We never thought we'd crush on ER's John Carter as a teenager, and Dr. Michael Robinavitch aka Dr. Robby on The Pitt as an middle-aged adult, but here we are; must-see TV is back on Thursday nights for HBO subscribers, and the Emergency Department hospital drama set in Pittsburgh has been a runaway success. If you can't get enough medical jargon; fast-paced, high-stakes emergency medicine; patient stories; and pointed political views on healthcare in America--with a side of personal personnel stories--here's some suggestions for what to read when you've finished binge-watching both seasons of The Pitt.
FICTION
These novels focus on the experience of being a doctor or working in a hospital, particularly during trying times, like an outbreak or pandemic:
Cutting For Stone by Dr. Abraham Verghese
Physician Marion Stone and his twin brother Shiva, born from a secret love affair between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in Addis Ababa, come of age in an Ethiopia on the brink of revolution, where their love for the same woman drives them apart.
Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon
Maggie McCabe has always lived life at the edge, and it was all going to plan until a series of tragedies led to her medical license being revoked. Maggie is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand absolute discretion along with the best care money can buy. When one of the world’s most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance, Maggie - one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take the job - fulfills her end of the agreement. But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself - or she will be the next one who is... gone before goodbye?
The House of God by Samuel Shem
First in a series,
The House of God takes readers into the lives of Roy Basch and five of his fellow interns at the country's most renowned teaching hospital in Columbia, NY.
Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang
An ICU physician at a busy NYC hospital, 30-something Joan, a workaholic with little interest in having friends, let alone lovers, is required to take mandatory leave until the day she must return to the city to face a crisis larger than anything she’s encountered before.
Last Patient of the Night by A.J. Docker
Emergency physician AJ Docker is no stranger to violence, but the brutal torture and murder of an innocent, young patient demands a response. Together with his policeman friend and a police dog, he sets out on a quest for justice for his lost patient. Doc's investigation leads him into the dark world of organized crime, and when the killers come after him, it becomes a fight for survival. Will he survive to find justice for his patient, or will he be the next victim of Dyyavola, the Devil?
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
Determined to leave a mark on the world even though they are in the hospital and
their days are dwindling, unlikely friends, 17-year-old Lenni and 83-year-old Margot, devise a plan to create 100 paintings showcasing the stories of the century they have lived.
Viral by Robin Cook
With his wife in a coma after contracting a rare and highly lethal mosquito-borne viral disease, Brian vows to seek justice against the hospital and insurance company that won't cover the costs by exposing the dark side of a ruthless industry and bring down the executives preying on the sick.
Not strictly about the hospital ER experience, these novels center on the patient experience, from diagnosis to treatment to progression of specific diseases:
Counting Backwards by Binnie Kirshenbaum (Lewy body dementia)
Manhattan medical researcher and professor Leo is diagnosed with Lewy body dementia at 53, shattering his world and leaving his wife, collage artist Addie, balancing caregiving, work, grief, and her own mental health. Told primarily in second person by Addie, this witty novel sharply examines marriage, memory, loss, and loneliness.
Every Note Played by Lisa Genova (ALS)
A once-celebrated concert pianist who is gradually succumbing to ALS is forced to accept help from the estranged wife he pushed away, a situation that forces the couple to reconcile their past before time runs out.
Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova (Huntington's Disease)
When 44-year-old cop Joe O'Brien is diagnosed with Huntington's disease, his wife, and their four children must decide whether or not to be tested for this incurable hereditary condition. As Joe's health worsens, his youngest daughter Katie, at 21, just starting her adult life, and she isn't sure she wants to know what her future holds. How the O'Briens cope is both heart-wrenching and riveting.
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova (traumatic brain injury)
A woman in her 30s suffers a traumatic brain injury in a car accident that leaves her unable to perceive left-side information, a disability that prompts her struggle to recover and heal an estrangement.
Maddy Banks, a college student with stand up comedy ambitions, is just like any other stressed-out sophomore at NYU. Between schoolwork, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.
