most notorious jails. | Dr Amanda Brown | Biographical |
| Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital | Eric Manheimer | Case presentations |
| Fighting for Your Life | Lysa Walder | |
| How Doctors Think | Jerome Groopman | Cognitive psychology |
| Seven Signs of Life | Aoife Abbey | |
| Better | Atul Gawande | Evidence-based medicine |
| Confessions of a GP | Benjamin Daniels | Biographical |
| The Appointment | Graham Easton | Biographical |
| The Children Act | Ian McEwan | |
| In the Midst of Life | Jennifer Worth | Biographical |
| A Fortunate Man | John Berger | |
| The Other Side | Kate Granger | |
| Trust Me, I’m a (Junior) Doctor | Max Pemberton | Biographical |
| Where Does it Hurt? | Max Pemberton | Biographical |
| Just One More Question | Niall Tubridy | |
| In Stitches | Nick Edwards | |
| Your Life In My Hands – a Junior Doctor’s Story | Rachel Clarke | Biographical |
| The House of God | Samuel Shem | |
| Blood, Sweat and Tea | Tom Reynolds | |
| Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction | Tony Hope | Educational |
| The Body: A Guide For Occupants | Bill Bryson | Educational |
| How it Works: Book of the Human Body | Jon White | Educational |
| Send in the Idiots: Stories from the Other Side of Autism | Kamran Nazeer | Patient perspective |
| Hard Pushed | Leah Hazard | Biographical |
| Life Lessons From a Brain Surgeon | Rahul Jandial | Biographical |
| This is Going to Hurt | Adam Kay | Biographical |
| Being Mortal | Atul Gawande | Evidence-based medicine |
| Complications | Atul Gawande | Evidence-based medicine |
| The Woman Who Changed Her Brain | Barbara Arrowsmith-Young | Patient perspective |
| Bad Science | Ben Goldacre | Evidence-based medicine |
| The Body Keeps the Score | Bessel van der Kolk | |
| The Family That Couldn’t Sleep | D T Max | Specific condition(s) |
| War Doctor | David Notts | Biographical |
| Do No Harm | Henry Marsh | Biographical |
| States of Mind | Mark Haddon | |
| The Brain that Changes Itself | Norman Doidge | |
| The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat | Oliver Sacks | Case discussion |
| When Breath Becomes Air | Paul Kalanithi | Biographical |
| The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot | Biographical |
| The Selfish Gene | Richard Dawkins | |
| Unnatural Causes | Richard Shepherd | |
| The Spirit Level |
Richard Wilsinson and Kate Pickett
|
|
| The Emperor of All Maladies | Siddhartha Mukherjee | |
| Trick or Treatment |
Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst
|
|
| The History of Medicine: A Very Short Introduction | William Bynum | Educational |
| Homo Deus | Yuval Harari | |
| Sapiens | Yuval Harari | |
| Organizational Behavior. 18th ed | Robbins, S. P. and Judge, T. A | Educational |
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