I honestly don't know how to rate this book because I like my popular science books very conversational with loads of anecdotes (think "The Body" by Bill Bryson or "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" by Oliver Sacks) and long dry descriptions of research methodology bore me to tears, However, this is not actually a popular science book, and it feels unfair to compare it to one. I found myself skimming through how they did each study to get to the results already. Of course Stephen Leavitt would enjoy this, I thought.

I did learn a lot: about "confounders," about types of ambulances (who knew?), about risk-benefit analyses, about anchoring and left-digit bias. These are all interesting experiments, and cool findings and natural experiments in general are pretty fascinating. I think an e-book is a bad format for this particular title, since by the time you get to the footnotes you've forgotten what they are about, and switching back and forth is too much bother. Random Acts of Medicine was both too long and too short. I wanted at least ten more natural experiments but not all of the details. I'd say they could have put the research methodology in the footnotes but that would have been impossible, given that sometimes they changed the methodology to drill down further or control for different confounders, and in dARC format the footnotes, as I've said, were impossible to use anyway. I'm always happy when anyone points out the problems of medical overtreatment.

I'll say three stars but I'd probably rate a print copy a four in which I could use the footnotes properly. Or not, if I still found the writing pretty dry.

As someone who works with medical students daily, this book should be required reading for students. Focusing on natural experiments rather than randomized trials, Jena and Worsham explore the many ways that chance plays into clinical care. The authors do a great job of explaining how researchers execute natural experiments and detail, through the use of multiple study examples, the ways in which clinicians and public health officials can use this information for the betterment of clinical care. The book is a great overview of a methodology and, by detailing multiple studies, gives practitioners things to think about regarding their own health, the care they are providing, and the care that family members are getting. Would highly recommend.

Random Acts of Medicine was an interesting read. It was so informative and really gets you thinking in depth. This is a book that you'd definitely want to keep and refer back to at different times in your life or pull out to read to a friend. Having 4 boys, I know I'll skim through this book as they grow up. Random Acts of Medicine is thought provoking. I loved how this book was backed up by data and science.

I'd like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a spot on book that applies to parts of your life at various times. You will find indephth answers to questions and understand more of how medicine and health can work together. Recommend this book. Thanks for allowing me to read it.

How much does chance, luck, or other random factors influence your medical care? Does it matter what doctor you get when you visit the ER or your Family Medicine provider? Does having a marathon in town put you at risk? These and many other questions are what Dr. Jena and Dr. Worsham seek to discover in Random Acts of Medicine.

Jena and Worsham start a discussion on chance and random events in relation to our lives. This discussion segues into them defining a concept of natural experiments which they will use in the later chapters. The first natural experiment they discuss involves birthdays, and flu shots (and, yes, it does matter when your kid is born) The next experiment involves Tom Brady, birth months, sports, and ADHD diagnosis - actually several experiments regarding relative age effect. Next, the duo asked the question, "Are marathons hazardous to your health?" And the answer is maybe, but not necessarily why you might think they are. Semi-related to the marathon study, is the examination of what role medical conferences may have on your health - specifically when many doctors are out of town. You might actually get better care, or live longer! Another study looked at all the data being gathered and whether this information actually helps or hinders your medical care. They also studied the role of left-digit bias in regard to medical situations (a patient's age being one of possible bias). In the next to last chapter, they worked on how to define what a "good" doctor was. The final chapter looked at politics at the bedside, i.e. does the political persuasion of your doctor influence the advice and care he or she gives to their patients?

In Random Acts of Medicine, Jena and Worsham use naturally occurring experiments to delve into the multiple ways that chance and luck play in healthcare. If you have an interest in these topics, or are fans of Freakencomics podcasts/books, you will want to read this title!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this title!