The Masters of Medicine

Our Greatest Triumphs in the Race to Cure Humanity's Deadliest Diseases

By: Andrew Lam

Narrated by: Jason Vu

Human history hinges on the battle to confront our most dangerous enemies—the half-dozen diseases responsible for killing almost all of mankind. The story of our medical triumphs reveals an inspiring tapestry of human achievement, but the journey was far from smooth. It is a tale replete with dramatic episodes as spellbinding as any blockbuster Hollywood movie.

In The Masters of Medicine, Dr. Andrew Lam, an award-winning author and retinal surgeon, distills the long arc of medical progress down to the crucial moments that were responsible for the world's greatest medical miracles. He brings to life heroic tales of embattled mavericks who endured ridicule and sometimes risked their own lives to conceive the life-saving cures we depend on, and often take for granted, today.

Listeners will discover fascinating true stories throughout history, including: rival surgeons who killed patient after patient in their race to operate on beating hearts—and put us on the path toward the life-saving heart transplant; a quartet of Canadians who miraculously discovered insulin in a saga marred by jealousy and resentment; the feud between two Americans in the quest for the polio vaccine; and the discredited New York surgeon whose "heretical" idea to cure patients by deliberately infecting them has now inspired our next best hope to defeat cancer.

©2023 Andrew Lam (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Medical history comes to life

I truly enjoyed the behind the scenes insights into the making of historical medical milestones.

The producer(s) fell asleep at the wheel, listening to the reading. Please review with Jason Vu the pronunciation of medical words, as well as other less commonly used words, before the final production of future works. Most of his not infrequent mispronunciations were annoying. A few gave pause, to decipher.

Excellent listen and read!

This listen was fantastic! the historical stories behind great discoveries are incredibly compelling. The book pulled me in like a thriller — I couldn’t put it down. My favorite chapter was on obstetrics. I had no idea of how much of European royal lineage was influenced by medical advancements or lack thereof.

Most importantly, this book addressed inequalities in the field of science and medicine. As well as what we need to do as a society to move forward.

An absolute must listen!!

omg medicine basically didn't exist till 1931

amazing stories about the history of medicine. inspirational ending. heard some scary stories about what medicine used to be like. never been happier to live when we do

descriptive process of how medicines were discovered

i liked the authors extensive research into the subject and history of each chapter

Interesting historical perspective on multiple fields of medicine.

The narrator had excellent voice and pace, but someone should’ve helped him with the pronunciation of some of the more technical medical terms.