This book was really fascinating! I love any kind of "out of the box" medical stories, and I feel like this book was just that - telling the stories of studies that were done somewhat randomly. The authors did a spectacular job of making sure it was easy to understand for readers who don't have a medical degree, but also didn't shy away from the medical terminology when that was what was needed.

I received a free copy of this book from the Author, Publisher, NetGalley for my honest review. this book definitely gets you thinking. It asks some questions that really make you say hmm and the experiments. logic and explanations behind them really rattle the brain. This was a good book!

I really enjoy books that are about statistics, so found this one a good read. It took a while to get going with it because it is a little bit deeper topic, but a good topic. It goes into explanations about how to use "natural experiments", or basically, looking back at how things played out and trying to fit models to them. Like all books/studies.. especially when looking at a study that was a noncontrolled type, it's not a perfect book for drawing conclusions, but does make some interesting observations

I think that the authors did a pretty good job of making it a topic that could be understandable to most people.

As a former academic and researcher who misses having this kind of thinking in her life, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. No, it wasn't an absolute page-turner, but I found it to be fascinating. Having listened to nearly episode of Bapu's podcast, I had a feeling I'd like this - and it did not disappoint.

DNF at 30%. This book is a crossover of Econ & medicine with the primary focus being on natural experiments and studying those. The chapters I read were interesting and thought provoking but the tone is too pop-science for my taste. I think lots of people will enjoy this, it just wasn't a good fit for me.

This is an interesting book filled with “Who’d have thought…?” information regarding healthcare and medicine gleaned mostly from one or both of the authors’ research into social phenomena via “natural experiments”, i.e. naturally occurring events where the variables are effectively randomized on their own accord, like when a large swath of children are born or when heart attacks occur in a specific region.
The authors do a great job laying out the data and findings as well as explaining their methodology without letting the details get too confusing. I have to admit though that I had a little trouble staying engaged. While this sort of healthcare trivia treasure trove is right up my alley as a medical professional, it’s an admittedly tough job making a compendium of research findings ”can’t put it down” enthralling. But in the same breath, I also have to say that I found a lot of the findings described in the book really interesting and thought-provoking. I found myself prattling on a bit to my wife about something I’d read (to which she nodded politely before asking me to get on with draining the pasta) and texting physician friends to ask what they thought or have experienced apropos this or that.
Overall, this book is definitely worth a read if you work in patient care and/or really enjoyed Freakonomics or the Freakonomics/Freakonomics MD podcasts.

And as always, thank you to NetGalley for the ARC 🙂

This sounded intriguing. Freakanomics in the medical world. Unfortunately, the authors couldn't carry it off. They would take a basic idea of why something might occur and then spend forever explaining it over and over again. I found myself skipping large segments of the book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's a 3-star book for two reasons:

1. I deduct one star because it's verbose, at least for someone who doesn't want to hear a blow-by-blow recounting of a natural experiment.
The authors detail how they evaluate every twist and turn in their efforts to analyze the data.
This is fascinating for someone who wants to read about the various dilemmas and red herrings.
However, this can be tedious for those who want only to hear the conclusions.

2. I deduct another start because it's the Freakonomics of Medicine.
Their methodology is to take two seemingly unrelated facts & prove that there is causation, not just correlation.
We all know how statistics can be manipulated to prove strange things, & some of the conclusions are hard to swallow.
As some cardiologists joked, "So there are fewer cardiac problems when most cardiologists are in a conference, so let's just permanently be at a conference!" :D

#RandomActsofMedicine is a good book to skim & digest with a grain of salt.

This book will open your eyes to how the world around you connects to our health and well being. Researchers and healthcare professionals can learn a new way of asking and answering questions, and the general public will be flat out entertained. Can’t put this book down!

I recommend this book for anyone in the medical field, particularly physicians, nurse practitioners, and physicians assistants. It summarizes several very interesting studies that give myself, as a nurse practitioner, a lot to think about in the way I provide care to patients. For many of them I was not surprised by the results, but in others, I was or it made me think about things that I should be considering. I think it is a must read and it is a very quick one.

