Cook County ICU: 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases

Well written and interestingI enjoyed the book

The most interesting highs and lows of Doctor Franklin's career. I had trouble stopping reading for two nights because I found some of the chapters so interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think there are many doctors like him anymore. What he says about doctors staring at their computers instead of studying the patients is so right. Last year when I had my physical--usually the only time I see a doctor all year--my doctor rolled his computer in, sat down, and started scrolling and reading. I thought that he was reading my records. After a few minutes he explained that his daughter was applying for college and would I mind if he paid the application fee online? I said, "no", which was a big mistake because I have been stewing about it all year. If we weren't thinking of moving I would get a new doctor.Doctor Franklin is the type of doctor I would love to have. He seems to really care about his patients and, when possible, takes the time to get to know them. He has some really good short stories about how he put his career at risk during his younger years by speaking up when other doctors who should have known better said absurd things or were acting imperiously.A very enjoyable and interesting book that made me stay up too late last night.

I enjoyed the various stories of patients that Dr. Franklin treated over the years of his education and practice. It is clear that he cared about his patients and did his best. I especially related to Cook County Hospital, since I live in the Chicago area and underwent part of my nursing school training there. I also enjoyed the way he interwove literature, philosophy and popular concepts into his writing. I am also ambivalent about the direction medicine is taking- grateful for advances but sad about depersonalization. There are a few doctors who are able to care as well as advance and I stick with them.

I was expecting a book about medical cases, this book was a lot of antidotes with some medical spun in. It seemed most cases were not even icu cases. It wasn't horrible. But I wouldn't recommend it if you are looking for true medical cases. If you want a history lesson on cook county and some behind the scenes stories, this is your book.

This was an interesting book which was a mixture of equal parts the personal journey of Dr. Franklin, dozens of interesting cases, irreverent behavior on the part of the author and his colleagues, the history of Cook County Hospital and famous patients, and a global critique of strict patient confidentiality laws and an increasing use of a corporate model in hospitals.The Good: I wanted to learn about Cook County Hospital as I had a relative who worked there, and this book delved into some of the history of this famous hospital. I learned a little about hypothermia and some interesting medical cases, but the book is much more valuable in terms of learning good approaches to patient care and not to assume anything with a given patient.The Bad: The title of the book "Cook County ICU" conjures up images of a book about dozens of interesting ICU cases in this hospital when in fact few of the patients described were in the ICU, and more focus is put on the social conditions surrounding the patients, a very important facet to be sure, of their care in the hospital and what got them there and what happened next, but . . . the title and cover are advertising a different book in my opinion. I had to get over this disappoint quickly and learn whatever I could from the book, many sections of which are amazing and sort of interesting as they involve celebrities, but I would need to read a book by somebody else to read about just ICU cases. The medical aspects of a patient's hospital admission were often glossed over or described in layman's terminology, so you won't learn a lot of technical information. A of ink is spilt on when Princess Diana visited Cook County and other celebrities and how the author was a consultant for a Hollywood movie with Harrison Ford.Many sections were historically significant, such as the first HIV cases presenting at Cook County Hospital, but chapters are short and great insights and conclusions are often not made and the information is often presented as is and as an interesting factoid, to paraphrase the HIV chapter could be characterized as "Wow, we got blood of patients all over us in some instances and just washed it off and we didn't get HIV, things were different back then. In retrospect we could have written up a case report of one of the first cases of HIV, but we didn't connect the dots."Conclusion: It wasn't the book I was looking for, and I'll keep looking, but I have to give it 5 stars as I read it in two days as it was interesting and the author's approach to working in a hospital and actually taking care of patients are valuable and some of the stories of patients coming from difficult social situations I won't soon forget.

This one of the best books I have ever read. As I was reading this book it was like I was actually there doing everything myself. The pictures were painted so well that this was a real dream of mine coming true right before my eyes. The stories in this book is actually really believable and that’s what makes it very easy to imagine. I would definitely recommend this book to all audiences that have or have had a dream of going into the medical field!

Cory sometimes writes for John Kass. His writing is very enjoyable. This book was a well written history of himself and the old days of medicine. Well done Dr. Franklin!

As a nurse, I enjoyed this account of Dr. Franklin’s time as a physician pre and post corporate health care. The stories of difficult patients and even fellow staff members rings true to my experience. Very entertaining and enlightening. His last chapter is priceless in that he sums up how health care and the covenantal relationship between a doctor and a patient has been usurped by the government and insurance companies. Thanks to the author for his many years of running interference for his patients and adhering to the old standards of medical practice.

I like the authors sene of humour, the book was ok, an easy read, maybe a few more stories would have enhanced the book

Refreshing to read of a Physician who appreciates patient physician relationships over fame and fortune!Unfortunately today.....we can check out anytime we like. But never leave!

Didn't bother to finish this. Repetitive attempt to explain how difficult it is to save end stage patients during a catastrophic storm