Summary Of Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air

I think there can be a productive medium between providing an environment for physicians that allows them to work at their best, and see wisely, while providing them the breadth of experience needed to be an effective health care provider. To truly reflect the yearning of Osler, the process should reflect growth not superstition. Paul Kalanithi in his memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, gives a intimate view through his experiences as a resident and the pitfalls of promising physicians when their environment takes too much from them. The most sobering examples are when a fellow surgery resident commits suicide and another was expected to participate in a 9-hour surgery after being awake all night. If this is the expectation of the calling call
to medicine, it will continue to breed a culture that destroys talent before they can bloom. The system must be adapted for the realized advancements in the field and growing understanding of capabilities of humans within such a demanding and important field. When you know better, you do better.