Several important books have shaped my views of medicine, leadership and life.
Here I humbly present a pre med reading list to consider. A few books I’m recommending I realize I may love because of personal preference, and may not appeal to a larger audience.
I always recommend checking your public library as a great way to save some money. If you choose to purchase, you can use the links to buy through Amazon.
Medicine
If you don’t know a whole lot about medicine, these books will be a great introduction. If you do, they will just make you more excited to go into the field.
How Doctors Think. This book does a great job in identifying how doctors make errors. It’s interesting to read as a patient as well as a future physician.
Mountains Beyond Mountains. One of my all time favorite nonfiction books. Challenging but ultimately inspiring, Dr Paul Farmer’s story makes you want to be a better person, whether you want to be a doctor or not.
Better. Written with authority and candor, this book touches on several important issues in medicine including malpractice and suicide.
In Stitches. In this hilarious memoir, Dr Youn recounts his often awkward journey through medical school. One of the few books that has made me laugh out loud.
Pre Med
These are books I recommend to help guide you through the pre med process.
Essays That Will Get You Into Medical School. If the idea of writing your personal statement petrifies you, this book will help. I did not read the whole thing, but found much of it quite useful.
How To Become A Straight-A Student. Oh how I wish I had this book during undergrad! I’m a little over half way through reading it right now and it is awesome. The book is all about being a great student while maintaining a great college life. Definitely worth reading.
Med School Confidential. I’m still using this book because it covers the entire med school journey, including medical school and residency. (Cool side note, one of the books authors is a doctor I worked with in the ER Scribe program.)
Novels
Some novels are great at telling an amazing story and having important life applications at the same time. Here are a couple of my favorite that I feel can be applicable to the pre med journey.
The Lord Of The Rings. Sometimes the road to medical school feels like the path to Mordor.
Watership Down. Yes, it’s a book about rabbits. However, it is one of my favorite adventure novels of all time, plus it has some amazing lessons concerning leadership.
Do you have any suggestions to add to this list?
Affiliate links are present in this post.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I must ask, how well does that “How To Become a Straight-A Student” book apply to scientific majors? From what I can tell in the Amazon description, it seems mostly geared towards liberal arts majors. How will it help a chemistry major such as myself?
Great question Geoff. A lot of the book is more difficult to apply to science majors. But the other parts are still very useful, like the sections on time-management, test taking and general study habits.
Cal addresses some of the concerns for science majors in this post: http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/09/24/monday-master-class-use-focused-question-clusters-to-study-for-multiple-choice-tests/
I highly recommend “How Doctors Think.” It’s a fantastic book!
Thanks for your website! Another book I’ve found helpful is The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty.