When the Air Hits Your Brain

Mary Ann Neale

Mrs. Arnold

Honors English 10

26 February 2015

When the Air Hits Your Brain 

                I read When the Air Hits Your Brain, the true story of a young medical student's journey from his time in college and his rookie mistakes to the world class surgeries he performs as a high level neurosurgeon in a renowned hospital told and written by the surgeon himself, Frank Vertosick. The novel starts with Vertosick's overview and understanding of the field of neurosurgery as well as the process of moving from a medical student to a true doctor. He then begins his journey with his time as a college student and progresses into medical internship, residency, and chief of neurosurgery. Through each step of the way, he encounters strange and intriguing patients with new ailments that he learns from. For example, one of my favorite chapters is entitled "The Museum of Pain" after a record one of his patients kept of all of his surgeries and attempted recoveries. In the chapter, Vertosick places creatures into two groups: motionless food makers and migrating food foragers. The motionless creatures learn to obtain energy and food from their surroundings, such as plants use photosynthesis, while the foragers use mobility to find food. Mobil creatures also came up with the nervous system, which uses pain as a method of learning. Vertosick then goes on to explain the difference between pain and suffering and gives several examples of patients whose pain was psychiatric, not physical. Another portion of the novel I loved is his experiences with psychotic patients, specifically a patient he encounters who is schizophrenic. He recalls the behaviors and severe delusions of the patient and how he was treated. My favorite part of the novel was the amount of knowledge I obtained from reading it. Vertosick explained medications (how they are used and what effect they have on the body), mental diseases (what treatment is used and what exactly the disease effects), surgeries (why and what they do), and organ function (from how the brain works to extracting fluid from the spinal cavity).
              In my opinion, this book is definitely worth reading. It is not only informative but also very interesting. Although information on medicine and surgeries is included, the author also describes his experiences with his coworkers and patients. The reader is given the opportunity to experience all the patients, surgeons, and surgeries that Frank Vertosick encounters throughout his career.

Why We Hurt- Frank Vertosick

Interview With Frank Vertosick