 Alright guys, what is going on? It is such a beautiful day as you guys can see from this light. It's one of those days where you just kind of want to sit back and just kind of want to read a book. So in this video, we're going to talk about my top six books that I recommend that every pre-med medical student will read. But first, let's get to a b-roll. You guys enjoyed those clips. Quick introduction for any of you guys that haven't met me before. My name is Lux. I'm a fourth year medical student. If you enjoyed this video, then check out the rest of the videos. Give this video a like and subscribe to the channel. But let's get into the top six books that I recommend that every pre-med and medical student read. Some of these are conventional and some of these are just hidden gems that I found in a bookshelf and something like that. That seems interesting and they've been my favorite books ever since. So let's get right into it. Any book that I mentioned will be linked down below. The first book I recommend that you read is called Stale Alice. So this is a book written by Alyssa Genova. It's actually a fiction tale and I don't read very many fiction novels. So this one really stood out. It's about a PhD from Harvard who develops early onset Alzheimer's. And it's such an accurate description of what somebody within really any form of dementia that Alzheimer's in particular goes through. The author did a really good job of interviewing patients that have Alzheimer's as well as family members and goes through how big of a deal it is to lose even the minute details of our memory into the biggest portions of our lives. And it is such a good read. Guys, I recommend it. I honestly, as I mentioned, don't read fiction tales that often. But this is one of the few books that could not put down and I was excited the next morning to read the next part. So Stale Alice, I think as a healthcare provider, we don't really know how to deal with dementia, especially with family members, with dementia. And so to be able to kind of put yourself in the perspective that's written in that form, putting yourself in perspective of somebody that's losing their memory, this is such a powerful book. So I highly recommend Stale Alice by Alyssa Genova. The next two books we're going to talk about are books that you probably heard about if you haven't already read them. But I have to include them on my list because they're just so powerful. And then the final three books are probably books you haven't heard about before. So getting into book number two, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. If you haven't read this book, even if you've heard of it, this is a must read. Being Mortal talks about the fragility of mortality. So as physicians, it's kind of ironic because dealing with mortality is something that we struggle with probably one of the biggest hurdles that we struggle with in medicine. We try to fix everything. And it's the gloomy fact that, you know, our patients are going to face death at one point or another. And sometimes we can delay it, but it's inevitable. And we struggle with having that conversation with our patients, patients that are getting older and not really knowing what to do with them in terms of care that we can provide them, resources that we can give them, as well as just having conversations with even our younger patients who are dealing with very life-threatening illnesses. But this book is such a powerful reminder of the importance of having these conversations with our patients, of end of life, of end of life care and goals that we should have, and gives you a nice framework of how we can go about having these conversations, what we should say, what seems to work based off of Dr. Gawande's experience. So I highly recommend you guys read this. It's super powerful. I really do think you'll change the way you practice your style of medicine, especially with dealing with patients that are near or at a very critical point of their life. So getting into book number three, and this is probably my all-time favorite for many reasons, and many of you guys probably include this in your all-time favorite as well, which is called When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Kalanthi. So if you aren't familiar with kind of the story behind this, I'm not really spoiling much because this is kind of how the book starts, but Dr. Kalanthi discovered pretty early on the book that he is diagnosed with lung cancer. He is a neurosurgeon, so he is dealing with being both a physician as well as a patient. It is a great reminder as health care providers what our patients deal with when they are faced with such a grim diagnosis like lung cancer. But the other reason I love this book is just so beautifully written. I consider myself a semi-average writer being writing for the blog the last two years, but when I read this book it told me how far I had left to go to get to even close to this level. It is such a beautifully written book and it's one of the few times where I truly appreciated how someone wrote as well as how someone was able to allow me to feel reading this book. So if you haven't read this book, highly recommend it. That being more or should definitely be on your list, especially before going to medical school, puts everything into a nice perspective. And it's not very long. It's kind of like a one-sitting kind of read, beautifully written book, highly recommended. So getting into book number four, these last three books you may not have heard of. So starting with one of the books that I read in college called The Healing of America by T.R. Reed. This is actually a really interesting tale. So the author is getting shoulder surgery, I believe. It's been a while since I've read this book. But the way it works is he is trying to go through numerous different countries with different health care systems like Cuba, the United States. I think he goes to India. He goes to