Complications, Atul Gawande, argues that medicine is an imperfect science and doctors experience fallibility, mystery and uncertainty throughout their careers. Gawande utilizes personal stories to help the audience comprehend the struggles doctors encounter. Overall, I was convinced by Gawande’s thesis, that medicine is imperfect, because of two of his real life anecdotes, including the case of red leg and a doctor, who became accustomed to making mistakes. In order to prove his thesis, Gawande uses a
combat disease any longer or an unexpected death. However, no one enjoys talking about this unfortunate, yet inevitable event. Clinicians deliver bad news to their patients every day, and sometimes even a timeline of how long they have to live. As Atul Gawande, a writer and surgeon, suggests in the film, most doctors have difficulty talking about chronic disease and death with their patients, so instead they avoid these discussions or offer a different medication or therapy. The film documents how Dr
In the book Being Mortal by Dr. Atul Gawande, he discusses the many grievous trials people face near the end of life. Gawande uses the many experiences that he has had as a doctor and the experiences in his own family to give insight into the good and bad end of life decisions. Reading all of Gawande’s experiences has made me realize the large amount of illness and death I have faced in the last 5 years and helped me to reflect on the outcomes of those events and some of the dilemmas faced by my
Gawande (2002) writes: “As pervasive as medicine has become in modern life, it remains mostly hidden and often misunderstood. We have taken it to be both more perfect than it is and less extraordinary than it can be.” (p. 8) His book explains this idea, that medicine is both over and under-estimated, in three parts: “Fallibility,” “Mystery,” and “Uncertainty.” In each he gives personal stories, exhibiting medicine as an imperfect science. Gawande’s writing shows that doctors are people, prone to
1996 (Lopatto). Job openings for doctors and nurses sparked the interest of the younger generation, and this, I believe, is because of the enthralling and captivating experiences that result from these fields. The article “The Central Line” by Atul Gawande covers an example of what these future surgeons and medics learn while in the field. However, the student will not perform perfectly the first time. Of course, the techniques of using the tools and how to perform the procedures take practice and
the radioactive tracer he injected into his patient was rapidly decimating he wondered how he could have prevented this situation. Could he have been more careful when to inject the material? Could he have picked a better date for the operation? Atul Gawande found himself questioning his ability as a medical care provider. All humans make mistakes, however in a profession where human lives are at stake mistakes are unacceptable. The chase for perfection has allured humans since the beginning of time
In the book Complications, Atul writes about his experiences as a surgical residents and demonstrates a point of view of surgery that does not idealize it, but instead displays the actual pressure and complexity it actually is. Atul Gawande speaks to fellow surgeons, surgeons to be or simply those who believe that the study of surgery is just memorizing procedures, nonetheless it’s so much more complex due to the fact that every case that arrives is different. He is able to portray the complexity
profession insinuate a myth of infallibility that envelops the physicians and the science they practice. Atul Gawande, in Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, provides an extensive view of the medical profession from both sides of the operating table
seems to become more complex as our civilization advances. In 2014, Atul Gawande, a renowned doctor, provides some interesting insights into disease, end of life care, and a patient’s suffering. Through his interesting personal stories and powerful statistics, Gawande shows us how medicine fails to treat patients with terminal disease in the right way and reveals some deep philosophical ideas about mortality and suffering. Gawande starts the book with “I learned about a lot of things in medical school
Introduction to the Author 2. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Atul Gawande is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He is best known for his contributions to medicine through his writing, particularly in exploring topics such as healthcare, public health and the intersection of medicine with ethics and culture. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Gawande has written several bestselling books on medicine, healthcare, and administration
The Power of Mistakes Atul Gawande is not only our resident surgeon; he’s also a patient himself. He’s anxious before performing a surgery, he dwells on mistakes, and he has emotions: he’s human and he understands us. However, he does not appear to share concerns with his patients initially. Gawande experiences a long, drawn-out development from a young medical student to the doctor he is today. This process of identifying with patients is evident in his anthology of essays Complications: A Surgeon’s
Atul Gawande’s book, Being Mortal, focuses on end-of-life care for patients in the American healthcare system. Gawande includes evidence along with anecdotes from his own life surrounding his career as a surgeon and his role in helping family members navigate their own end-of-life decisions. Much of Gawande’s argument rests on the premise that while end-of-life care in the American healthcare system is heroic and equipped with the best possible advancements in medicine, it too often fails the patients
Diligence is a virtue. This is a theme Atul Gawande presents to the reader throughout Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance. In each story, Gawande provides insight on medical studies he has previously embarked upon. For example, in “The Mop-up” the author tells us about a time when he went to India to observe the efforts to eradicate polio. Gawande explains how he followed a supervisor around and how vaccinations were performed. Additionally, in another chapter he debates on whether physicians
dualism is a human being consists of two kinds of things that interact. Using this theory of substance dualism, we can explain why some people can experience excruciating pains and urges like the phantom limb syndrome. The article, The Itch, by Atul Gawande follows a woman who has a constant itching feeling in her scalp. Her life started out normal but after a few unfortunate events she now has “the itch”. This itch has caused her to become partially paralyzed in the left side of her body. She has
improved upon, no matter what you level of expertise is. In the article Personal Best, Atul Gawande (2011), a surgeon who specialized in endocrinology, talks about how he thought he was at the peak of his career, he had “hit a plateau” and “the only direction things could go from here was the wrong one” (p.1 & 2). He comes to find that with the help of a coach, there is room for growth and greater achievement. Gawande talks about how he came up with the idea of hiring a coach to watch him perform surgery
essential component of the development of expertise. Despite the necessity for practice, ethical and practical tensions may arise as a result of it. These tensions are shown throughout the articles, “The Learning Curve” by Atul Gawande and “The Great Forgetting” by Nicholas Carr. Gawande focuses how surgeons have to practice on patients which can sometimes be considered unethical. On the other hand, Carr focuses on how dependence on technology can be detrimental, especially in the aviation industry. In
Question #1: Briefly summarize the article. What are the author's main arguments? In his article “The Cost Conundrum,” Atul Gawande explores why McAllen, Texas, has become one of the most expensive healthcare markets in the United States despite having unremarkable health outcomes. Gawande begins by pointing out the puzzling statistics that show McAllen's healthcare costs are some of the highest in the country, surpassing even more affluent areas with similar health profiles. He finds that the primary
the Aggie Code of Honor, I took the risk of taking an unfair advantage over my classmates to maximize an exam grade. My ultimate failure was deciding to cheat for the betterment of my grade over studying harder and working for my own grade. How Atul Gawande explains in "Failure to Rescue, they're three ways to fail to rescue. The wrong plan, the inadequate plan, and having no plan at all. The wrong plan in my situation would be to ignore all reasoning and continue to act unethical and cheat on further
On the topic of Atul Gawande’s novel Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, an ongoing issue has brought into question what we should do with the elderly and ill that are in need of care. On the one hand, some argue that they should be put in nursing homes and seek treatment for their problems because they can no longer take care of themselves. From this perspective, the elderly have a greater chance of getting injured if they are not taken care of properly, thus are seen as unfit to
Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard Medical School graduate and writer for The New Yorker, phenomenally illustrates the unknown side of healthcare professions in his book, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science. By exploring the ethical and analytical aspects of medicine while entertaining readers with relatable anecdotes, Gawande impresses on his audience the importance of recognizing the wonders of the healthcare field, as well as the fallibility of those within it. The writing style