A Fullness of Uncertain Significance:
Stories of Surgery, Clarity, & Grace

by Bruce H. Campbell, MD FACS

“The awe of discovering the human body. The honor of being trusted to give advice. The gratitude for helping someone through a difficult illness. These things never grow old.”
― Danielle Ofri, MD via The New York Times

Dr Campbell started his long medical journey as an orderly at a local hospital during his downtime from college. His book “A Fullness of Uncertain Significance: Stories of Surgery, Clarity, & Grace” chronicles his passage through his personal life, school, and medicine. The book is a series of short vignettes chronically different aspects of his long career as a head and neck surgeon. Here, we witness his first exposure to surgery to his work in Africa (working alongside his son who, at the time, was a medical student) to his interactions with his patients. All his stories are driven by a sense of purpose, humility, and an understanding of what it is to be a doctor.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the more personal aspects of medicine, especially between doctor and patient.

Dr Campbell just recently retired from medicine, but not from writing and in fact, will be continuing his musings on his own website: https://www.brucecampbellmd.com/. I look forward to reading about what he thinks about retirement. I’ll bet it will be as interesting as his medical career.

[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion which I have given here.]

4/5 stars

[posted 11/25/2021]