Jena, Anupam B., and Christopher Worsham. Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That
Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health. New York: Doubleday, 2023.
ISBN: 978-0-385-54881-6
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!
