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book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
From the back cover: A construction worker in his fifties is seriously injured in the collapse of a scaffold. A middle-aged railroad dispatcher develops a high fever that makes him wildly delirious. A young worker nearly severs his hand from his arm in an accident. A woman traveling alone has persistent chest pain and is treated by a doctor on a TV screen. A mother of three is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.
My reactions
These five patients’ cases are used to illustrate the workings of a large academic medical center: Massachusetts General Hospital. Crichton, best known for thrillers and the TV show E.R., wrote this nonfiction explanation of how a hospital works when he was barely out of medical school himself – November 1969. I happened to get a 25th anniversary edition, which includes a “new” Author’s Note dated 1994. In that forward he writes: “When I reread the book recently, I was struck by how much in medicine has changed – and also, by how much has not changed. Eventually I decided not to revise the text, but to let it stand as a statement of what medical practice was like in the late 1960s, and how issues in health care were perceived at that time.”
Another twenty years have gone by and Crichton’s comments still ring true. Much has changed, and much remains the same. The system of training new physicians has changed little, though residents no longer have the gruelingly long hours that were the norm when Crichton was writing. Technological advances have certainly changed the way in which certain services are delivered, but third-party payers (i.e. insurance companies, including government programs such as Medicare) have much more to say about what services the patient receives and how. (A friend recently had a mastectomy as an outpatient procedure!)
So, while this work is obviously dated, I still found it interesting.
My reactions
These five patients’ cases are used to illustrate the workings of a large academic medical center: Massachusetts General Hospital. Crichton, best known for thrillers and the TV show E.R., wrote this nonfiction explanation of how a hospital works when he was barely out of medical school himself – November 1969. I happened to get a 25th anniversary edition, which includes a “new” Author’s Note dated 1994. In that forward he writes: “When I reread the book recently, I was struck by how much in medicine has changed – and also, by how much has not changed. Eventually I decided not to revise the text, but to let it stand as a statement of what medical practice was like in the late 1960s, and how issues in health care were perceived at that time.”
Another twenty years have gone by and Crichton’s comments still ring true. Much has changed, and much remains the same. The system of training new physicians has changed little, though residents no longer have the gruelingly long hours that were the norm when Crichton was writing. Technological advances have certainly changed the way in which certain services are delivered, but third-party payers (i.e. insurance companies, including government programs such as Medicare) have much more to say about what services the patient receives and how. (A friend recently had a mastectomy as an outpatient procedure!)
So, while this work is obviously dated, I still found it interesting.
cate_with_a_c's review
It’s really interesting, there’s a hospital break down of cost which got tiring at some point. It’s nonfiction and would is doubly interesting because now HIPAA would not allow a book like this to be written. I’m a medical drama nerd for the first few seasons of ER (not greys anatomy) but it reads like the TV show St Elsewhere from the 80s.
xkal754's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed the book and learning about the history of hospitals, along with the stories Crichton provided about the patients. The data given is severely outdated considering it was written 45 years ago but very interesting to see how different things were
triptofun's review against another edition
4.0
Questo libro parla di medicina d'urgenza, ma è del 1969 ed è questo a renderlo incredibilmente interessante. Leggendolo non ho potuto fare a meno di pensare che se mi catapultassero in quell'epoca non saprei fare il mio lavoro. Non saprei dispensare terapie senza eco, senza tac, senza un sacco di esami del sangue indispensabili. Eppure, la Boston del 1969 aveva un reparto di telemedicina per visitare i pazienti dell'aeroporto, tramite una telecamera in bianco e nero, un microfono, e un fonendo collegato a un medico a miglia di distanza. Se siete interessati alle trasformazioni storiche della medicina è il libro per voi.
teachinsci's review against another edition
4.0
This non-fiction book about medical care and hospitals was written by Michael Crichton in 1970, but in many ways could have been written today (ya know, if Crichton was still alive). Crichton explores medical costs and the need for insurance (Affordable Care Act precognition?), medical education, the history of medicine, and the changing roles of hospitals.
Probably the most surprising thing to me was how little had changed in medicine in the last 46 years since this book was written. All in all, an interesting read though I would be curious if I am right about how little has changed.
Probably the most surprising thing to me was how little had changed in medicine in the last 46 years since this book was written. All in all, an interesting read though I would be curious if I am right about how little has changed.
kandicez's review against another edition
2.0
I read it because it was Crichon, but I really, only like fiction. This was too "real" for me.
theinkwyrm's review against another edition
DNFd on page 66
I thought this was going to be an exploration of 5 patients’ medical treatment and to some extent it is. However, the larger part of this book seems to be an examination of the history and present of the medical field at large, which I am just not interested in, especially given that this is now an outdated source for the subject.
I thought this was going to be an exploration of 5 patients’ medical treatment and to some extent it is. However, the larger part of this book seems to be an examination of the history and present of the medical field at large, which I am just not interested in, especially given that this is now an outdated source for the subject.
emmyem's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I assumed that it would be focused primarily on the stories of the five patients discussed, but it’s more focused on five discussions about the medical field using the five patients’ stories as a jumping board. It is still really interesting and provides a lot of insight into how the field has improved and what we still need to fix (as of the 1970s). Very interesting looking at what we knew we needed to fix then and realizing that we have yet to find a real solution to a lot of the issues.