Cover Image: Surgeon's Story: Inside OR-1 with One of America's Top Pediatric Heart Surgeons

Surgeon's Story: Inside OR-1 with One of America's Top Pediatric Heart Surgeons

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Member Reviews

Very well written story that showcases the hardships and struggles but also the beauty and wonderful moemnts coming with such a demanding job. And all that written in a way that makes the reader feel with the story and connect with what storing on!
Very well done!

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Surgeon's Story by Mark Oristano is the story of Dr. G. The author followed Dr. G for six years to get the information that became this book. In this book, his journalism background comes into play and the reader feels quickly sucked into the world of the operating room. Be ready to learn a lot about the heart. If you ever wondered how intricate heart surgeries are done, particularly pediatric surgeries, this book will fascinate you. Dr. G is a noted surgeon in her field and following her cases makes a very interesting book. I highly recommend it. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. These opinions are entirely my own.

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This is an amazing true book that I could not put down! It is amazing that medicine can do such amazing things, and we are lucky to have amazing people like all of the medical personnel in this book. Their dedication, precision, and teamwork is phenomenal and humbling.

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If you love hospital drama's then you will love this.
It takes you right into the operating theatre.
A wonderful insight into the pressures of a surgeon.

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The process of medicine, being treated or being the doctor is infinitely complex, tragic, frustrating and gratifying. Add in the innocence of kids and the fear of their families makes this that much more of each of those qualities.
My dad was a doctor and I remember his stories of kids and how much more challenging practicing medicine for them can be. The losses are horrible, but the wins are wonderful.
Good read, but sure doesn't make me want to go to the hospital at all.

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Reading the case studies of Dr. Kristine Guleserian's heart transplant patients was more exciting than the Red Sox at the World Series! "Surgeon's Story" is an engaging, heart-warming portrait of the making of a pediatric cardiac surgeon, interspersed with case studies of some of her young patients. My own heart was pounding as the writer Mark Oristano takes the reader into the surgery with him as an observer, while Dr. G restores life and hope to young patients whose own hearts are diseased beyond saving. The way the author chose to write about her (using snippets of interview material, as well as his own narrative) was very effective; what impresses me is how Dr. G, an enthusiastic down-to-earth Red Sox baseball fan, comes across as modest and in love with medicine. She is quick to credit those mentors and teachers who helped shape her philosophy, and her colleagues who she views as teammates, critical to her own success. This book was a fairly short read -- I would have gladly enjoyed even more!

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Dr G is a paediatric heart surgeon and this is her story and a couple of her cases told by Mark Oristano.

I love true life stories and this was a fascinating read. It is her heavy on technical details but much of it is explained so didn't make it too hard to follow. The stories told of real cases are incredible and this book shows the true depth she went to saving their lives.

It's powerful and moving. Many of the success stories involved a tragedy for someone else and that was sensitively covered in the book. It's an incredible insight into the world and I loved learning about all the stages in s transplant.

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Surgeon's story is a captivating book about the work of pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Kristine Guleserian. I read the whole book in one evening because I was not able to put it down. In his book, Mark Oristano did a wonderful job of describing all the different stages in Dr. Guleserian's career that led her to become a top pediatric heart surgeon. Besides the talent, commitment and hard work that Dr. Guleserian has put in her work, Mark Oristano also highlights Dr. Guleserian's character and how well she relates to the families of her patients and the teams she works with. If I had a career in the field of medicine I would seek out team-oriented mentors like Dr. Guleserian to learn from their expertise and leadership qualitities.

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Wonderful story about a wonderful woman/surgeon. Well written and holds your interest. I laughed, cried and was amazed. Blessings to Dr. G. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this wonderfully written book.

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The concept of the book was intriguing at the beginning, it seemed to be a medical book but from a different point of view than a doctor, but it’s not it’s pages of quotes from Dr G with some of what Mark did but mostly he was trying to explain things, some of it did start to feel a little repetitive.

Dr G is a remarkable woman, there is no doubt about that. She is a heart surgeon on children and tiny babies, we read some of her career and focus on a number of main cases throughout the book. We read about different cases with different issues from babies diagnosed with issues before she was born to a toddler then to a teenager who made a remarkable recovery.

While the diagram at the beginning certainly did help, the language used was very medical. Most of it passed over my head so I didn’t enjoy it as much as something in the field may. If you wanted to go into this area of surgery I think it would be interesting but unless you are medically minded I’d try something different.

I’ve given the book 3/5 for a few reasons, the language was a little difficult and I would have preferred it in Dr G’s voice but it was still an interesting read

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I am a nurse and always enjoys reading books like this.

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I was given the opportunity via NetGalley to read an electronic copy of Surgeon's Story: Inside OR-1 with One of America's Top Pediatric Heart Surgeons. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Dr. Kristine Guleserian is one of only nine women in the United States who is board certified in the specialty of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. Author Mark Oristano, a journalist who spent nearly seven years shadowing the doctor, tells the story of a surgeon who works tirelessly to save the lives of children.

With an overwhelming number of four and five star reviews, I was eagerly anticipating a riveting and well written book. According to his bio, author Mark Oristano is a 35 year veteran journalist. However, I found his writing style to be choppy, with awkward phrasing and poor sentence structure throughout. Surgeon's Story should have been compelling, but really never hits its stride. In an attempt to use a timeline to structure the book, the author pulls the focus from one case to another, detracting from the story as a whole. Dr. Kristine Guleserian is an amazing doctor, a strong and determined woman, and a devoted member of her family and her medical community, but Surgeon's Story does not communicate her strengths all that well. The amount of time that the author spent compiling information for this book is not reflected in the overall quality of the writing. For these reasons, I would be hesitate to recommend Surgeon's Story to other readers.

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