required reading for U.S healthcare workers

these are books that i think are imperative for a compassionate, empathetic, understanding, proactive healthcare workforce cause they won’t teach you this in school. please suggest more you think should be here!!

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created by yayatheflower

last updated April, 2026

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Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande is really impactful re: death, dying and compassionate consideration of what people need towards the end of their lives.

(Edit: Also definitely bookmarking this for some educational reads when I’m in the right space for some growth and development!!)

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oh my gosh i literally JUST marked this a few days ago on my interested list 😅😅 thank you sm !!

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oooh i love this!! thank you for this list 🙂‍↕️

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of course!! happy to do my part :)

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good luck on your premed journey!! i'm a PA student myself and i still have lots to learn 🙇‍♀️

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thank you thank you :) good luck to you too !!

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Some great titles here, thank you for putting this together!!

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happy to help !! :)

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This is a public service - genius!

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aww shucks just doing my part ig 😅😅 thank youuuu

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I don't know what happened to you for you to make this list. I know what happened to me to make me click on it and scroll the entire thing. I hope whatever it was, you got the help you needed and deserved. And if you haven't, I'll say the only things that matter: I believe you and you deserve better ❤️

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oh this is so kind thank you so much :(( i was more so inspired by the gaps i saw between what we're taught about patients on the provider/technician side and what patients actually experience but i have had more than a few bad experiences with providers myself that inspired me to try to do better by patients :c

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You're a blessing to your patients, you unicorn of a human being. Thank you for existing!

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I’d suggest The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, this book shows why understanding patients’ stories and cultures is just as vital as knowing their symptoms. And as a graduate student in a medical school, I really like this list! Hope everything’s going well with your pre-med classes.

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thank you dear, you too !! and noted, adding expeditiously !! :)

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