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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many times had the surgeons conference been held?

2. How old was the former orthopedic surgeon that Gawande writes about in "When Good Doctors Go Bad"?

3. What did Tommy Lasorda always eat before a game when he managed the Los Angeles Dodgers?

4. How heavy was the woman that Gawande had to attend to on a crisp winter Friday?

5. What percent of patients with heart attacks who are seen in emergency rooms are mistakenly discharged?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Hank Goodman's reputation before he lost his license?

2. Why is there often no mechanical explanation for severe back pain?

3. What are some problems with malpractice suits as a remedy for preventing harm to patients?

4. What was it like at Gawande's hospital when it was time for the annual surgeons convention?

5. What did Gawande have in his pockets during his first weeks of surgical training?

6. Why did Rowland Scott Quinlan have to give up his firm to his partners?

7. What type of complications had occurred from residents putting in a central line?

8. Describe the technical exhibit hall.

9. Why did Gawande recommend removing the appendix of a thirty-nine-year-old woman who did not fit the pattern for appendicitis?

10. What was the shift like that Gawande worked on Friday the thirteenth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using examples from the book, discuss what happens when the simplicities of science come up against the complexities of individual lives.

Essay Topic 2

Using examples from the book, compare and contrast the doctor's and patient's role in making treatment decisions.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the mysteries and unknowns of medicine and the struggles of what to do with them. Use examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,071 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample