For busy healthcare professionals wanting to take a break and read something other than an electronic health record, Healthcare Brew has some recommendations—whether you’re looking to expand your medical knowledge or take your mind off work. And if you need another excuse to relax, reading books may lead to a longer life, researchers from a 2016 Yale School of Public Health study found.
“A 20% reduction in mortality was observed for those who read books, compared to those who did not read books,” the researchers wrote in the study. “[This finding] indicates that book reading rather than reading in general is driving a survival advantage.”
Here are some reads to get started.
Demystifying fertility: Healthcare investor and advisor Leslie Schrock’s new book Fertility Rules dives into all things fertility from different gender perspectives. It’s a guide and resource for not only patients but also providers. She hopes that medical professionals can learn something new about reproductive health from her book, Schrock previously told Healthcare Brew.
A history of cancer: Medical oncologist Omar Atiq recommends the book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which details doctors’ attempts to treat the disease throughout history. Author Siddhartha Mukherjee started working on the book during his training in cancer medicine at the Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2003 as a way to not drown in all the information he was learning, the New York Times reported.
“The book takes you through human history in an attempt to understand the disease and shine a light on the resilience of those who have affected its course,” Atiq told the American Medical Association.
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Outside the box: Sometimes you need a break from reading all things healthcare—and it might help you at work. This summer, Jonathan Seltzer, president of SimplePractice, an electronic health records software company for private practices, plans to read The Creative Act: A Way of Being by music producer Rick Rubin.
“His book does an excellent job showcasing how everyone is a creator and [how] creativity is not restricted to formally trained artists or musicians,” Seltzer told Healthcare Brew. “Thinking creatively, especially when developing products, applies across all industries. I enjoy learning from leaders outside my professional scope who challenge my perceived limitations and problem-solving in new ways.”
Medical podcasts: If podcasts are more your style for relaxing and unwinding (and they can give your eyes a break!), Inaam Hashim, a third-year internal medicine resident at AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida, has recommendations that strike a balance between education and entertainment. His first pod pick is called The Curbsiders, which focuses on internal medicine, and the other is The Curious Clinicians—a podcast that explores the “why” behind many burning medical questions from doctors.
“They talk about medical things that we’ve all learned and dive deep into it. What it allows us to do is be part of these really interesting conversations with people who are often experts—or who have at least have learned in depth about a specific topic—and be able to do that on our own time,” Hashim told Healthcare Brew.