Learning How the Heart Beats: The Making of a Pediatrician

Rating:
Summary: how many harvard med school grads write books like this?
Review: Dr. McCarthy has added to the somewhat tiresome tradition of Harvard Medical School confessionals. I read this book at the end of my second year of medical school (no, not harvard, thank you!) and found her stories hum-drum at best, pedantic, preachy, and underhandedly self-congratulatory at worst. In addition, Dr. McCarthy's editor clearly rushed through this one - there are numerous instances of convoluted grammer that detract from the flow of the prose. So in summary: if you're a premedical/medical student or a doc, just keep your eyes and ears open and you'll collect lots more meaningful experiences than this book could ever give you; and if you're one of those lay people who likes to life the medical life vicariously, put down this book and spend some time volunteering at your local hospital.

Rating:
Summary: a pretty good book for pre-meds
Review: I think this is a good book for anyone interested in pursuing a career in medicine. The first half of the book (which takes place in medical school) is quite interesting as the reader gets a glimpse into the mind of the medical student and all the emotions she is feeling. The stories of patients that the author remembers are captivating. However, I found the second half of the book (which takes place during the author's residency) somewhat skewed as the author chose only to mention the worst cases she encountered. Also the chapters in the second half are short and the stories seem less complete, leaving the reader hanging at times.

Rating:
Summary: how many harvard med school grads write books like this?
Review: I'm shocked no one has yet written their thoughts on this book, I was looking foward to reading them! I loved this book. Since I'm a pre-med major I figured I would like it when I started it, but I did not expect that I would be unable to put it down! It sucked me in from the frst page and I just could not put it down! I was reading it during my physics class, that's how much I loved it. The author really shows the humanity behind medicine and does an excellent job of recounting her experiences "becoming a pediatrician". Every account of every patient fascinated me, and made me even more convinced that I'm not just insane for being pre-med. This book really gave me something to look foward to. If you are interested in health sciences, I strongly encourage you to read this book, it's wonderful!

Rating:
Summary: I appreciated her honesty
Review: In this book, Dr. McCarthy has allowed her readers to look into her life as a pediatrician and learn from her successes and failures. I appreciated the balanced opinions she gave concerning both med school and her profession, and the decisions she has made throughout her journey. Overall, this is a good book to read if you are interested in medicine as a career.