Who Should Read Little Hearts, Lifelong Impact

One of the first questions a book publisher will ask of the aspiring author is their intended readership. In the case of my several textbooks, the answer to that question was easy, namely trainee and junior surgeons, perhaps even some established surgeons. It has been enormously fulfilling over the years to hear positive feedback from surgeons who have used and in many cases, continue to use my textbooks of “Comprehensive Surgical Management of Congenital Heart Disease”. My textbook readers often seek me out at national and international meetings following a presentation or panel discussion to tell me how much the book has meant to them and their career. But I realized from these and many other discussions I have had over the years with surgeons at all levels and in many countries, that as much as I hoped my textbooks were indeed “Comprehensive”, they actually lacked some of the most important information. How do you negotiate with hospital administrators when they offer you a position? How do you prioritize teaching, research and clinical skill development at different phases of your career? What are the challenges you will face at home as your family is inevitably exposed to the stresses of a career that deals every day with life and death decisions? What are the tradeoffs that will have to be made in achieving a work/life balance?

Putting my thoughts down about how best to answer such questions in Little Hearts, Lifelong Impact made me realize that many of those who might be interested to read the book would likely be the same audience of surgeons or aspiring surgeons who read my textbooks. Perhaps there might also be some families of children with congenital heart disease whom I had operated on and perhaps some others who have or will face the challenge of coping with the many stresses heart disease can pose. And whether extended family and friends and those outside the scary world of congenital heart disease will wish to step over the threshold into this foreign realm, only time will tell.