France. And he's able to see the care that he's provided for the same kind of injury and whether he needs surgery, whether or not, as well as the cost. So if you're at all confused about the health care systems, and it's honestly something all of us are probably confused about, living in the United States is a very complicated system. But other countries have such unique ways of providing health care. Some free, some do it in a very interesting manner, that this is a nice narration of somebody going through, he's not a physician, somebody going through the medical system in different countries. And there's some really good ideas from other countries, regardless of where you live, like, huh, I wish we had that. And this was one of these books that definitely got me thinking. If you're applying to medical school right now, or if you're about to, I'd recommend this book because then you can start thinking of what other systems are out there versus the country that you're in. So it's very nicely written, very easy to read. Dr. Reed does a really good job with this book. So this is definitely a book that I recommend that everyone reads to understand how other health care system works. I recommend reading, especially the chapter on how the France health care system works, because they have a really unique approach. And I wish that we had that in the United States. So definitely pick up this book. If you're wanting some more exposure on the health care systems. All right, so two more books left. And if you're enjoying this, guys, quick reminder to like this video before you leave, subscribe to the channel for more videos like this. I have plenty of more book recommendations. So if you enjoy this, you know, let me know below with any suggestions you guys have. And I'll be happy to make other videos using all suggestions after I read the book. All right, so let's get into book number five, which is called Alpha Docs. It's written by Dr. Daniel Minas, who is a fellow when he's writing this book at Johns Hopkins in cardiology. So when I picked up this book, I really didn't know much about cardiology, but now I'm going to internal medicine. So it's a field that I'm looking into. It goes through every single rotation that he does as a Johns Hopkins fellow in cards. And so he goes through his ICU months, he goes through the months that he's working with heart failure, things that he's when he's in the cath lab. And it's a very good narration of every single rotation you would do as a cardio fellow. It's a very powerful read you can kind of see in the mind of a cardiologist, especially when you deal with patients who have very weak hearts and are basically facing a death face on so very nicely written. And it's also written in the form of a fellow and I don't know how many books are written at that phase in someone's career. So if you're interested in cardiology or if you're interested in understanding what the life of like a fellow or a resident may be like, Alpha Docs is a good book for you. So getting into my last book, and I actually don't have a physical copy because I read the audio book, which I actually recommend you guys do, which is called the real doctor will see you shortly by Paul McCarthy. I absolutely love this book. And as I mentioned, read the audio book. The book I'm sure is also great, but the audio book is just so funny. It's narrated by him and it's a recollection of Dr. McCarthy's intern year. So if you're not familiar, your first year in residency is called your intern year. They're synonymous, but it's the probably the year in residency you're the most busiest and you have the biggest deer in the headlight moments because you just finished med school and you have several months of vacation. And you haven't seen or dealt with a lot of medical things in a while. So but now you're a real doctor, your real patients are relying on you. You may not always know what's going on. So it's a very funny read because it's exactly what I think I'm about to feel like in a year, but it's very serious too. Dr. McCarthy deals with illnesses that are life threatening like HIV and heart failure, but he also deals with things that are very uncomfortable like running the code. Those are things I'm going to have to do in residency. And so it's a very good accurate description of what an intern year will be like the failure successes. And then just feeling burnt out, the feeling of feeling accomplished. And so there's a lot of emotions that go through it. It's a very good read, but I definitely recommend that you do the audio book if you have an opportunity. But those are my six recommendations guys and hopefully you guys enjoyed them. And hopefully you also enjoyed the B-roll at the very start of the video. But now I want to hear from you. What is one book that you would recommend that any pre-med or medical student read? And if you comment down below, I'll put you in the entering for the giveaway for this month, which is my books and my video course for free. So just put it down below your recommendation that you recommend to anyone, including myself as well as any of the viewers that managed to see this video agreed. And hopefully we can start collecting a list of books that all of us should read one day. But if you guys have more questions, comment down below. I'd love to hear your book recommendations and you'll be entered in the giveaway if you comment down below. But as always, if you enjoyed this video, definitely give it a like, subscribe to the channel. I'm enjoying making these videos more and more, getting more creative. And so I really want you to be part of the community. So make sure you subscribe to the channel for more medical tips as well as things like this, which are tips in general, but we got to read in medicine to grow a physician. So if you guys enjoyed this video, make sure you like and subscribe to the channel. But I'll see you guys in the next one. Take care, my friends.