Book Review: Final Exam

I recently read Pauline Chen's Final Exam, a narrative nonfiction on a surgeon's perspective on death and dying. It's interesting; many of the sentiments, experiences, and thoughts expressed in the book are reflected in my blogs over the last five years. The surgical approach, however, is fascinating. She speaks of issues specific to surgeons - the idea of performing an operation on someone who subsequently dies, the infamous morbidity and mortality conferences, the surgical culture.

The writing in the book is excellent; it's clear, articulate, eloquent, graceful. The chapters read almost like essays with interwoven patient narratives and stories. To be honest, reading it felt like re-experiencing that which I'd already seen, so I don't think I particularly learned or gained much. It might not be the right book for a resident or physician. But I think it's a great read for the pre-med or interested layperson. The literature on death and dying perseverates on the disconnect between physicians and their familiarity, comfort, and understanding of the end of life. But what I'm trying to find goes beyond that - I know what it's like to care for a dying person, but my question is how we can change the system, structure, people, education, or expectations to make it better.

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