LibGuides: Medical Education: Home

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For subscription access to all library resources

(databases, journals, eBooks, study aids):

I.D. Weeks Library: usd.edu/Academics/Libraries/ID-Weeks-Library or

Wegner Health Sciences Library: usd.edu/wegner

AAMC Recommended Reading for Aspiring Physicians (Updated 2025)

Adventures of a Female Medical Detective by Mary Guinan; Anne D. Mather (As told to)
ISBN: 9781421439815

Publication Date: 2021-08-03

A physician’s memoir of her work to help eradicate smallpox and tackle the AIDS epidemic.
Available at Wegner Library.
America's Bitter Pill by Steven Brill
ISBN: 9780812986686

Publication Date: 2015-08-18

Examines the U.S. health care system and Affordable Care Act. Interesting fact: Brill had open heart surgery during the time he completed the book.
Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraries.
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
ISBN: 9780805091748

Publication Date: 2009-12-22

Dr. Gawande is a surgeon who explores how the simplest of methods, a checklist, can save lives and reduce errors.
Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraries.
Complications by Atul Gawande
ISBN: 0805063196

Publication Date: 2002-04-04

This book is exploratory surgery on medicine itself, laying bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is; complicated, perplexing, and profoundly human.
Available at Wegner Library.
An Elegant Defense by Matt Richtel
ISBN: 9780062698537

Publication Date: 2019-03-12

Guides readers on a scientific detective tale winding from the Black Plague to twentieth-century breakthroughs in vaccination and antibiotics, to today’s laboratories that are revolutionizing immunology.
Available at Wegner Library
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
ISBN: 9781439107959

Publication Date: 2010-11-16

Dr. Mukherjee, writes about the history of cancer from its first documented occurrence to modern treatments.
Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraries, and as an eBook.
Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality by Pauline W. Chen
ISBN: 9780307275370

Publication Date: 2008-01-08

A columnist for the New York Times Well Blog, Dr. Chen explores the complexities of treating terminally ill patients and the emotional relationships between doctors and their patients.
Available at Wegner Library.
The First Cell by Azra Raza
ISBN: 9781541699526

Publication Date: 2019-10-15

A world-class oncologist delivers a devastating and deeply personal examination of cancer, offering a searing account of how both medicine and society (mis)treats cancer.
Available at I.D. Weeks Library.
The Genome Odyssey by Euan Angus Ashley
ISBN: 9781250234995

Publication Date: 2021-02-23

Decoding a patient’s genome, the individualized alphabet of life, once cost billions and took months, but newer methods provide the opportunity to quickly treat patients suffering from mysterious, gene-based conditions.
Available at I.D. Weeks Library.
Hundreds of Interlaced Fingers: A Kidney Doctor's Search for the Perfect Match by Vanessa Grubbs
ISBN: 9780062418180

Publication Date: 2018-06-12

Shaped by the author's remarkable experiences as a doctor, a woman of color, a mother, and a kidney donor.
Available at Wegner Library.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
ISBN: 9781400052189

Publication Date: 2011-03-08

Rebecca Skloot illuminates health disparities and injustices in this non-fiction work on the life of Henrietta Lacks. Lacks’ cells (HeLa) have been used in life-saving treatments to treat and cure polio.
Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraries, and as an eBook.
Letter to a Young Female Physician by Suzanne Koven
ISBN: 9781324007142

Publication Date: 2021-05-04

Koven tells candid and illuminating stories about her pregnancy during a grueling residency in the AIDS era; the illnesses of her child and aging parents during which her roles as a doctor, mother, and daughter converged, and sometimes collided.
Available at Wegner Library.
A Molecule Away from Madness by Sara Manning Peskin
ISBN: 9781324002376

Publication Date: 2022-02-08

A neurologist shares extraordinary stories of the brain under siege.
Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraries.
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
ISBN: 9780812973013

Publication Date: 2004-08-31

This book tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of the nonprofit organization, Partners In Health, and an infectious-disease specialist, who dedicates his life to caring for patients in the poorest and most under-resourced parts of the world.
Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraries.
My Own Country by Abraham Verghese
ISBN: 0671785141

Publication Date: 1994-05-10

A physician who also writes fiction, Dr. Verghese’s memoir focuses on his experiences practicing medicine in Johnson City, Tennessee while treating patients of the rural AIDs epidemic.
Available at Wegner Library.
Open Heart: A Cardiac Curgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table by Stephen Westaby
ISBN: 9780465094837

Publication Date: 2017-06-20

The author reflects on over 11,000 surgeries, showing us why the procedures have never become routine and will never be.
Available at Wegner Library.
The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly by Matt McCarthy
ISBN: 9780804138673

Publication Date: 2016-04-05

A funny, candid memoir of the author's intern year at a New York hospital.
Available at Wegner Library
Reproductive Injustice by Dána-Ain Davis
ISBN: 9781479812271

Publication Date: 2019-06-25

In-depth interviews with mothers of different ages, incomes, regions, and educational levels reveal a repeated sense of being dismissed by medical personnel.
Available as an eBook.
The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
ISBN: 9781982117375

Publication Date: 2022-10-25

Mukherjee, an oncologist and assistant professor at Columbia University, explores cells’ key role in numerous arenas, including cancer, immunology, reproduction, and COVID-19.
Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraires, and as an eBook.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
ISBN: 9780374525644

Publication Date: 1998-09-30

Fadiman explores the impact of cultural understanding on patient care and the complexities that surround treatments.
Available at Wegner Library
Stiff by Mary Roach
ISBN: 9780393050936

Publication Date: 2003-04-17

Available at I.D. Weeks and Wegner Libraries
Taking Care by Sarah DiGregorio
ISBN: 9780063071285

Publication Date: 2023-05-02

Nurses have treated enslaved people, been tried as witches, gone to jail for providing birth control, and saved lives during wars and pandemics. Provides a rich history while also exploring the current reach of the profession.
Available at Wegner Library
What Doctors Feel by Danielle Ofri
ISBN: 9780807033302

Publication Date: 2014-05-06

Dr. Ofri, an internist, explores the doctor-patient relationship and the role emotions play in patient care.
Available at Wegner Library
Womb with a View by Rebecca Levy-Gantt
ISBN: 9781941066416

Publication Date: 2020-04-12

A journey through medical training and practice in the life of an obstetrician and gynecologist.
Available at Wegner Library.