System
Log In

Junior Doctor Book recommendations

This year we were honoured to award the first SARD prize to Declan Green at Kent and Medway Medical School at the University of Kent in Canterbury. He’d clearly done his homework, achieving the highest marks for his first year. Have a listen to our podcast SARDisms when we speak to Kent and Medway Medical School. Declan’s episode on SARDisms is available here.

Our chat with Declan got us thinking about all the resources that are available to medical students and junior doctors. Recently, there was a Twitter thread with ideas of the best books for Junior Doctors to read to help them through their education. We’ve compiled the list here for ease of reference, but tweet us @SARDJV to recommend your favourite!

Let’s get started…

  • Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
  • Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
  • Dear Life by Rachel Clarke
  • The Bad Doctor by Ian Williams
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • Fix IT by Harold Thimbleby
  • The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson
  • The Courage to Care by Christie Watson
  • House of God by Samuel Shem
  • With the End in Mind by Kathryn Mannix
  • When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
  • This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
  • A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters
  • The Reith Lecture on BBC Sounds
  • The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla
  • Reckoning with Risk by Gerd Gigerenzer
  • Hold Still by The Duchess of Cambridge Patron of the National Portrait Gallery
  • Dear NHS, edited by Adam Kay
  • Breaking and Mending by Joanna Cannon
  • The Book About Getting Older by Dr Lucy Pollock
  • Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters
  • How We Die by Sherwin B Nuland
  • Seven Signs of Life by Aoife Abbey
  • Many Different Kinds of Love by Michael Rosen
  • Patient by Ben Watt
  • Somebody I used to know by Wendy Mitchell
  • A Still Life by Josie George
  • Listen by Kathryn Mannix
  • It's All in Your Head by Suzanne O'Sullivan
  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
  • Intelligent Kindness: Rehabilitating the Welfare State by John Ballatt
  • The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
  • Illness by Havi Carel
  • Also Human by Caroline Elton
  • Tough Choices by Daniel Sokol
  • Superbugs by Matt McCarthy
  • Under the Knife by Arnold van de Laar
  • How Death Becomes Life by Joshua Mezrich
  • Life Support by Jim Down
  • How Not to be a Doctor by John Launer
  • Dr Quin, Medicine Man by Dr John Quin
  • War Doctor by David Nott
  • In Shock by Rana Awdish
  • Every Deep-Drawn Breath by Wes Ely
  • Better by Atul Gawande

Please check your local book stores and shops for availability.