The Medical Jungle, a memoir written by vascular surgeon Frank J Veith, contains an interesting picture of both Veith's struggles and accomplishments over the years as well as the advancements in medicine and his specialty of vascular surgery. Descriptions of specific medical conditions and procedures, very detailed and in depth, may form a barrier for many laypersons; I have years of experience in the medical field, specifically in surgery and found it difficult to stay engaged.
From his years as a medical student to pioneering procedures and techniques, Veith doesn't shy away from describing his personal struggles and frustrations with an entrenched medical establishment reluctant to change; he is vociferous in his condemnation of those who opposed him, in his mind purely out of ego and for financial gain without care for the patient. The doctor fails to look with much nuance at his own motivations, or provide growth through introspection, describing with pride his tough attitude and unwillingness to tolerate what he saw as failings in others, seeing his harsh approach to mentorship as the only possible way to help others succeed. Sometimes dense and inaccessible, this book is a well written, thorough and honest look at the life of truly talented surgeon with remarkable achievements but somewhat flawed human who fails to see past the glow of his own self regard.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amplify publishing for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review

Frank Veith, now 92, was a prominent vascular surgeon, who pioneered techniques that have contributed to lung transplantation procedures, saving limbs at high risk of amputation, and minimally invasive surgery on blood vessels. In <i><b>The Medical Jungle,</i></b> he looks back on the six “pillars” of his career and considers the challenges he faced with the medical establishment—which he vehemently refers to as “the medical mafia”—as he sought to introduce innovative approaches to vascular surgery. He writes with lingering anger about the skepticism, disdain, ridicule, and professional jealousy he encountered during his career. The goals of the book, he says in his introduction, are to inspire those both inside and outside medicine to push forward in the face of opposition and to guide them so they can “achieve prominence and excellence.” I’ll allow that striving for excellence isn’t a bad thing, but the desire for prominence? My skepticism about that as a worthy goal may have been an early indicator that I was not Dr. Veith’s ideal audience. I’m reluctant to label his book a memoir, as it isn’t overly reflective or psychologically probing. It is also devoid of the more personal stories of relationships with medical colleagues and patients that characterize most successful medical memoirs, focusing instead on the author’s many professional accomplishments, including speeches he delivered and articles he published in “prestigious” medical journals. Any patients mentioned in his book seem to be less people than interesting cases.

Veith, who appears to take pride his nickname— “the White Shark,” still sounds like a force to be reckoned with. He is clearly an energetic, hands-on, action-oriented guy who thrived on medical challenges. He also comes across as having been status-seeking, dominant, competitive, perfectionistic (“constructively critical to a fault” are his words), demanding, and a person of strong opinions. He is not above admitting to some errors, however.

Veith was the only child of a lawyer-father and a nurse mother who died in childbirth. After his wife’s death, Veith’s father hired a nurse to care for Frank and ended up marrying her. The two doted on the boy, and my sense is that being the center of attention in childhood may have made it harder for him to deal with conflict and opposition in adulthood. His upper-middle-class family lived in New York City but had properties in Florida and Vermont. Veith was an athletic kid, smart enough for sure—he skipped a couple of grades—but uninterested in academics. He studied zoology in university, and his interest in anatomy inclined him towards medical school, where he graduated at the top of his class. Growing up during the Second World War, he followed key developments and battles. In his second year of university, he impulsively signed on for the Reserve Officer Training Corps, a decision that seems to have positively impacted his medical career.

After completing his surgical residency at the Brigham in Boston, Veith fulfilled his military obligations, suddenly finding himself a captain in the US Army Medical Corps and the chief of surgery at Fort Carson’s large hospital near Colorado Springs. Still a relatively inexperienced surgeon, he rapidly gained confidence and consolidated his skills by performing major operations, including many complex pediatric procedures. At the end of his two-year military stint, he briefly returned to the Brigham as chief resident, went on to take a position at New York’s Bellevue Hospital, and in 1967 ultimately moved to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. There he took on an academic/research position, set up a new kidney transplant program, and performed general and vascular surgery. His original plan was to move on to “a more prestigious academic institution,” but he ended up staying at Montefiore for 30 years. He did not leave on good terms and, though he seems to want us to believe otherwise, he remains aggrieved by the fact that he was abruptly terminated.

Dr. Veith’s accomplishments are many and the first half of his book is strong and informative, explaining his contributions and innovations in lung transplantation and vascular surgery. The last few chapters, however, focus on matters that I see as being of little interest to a general audience: Veith’s thwarted efforts at having vascular surgery recognized as a specialty in its own right; his work running a large annual medical conference, named the VEITHsymposium™️; and his mentorship of young surgeons. His book concludes with testimonials from some of his former mentees. I found these final chapters overly long and quite tedious. I can’t imagine even a vascular specialist deriving value from them. If included at all, these aspects of Veith’s professional life, clearly important to him, ought to have been compressed into a single brief chapter. Likewise, for the sake of readability, long passages quoted from speeches he delivered and references to papers he published in medical journals should’ve been pared down considerably or completely eliminated.

I’m awarding the book a three-star rating, but only because I learned a lot from the chapters that focused on his surgical work. They were technical and demanding to read but ultimately rewarding. The second half of the book I could have done without. Veith’s commitment to his profession and his openness to new technology and procedures are laudable, but I didn’t feel that his stated goals of guiding and inspiring his readers were ultimately achieved.

The Medical Jungle is very much about Veith from being a medical student to being a surgical resident ,
the book comes at a time where the medical world is going through many changes , Veith appears to be challenging the status quo and advocating for change . He clearly has gone through a lot of adversity to create changes within the world of vascular health . he talks at length and in great detail about the medical procedures , accomplishments and campaigns etc .

The main message within the book for me personally is that when you feel passionate about something whatever it is , you will be going against the grain and your ideas could well be dismissed and resisted , especially from those who are happy with how things are , in this instance Veith is clearly frustated about the Medical establishment and the resistance to change . There are many changes ahead for those working within the Healthcare field and my hope is that those who are stepping forward to make these much needed changes are supported and encouraged for the greater good of healthcare .

The only suggestion is that for those who arent medically trained , this book isnt an easy read as there is a of technical terminology which could mean this wouldnt necessarily be an easy read.

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Reviewed by Jan Mul;len
February 15 2023



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Light Waves

I thought the cover art was beautiful and the title was engaging. The writing was smooth and easy to follow. As a fellow healthcare worker this book touched me in an incredible way. I enjoyed the flow of the book and the historical subjects that it touched on. One of the most meaningful for me was the art of limb salvage and the development of vascular surgery. I highly recommend this book for anyone in healthcare, especially those who work in surgery.