off-duty Learning

Medical training keeps your brain in overdrive. Thoughtful breaks help it work better.

This page is a curated mix of books I’ve enjoyed during medical school—some that still “count” as learning in a fun, low-pressure way, and others that give your nervous system a real reset. Reading outside your coursework supports focus, memory, and creativity, while reminding you that rest is part of growth.

Whether you’re gently engaging your curiosity or fully unplugging, these books are here to help you come back sharper, calmer, and more grounded.

Books/audiobooks

When you are still “studying” but in a fun way:

• Audible Great Courses:

  • An Introduction to Infectious Diseases

  • Medical Mysteries Across History

  • Medical School for Everyone: Grand Rounds Cases

  • Medical School for Everyone: Emergency Medicine

  • Medical School for Everyone: Pediatrics Grand Rounds

• The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles by Nicole Redvers

• The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biology of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

• Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach

• Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

• The Performance Cortex: How Neuroscience is Redefining Athletic Genius by Zach Schonburn

• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise by John Ratey

• Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia

• Immune: A Journey Into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer

• The Human Sperorganism: How the Microbiome is Revolutionizing the Pursuit of a Healthy Life by Rodney Dietert

When you need a real study break:

• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

• Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

• Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown

• Influence: Science and Practice for Change by Robert Cialdini

• Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work by David Rock

• Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus

• Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall

• The Martian by Andy Weir

• The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil

Podcasts

Primary Care/Internal Medicine

• The Curbside’s Internal Medicine

Rheumatology

• Healio Rheuminations

Autoimmune

• Phoenix Helix