My one critique is this book alludes to the attended audience being people outside of the medical field, but the book is not really written in a way that I believe would appeal to such a general audience. When solutions to problems presented are brainstormed, they are solutions from people within the medical field--particularly, physicians. I wish a little more time had been spent talking about how different audiences (advanced practice professional, nurses, and people outside the medical field) might impact these problems.

That being said, it is an important book, giving important education, and written in a way that kept me engaged the entire way. If you're in the medical field, this is your sign to read this book.

In the tradition of "Freakonomics", the authors of this book (two doctors) tackle a variety of hypotheses regarding human behavior in the field of medicine. The authors primarily rely on natural experiments - random events that turn ordinary people into experimental subjects. I appreciated that they detailed the process they went through to confirm if observed trends were actually related to the hypothesized cause. The book covers a variety of topics, such as why outcomes for heart attack patients are better when most cardiologists are out of town, why there's a statistically significant difference in treatment in individuals after they cross into the next decade, etc. Not only is it interesting to learn about these studies, but it also teaches you how to think more critically when you observe counterintuitive trends in medicine. Highly recommend!

Anupam Jena, a Harvard medical school professor and doctor and an economist and Christopher Worsham, a critical care doctor at Massachusetts General, address how medicine really works and its effect on all of us is this groundbreaking book. First of all, there's chance: say having an accident, then what doctor treats you in the hospital, what treatment you are given, depending on your age, your gender, your race...even whether it's the doctor's birthday!

The authors, both doctors, rely on 'natural experiments' to answer certain questions; such as: Are children who enter kindergarten at a younger age more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD? Does the age or sex of a physician or surgeon influence successful results? Is the age of a patient a factor in what treatment they are likely to receive? Do politics affect medical care? The answers to all these and more is fascinating reading. Something to think about the next time you schedule an appointment.

I received an arc of this new book from the authors and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks! My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

OMG I love this. A lot of people don't understand how research or medical studies work. Most people are not medically literate and this is the first step, but it is hard to find a book on this subject that caters to the "average" person. I hope my local library buys this. It would really add to the collection in the health section.

It was a pure serendipity to comes across this book! The authors, two doctors, show that what might seem to be a random happenstance can have a logical explanation and implications in person's life. They study these "natural experiments" to uncover information that can improve the field of medicine and make us all healthier. It was fun to learn about their findings answering questions like why children born in the summer have flu more often or why more kids are diagnosed with ADHD if their state has September age cutoff for school placements and even more unexpected answer to the question about the hazards of marathons among many others. This book is a valuable resource addressing serious issues but thanks to the breezy delivery it is great fun to read it. Everybody who is interested in research and likes logic games will enjoy this book. It is a great gift for someone who like smart books and a must for every library bookshelf.

This is Freakonomics: Medical Version. It replicates some of the problems with the Freakonomics approach, hedges its bets in presenting case studies, and is boring. The cases are cherry-picked, the data-mining is questionable on various levels, and the authors make claims based on speculation. I'm appalled that the Freakonomics effect has continued, and that people read this kind of work without fully understanding what's being studied and analyzed.

The first part of this nonfiction book was interesting, and I think it would be especially interesting to parents. The authors studied how when kids were divided into classes by a September 1 cut off, the kids who were born 364 days earlier than some of their classmates were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. That’s because with that diagnosis, they are compared to their peers. As a child gets older, his/her behavior tends to get better. For parents and doctors, they might assume the ADHD medication is working, rather than attributing it to age. Kids born in the fall are also more likely to get flu shots because annual physicals are linked with birthdays, and flu shots are available in the fall. A summer baby would have to have another doctor appointment, which, for the parent, often means time away from work. This has a big impact on grandparents, for whom the flu might have more dire consequences than for younger folks.

Other things were less fascinating to me, but I was intrigued by the studies they cited about women doctors and how people of color tend to be better off if they can get a doctor with a similar background.

This was written by very smart people for us regular people who might not have much of a science background.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this book, which RELEASES JULY 11, 2023.

A good book that is reminiscent of Freakonomics of the medical world but not nearly as readable. I enjoyed this book and loved how they took on their topics. Whether ADHD was vastly different for students born weeks apart was interesting as was the topic of the Boston Marathon impacting hospital visits by non runners. I would not have thought about these issues but it was a fun read.

