| Edition |
1st ed. |
| Description |
x, 273 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references. |
| 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. |
| Contents |
Introduction -- pt.1. Diligence -- On washing hands -- The mop-up -- Casualties of war -- pt. 2. Doing right -- Naked -- What doctors owe -- Piecework -- The doctors of the death chamber -- On fighting -- pt. 3. Ingenuity -- The score -- The bell curve -- For performance -- Afterword : Suggestions for becoming a positive deviant -- Notes on sources -- Acknowledgments. |
| Subject |
Internal medicine -- Case studies.
|
|
Internal medicine. |
| Genre/Form |
Case studies.
|
| Subject |
Medicine -- Miscellanea.
|
|
Medicine -- Miscellanea. |
| Genre/Form |
Case studies.
|
|
Trivia and miscellanea.
|
|
Trivia and miscellanea.
|
| ISBN |
9780805082111 |
|
0805082115 |
|
