Kill as Few Patients as Possible: And 56 Other Essays on How to Be the World's Best Doctor (Paperback)

~ Arlan Cohn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

London, an internist in private practice, offers 56 short essays on his profession that consist of alternating doses of slapstick and poignancy. For example, in moving tones he tells of his joy at consulting a dour hematologist who properly diagnosed a 24-year-old woman's elusive illness and saved her life. Then he makes an all-too-familiar, if well-phrased, complaint about being forced to look at other doctors' vacation photos. But there are many gems here: London tells of pet peeves (being called "Doc"); derides medical conventions (in lecture halls after large meals doctors don't listen because "blood is being massively shunted from brains to intestines"); rails against smoking ("my favorite punchline is to tell a smoker she's microwaving herself to death"); and promotes Valium over alcohol for relieving stress ("taken in moderation, Valium works immoderately well to get my tense patients through their days and nightsand me through minewith brain and liver cells intact"). Despite some overreaching for humorous effect, this is an entertaining, insightful book.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; 1 edition (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089815197X
• ISBN-13: 978-0898151978
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #137,464 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent pearls of wisdom and humor for doctors, March 15, 1999

By	[e-mail] (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

Dr London provides 57 vignettes peppered with his dry humor and eloquence. Each is only a few pages, making for good "bathroom reading". Overall, the book is a must-read for young doctors and medical students. These pearls provide the benefits of his experience and insight in an entertaining and easily digestable format. Some are light, some serious, all are instructive in the qualities modern physicians should strive to embody.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good advice and a great laugh, April 8, 2001

By	"hcollin" (Guayaquil, Ecuador) - See all my reviews

If you're looking for the perfect gift for the newly med grad, this is certainly it!! You can't put down this book; you start off smiling and you soon end up laughing so hard that if you read it at night you'll probably wake up everybody. Although patients might get a few laughs as well, the book is really meant for doctors and each of the 57 rules to live by are absolutely true. London (a pseudonym), himself an M.D. and self-appointed W.B.D. (world's best doctor), is a seasoned writer and delivers good advice for the rocky road of medicine. I reread it whenever things get tough and I always feel refreshed. Excellent book!!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OUTSTANDING, January 20, 2002

By	DAVID J CHAPMAN (Fullerton, CA United States) - See all my reviews

AS A PRACTICING PHYSICIAN I READ THIS PERSONALIZED ESSAY COLLECTION PERIODICALLY JUST TO BRING MYSELF BACK TO EARTH. WE TEND TO BELIEVE THE HYPE AND BEHAVE TOO GOD-LIKE. LONDON PROVIDES A BREATH OF FRESH AIR WE ALL NEED FROM TIME TO TIME.