Thursday, March 11, 2010

Healing Hearts


Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon by Kathy E. Magliato, MD, is an interesting account of a life spent working on a complex and vital organ, saving lives, and the way women are accepted in the medical field.

Kathy Magliato is a female heart surgeon, sharing different anecdotes about her life both at work and at home. Readers learn of her childhood in New York where she learned the value of hard work, her years as a resident and medical student, and later as a wife and mother. Magliato serves as a role model for other women entering the medical field and aspire to roles typically held by men. She advises women that "having it all" is possible. This memoir is educational and interesting - I learned a great deal about the heart, heart disease, and enjoyed the personal stories that were included.

As a memoir-lover, this book was great. I have read a few other medical memoirs written by surgeons, and no matter how many different ones I read, I am always fascinated by the science and the different strange but true stories that are included. However, I will admit to a very poor ability to read about blood and gore, and the memoir I read that was written by a neurosurgeon was far easier for me to stomach than this one. I began reading this book while running on the treadmill and quickly realized I should not read this one unless I was sitting down and not worried about passing out. The very vivid description Magliato provided about how patients are cut open for heart surgery and the sternum opened up was just a bit too vivid for me. I did really like this book, especially the way Magliato writes about her life, allowing us to see her as a real person - someone I could easily be friends with.

Click here to visit Kathy Magliato's website.

1 comment:

Peaceful Reader said...

I think I should read this one!!