University 401: Transitioning into Medical School

Complications - A Surgeons Notes on an Imperfect Science: Book Reflection

Tina Pham

March 30, 2020

This book is probability one of the best books I’ve read to date. This says a lot because I

absolutely hate reading but for this book, I couldn’t put it down. I like how the author was able to

make it clear that doctors are not perfect but instead they are human. No physician is capable of

knowing every single detail of the medical world and people are really shocked when they hear

that. What is more realistic are physicians consulting with each other to fill in their missing gaps.

I love how this book showed the importance of teamwork between doctors to come to a

conclusion. I truly shows how “teamwork makes the dream work” Another thing that I love

about this book is that it talks about how there is no correct answer, just only the best answer.

Since science is imperfect it means that we can never give a direct answer to which treatment

will work or not. We can only go with the treatment that seems more plausible to get to our

intended results and hope for the best. We will never completely know how some deathly

patients miraculously heal, how a healthy patient suddenly dies, or how a bullet that was shot

into the butt ended up in the upper abdomen with harming anything else.

One of the many things that I will take with me from the book into my future career as a

physician is to treat a patient with kindness and to not dismiss them no matter the case. In the

chapter titled “The Pain Perplex”, Dr. Atul talks about the thank-you cards displayed in in the

lobby of the hospital that Dr. Edgar Ross works at. These cards instead of mostly thanking the

doctor for healing them, they thanked him for believing that their pain was real. Earlier in the

chapter Dr. Atul states that his collogues and himself tend to be quickly dismissive of patients
with chronic pain that had no physical explanation. Knowing this, in the future I will try my

hardest to show empathy toward my patient who experience unbearable and unexplainable pain

and not dismiss them as faking it. Although there are people out there who fake there pain in

order to get prescription drugs, I think that with time and experience, I will be able to distinguish

between the genuine and the fake.

One of my favorite chapters from the book that I found intriguing is “Full Moon Friday

the Thirteenth”. I found this chapter very interesting because I, myself believe in superstitions,

well actually only two superstitions. I believe that if I don’t knock on wood after I say something

thing that is cocky, I will be jinxed later on and that if I look directly at the full moon I will either

get very lucky or very unlucky (a risk that I’m not willing to make). I thought that it was kind

funny how Dr. Atul didn’t believe in superstitions but when two combined he got nervous. Also,

in my opinion I think that the reason the emergency room was so crowded that day was because

of the fact everyone believes in the “Friday the 13th” superstition. They think that this day is so

unlucky and that they could get murdered any second causing them to be nervous and jittery

taking away focus from everyday activities, such as walking, driving, or eating leading to

accidents. In other words, I think Friday the 13th is a psychological thing. I also think it is funny

how doctors are stereotyped as being super factual but when in actuality Dr. Atul tells us that

they are too superstitious.

Another chapter that I found very interesting was “Whose Body Is It, Anyways?” I really

liked this chapter because it talked how the field of medicine has shifted the power of decision

making over to the patient. I have always though that from the time that medicine began the

patient got to choose what happens their bodies. Never in a million years would I have thought

that the decision regarding the treatment for the patient was controlled by the physician. I believe
that the only time a physician should be involved in the decision process is giving advice if the

patient is conscious and in a right state of mind. The one exception is when the patient is

unconscious, with no family around, and is in a life-threatening situation. But even then, the

decision should be consulted with other medical personnel as well. Personally, I don’t think that

I would be comfortable deciding what to do with the bodies that belong to other humans,

especially when that human being has their own opinion on what they want to do with their

bodies. Who am I to tell some that they have to live a painful life, when they want to die

peacefully?