Getting to our dream careers is going to take a lot of work, dedication, and a lot of schooling, so sometimes it can be hard to remember why we want our dream job in the first place. When the going gets tough, it’s normal to consider alternative routes for a second or two, and when this happens, we need a good jolt of motivation to remind us just how awesome our dream jobs are going to be, and all the work that we are putting in now is going to be worth it in the end. If you are an aspiring doctor, there may be bumps along the road towards your dream career, especially since there are so many steps to get there, so when you need some encouragement, why not give these books a look over? Who knows, maybe you’ll be writing one of these someday too to keep people going! 1. Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, by Brenda Maddox Okay ladies, this one is for you. We can’t keep letting guys take credit for our strokes of genius! Rosalind Franklin, as I’m sure you know through college (since they like to leave her out of the high school science curriculum), provided crucial research that lead to discovering the double helix structure of DNA, but did she get the credit for it? I seem to recall that two men, James Watson and Francis Crick, received the Nobel Prize for this discovery, while her name is not really known. Use this book to fuel your fire and make it big in the scientific world! Share with your guy friends as well to show how awesome women are. 2. Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death, and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon’s First Years, by Michael J. Collins This is a great look into what your life could potentially be like as you strive to make it big in the medical world. This memoir gives the real truth of becoming a doctor, how it might not be as glamorous as people make it out to be, but through tragedy and triumph, Collins tells it like it is. This is a great one especially for those times when you look around at your fellow classmates and you feel like you aren’t good enough. Collins felt like that too at times, but he made it through. It tells of his own personal journey as well as some of the lives that he touches, and whether he can save them or not, how he changes their lives forever. 3. Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, by Atul Gawande During school, we are first expected to learn, and once we know the rules, we are then expected to question. This is how we make new discoveries and grow as a society. But sometimes, it can be hard to question, especially things that are, to our knowledge, scientifically proven and therefore taken at face value. This book will help you see how things should always be questioned, and how science is, after all, sometimes susceptible to human error. It explores the power and limit of medicine, and will give you the raw perspective that you can then take into account and expand on. It shows that this field isn’t perfect, but with questioning and reason, will expand to accommodate the greater good. 4. My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story, by Abraham Verghese This story is one about AIDS taking over a small town, and a doctor who is fascinated by the disease but stumped on how to cure it or help his patients. It gives true accounts from patients, and puts a face to them, which the media often skipped over. It shows the compassion of a doctor who tried to make sense of the whole mess, and how close it hit to home. This is a great one to read and to keep in mind as you start to work with patients. Always make them feel important, always give them a voice, and let them know that their story is important and needs to be heard. 5. Against Medical Advice, by Hal Friedman and James Patterson This book follows Cory Friedman and his battle with Tourette’s, OCD, and the medications that only made it that much worse. Books like this are important, because while medications are extremely helpful to patients, there are always going to be instances where there was inadequate testing, misdiagnoses, or overdoses prescribed. It makes you realize that not everything is perfect, and that sometimes, meds might not be the answer. It’s a good read to keep you well-rounded. These are just a few books to check out if you are aspiring to be a doctor. Keep at it — it will be worth it in the end! Source