Thanks to Doubleday Books for this review copy! Authors Anupam B. Jena and Christopher Worsham have collaborated on a fascinating and eye-opening book at the intersection of health and economics.  The book explores the surprising and often counterintuitive ways that medicine works. The authors, both doctors and researchers at Harvard Medical School, use natural experiments—random events that create natural comparisons among people—to reveal the hidden factors that influence our health outcomes.

Jena and Worsham look at medicine from a few different angles, including the role of chance and luck, the power of natural experiments, and the future of healthcare. Jena and Worsham do an excellent job of explaining complex concepts in a way that is easy to understand.

The book is divided into three parts: "The Hidden Side of Medicine," "The Power of Natural Experiments," and "The Future of Medicine." In the first part, Jena and Worsham explore the ways in which chance and luck play a role in our health. They discuss how our birthdate, our zip code, and even our name can all influence our health outcomes.

In the second part of the book, Jena and Worsham introduce the concept of natural experiments. Natural experiments are events that happen outside of a doctor's control, but which can be used to learn about the effects of different medical treatments or interventions. For example, Jena and Worsham discuss how the introduction of a new drug can be used to study the effects of that drug on a population of patients.

In the third part of the book, Jena and Worsham look at the future of medicine. They discuss how the rise of big data and artificial intelligence is changing the way we understand and treat disease. They also discuss the challenges that we face in making sure that everyone has access to high-quality healthcare.

For example, they show how kids born in the summer are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, how marathons can harm your health even if you don't run, how surgeons and salesmen have similar incentives, and how an annual event made people 30 percent more likely to get COVID-19. The book is full of intriguing stories and insights that challenge our assumptions and make us think differently about medicine and health care.

The book is also written in a clear and engaging style that makes it accessible and enjoyable for anyone interested in learning more about the science and economics of medicine. The authors combine rigorous research with personal anecdotes and humor to illustrate their points and keep the reader hooked. They also offer practical advice on how to make better decisions for ourselves and our loved ones when it comes to our health. One caveat: I felt the book was a bit long. I think it could have been shorter without losing any of the valuable information.

Random Acts of Medicine is an informative read for anyone who wants to understand how medicine really works, and how it could work better. It will make you smarter, healthier, and more informed about one of the most important aspects of our lives. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the hidden side of medicine, the power of natural experiments, and the future of healthcare.

This was such an interesting read! Written by two MDs, one with an economics degree background, Random Acts of Medicine is a non-fiction account of things we may not even think about (such of your birthday!) and how that effects your medical care. It's engaging, and you can also see the graphical data that they are pulling from. It was written well, it flows well, and doesn't feel too "info-dumpy" even though it's a non-fiction.

Random Acts of Medicine is a Malcolm Gladwell style book applied to health care systems. The authors — both physicians and public health researchers at Harvard Medical School — propose to explore the “hidden, but predictable ways in which chance affects our health and our healthcare system” through the use of “Natural Experiments,” that is observational studies that make use of naturally occurring differences in the world and measuring the impact. The two (along with colleagues) have used the approach to explore and answer a number of questions such as: does stress really age you? How does the month of a child’s birth impact their health and life success? What happens when all the cardiologists leave town? How does a marathon impact our health? Does your doctor’s politics affect the care they give? For each question (and there are many, many, more than the ones I have listed), the authors carefully explain the natural experiment, the sources of data, results, and what use can be made of the results (possible policy changes, or greater awareness of our own biases at work).

I found the book got better (more interesting to me) as it went on. The authors are careful not to assume that the reader knows anything about natural experiments, statistics, counterfactuals, etc. and they explain the (possibly new) concepts carefully, but not tediously. Still, if you are already familiar with the concepts it can get a little dull and I enjoyed all the actual experiments (many with surprising results) more than the introduction.

An easy read full of fun “I never thought about that” insights. Plenty of notes and references for those who want to investigate further. I always appreciate the kind of “popularized” topic books when they actually show their work, clearly separating them from the whopping pile of self help books that make claims without an iota of scientific support.