Still Alice by Lisa Genvoa (Alzheimer's Disease)
Feeling at the top of her game when she is suddenly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, Harvard psychologist Alice Howland struggles to find meaning and purpose in her life as her concept of self gradually slips away.
NONFICTION
The titles encompass emergency room doctor memoirs, from interns to seasoned professionals; an expose on a phamceutical company; a history of the first ambulance service in the United States, and odes to nurses.
All That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience by Jay Wellons
A pediatric neurosurgeon shares moments from his life and career that show what his young patients have taught him about courage while he literally held their lives in his hands.
American Sirens: the Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics by Kevin Hazzard
A history of the Freedom House and the paramedics who pioneered emergency services (as mentioned on
The Pitt).
The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
New emergency room physician Michele Harper's shares encounters with the patients who changed her life.
The Blood of Strangers: Stories from Emergency Medicine by Frank Huyler
This memoir is a collection of stories set in the ER introduces a neurosurgeon who practices witchcraft, a trauma surgeon who commits suicide, a wounded murderer, and a man chased across the New Mexico desert by a missle.
The Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches From a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We Heal by Brian H. Williams
Narrating the grief and anger as a Black doctor on the front lines, a trauma surgeon recounts the events that thrust him into the spotlight in 2016, which forced him to rethink everything he thought he knew about medicine, injustice and what true healing looks like.
Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children's Health by Adam Ratner
A professor of pediatrics examines the resurgence of measles and the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that distrust in vaccines and weakened public health systems have led to preventable tragedies and urges restoration in confidence in science to protect future generations.
Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER by Farzon A. Nahvi
A medical memoir focusing on one emergency room doctor's shift in an urban ER follows the experiences of real patients and focuses on the story of a forty-three-year-old woman who arrives in sudden cardiac arrest and the challenges it presents for physicians.
The Desperate Hours: One Hospital's Fight to Save a City on the Pandemic's Front Lines by Marie Brenner
Drawing on more than 200 interviews, Brenner takes us inside secure ICU units, sealed operating rooms, locked executive suites, unknown basement workshops, and makeshift clinics to provide extraordinary witness to the war as it was waged on the front line at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER by Thomas Fisher
From a renowned emergency room doctor and healthcare policy expert comes the riveting story of a year in the life of an emergency room on the South Side of Chicago during a pandemic—and a powerful argument that American healthcare is designed to sacrifice the lives of the most vulnerable.
ER Nurses: True Stories From America's Greatest Unsung Heroes by James Patterson and Matt Everson
Around the clock, across the country, these highly skilled and compassionate men and women sacrifice and struggle for us and our families. You have never heard their true stories. Not like this. From big-city and small-town hospitals. From behind the scenes. From the heart. This book will make you laugh, make you cry, make you understand. When we're at our worst, E.R. nurses are at their best.
Letter to a Young Female Physician: Notes From a Medical Life by Suzanne Koven
Tracing the arc of her life, the author reflects on her career in medicine, revealing how she forged her authentic identity in a modern landscape that is as overwhelming and confusing as it is exhilarating in its possibilities.
No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris
In this blistering exposé, an award-winning investigative journalist uncovers reams of evidence showing decades of Johnson & Johnson’s deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that have threatened the lives of millions.
Patient Care: Death and Life in the Emergency Room by Paul Seward
A retired physician who was one of the first to specialize in emergency medicine recounts his half-century of medical practice through suspenseful and memorable cases and highlights the important roles of nurses, pharmacists and other colleagues.
The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician's First Year by Matt McCarthy
A young doctor stumbles through his experience as a first year intern at New York's Presbyterian Hospital.
Something For The Pain: One Doctor's Account of Life and Death in the ER by Paul Austin
An ER doctor's memoir describes the psychological impact of his profession, explaining how his daily exposure to critical illness, injury, and tragedy in the industrial setting of a modern hospital rendered him bitter and estranged from his family.
Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World by Sarah DiGregorio
A journalist chronicles the lives of nurses past and tells the stories of those today—caregivers at the vital intersection of health care and community who are actively changing the world, often invisibly.
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