Better by Atul Gawande

Complications by Atul Gawande made my top ten list last year, and I've had my eye on this book for awhile now. Since it is still only available in hardback I'd resigned myself to waiting until the paperback version came out, but I found it at the public library right before I left for the break and thought it might make a good airplane read.

I think Complications is still my favorite of the two, but I still thought Better was very interesting. It is a little like a collection of essays, although there is a definite organization and underlying theme to the chapters. The book is about medicine in general (with an emphasis on surgery, given that Gawande is a practicing surgeon), and inside looks at medicine are always fascinating to me. For a very long time I thought of science, including medicine, as being a relatively certain and stable thing, that the complexity lay in the sheer amount of information, and that shortcomings arose because of the fact that we didn't always have all the information. Over time, I've come to realize that there is far more to the complexity, and to appreciate the human side of medicine, and the fact that knowing generalities doesn't always translate to knowing what is going on in specific situations.

The subjects of Better range from the ethical dilemma facing doctors who are called upon to aid in administering the death penalty, to the innovations that have made childbirth so much safer for mother and child, to cystic fibrosis treatment centers and what makes some hospitals and specific programs so much more effective than others that still put great effort into improving their treatment. I find it difficult to put my finger on a specific point that Gawande was trying to make, but the chapters were well-written and interesting, and I would easily recommend it to almost anyone.