The Emergency Mind

Wiring Your Brain for Performance Under Pressure

Emergency doctors or not, we all face emergencies in our lives--times when we must make critical decisions in high-stakes, uncertain, pressure-filled environments. Even with the best possible training, bringing our knowledge to bear in the stress and pressure of these moments can feel overwhelming if not impossible. In The Emergency Mind: Wiring Your Brain for Performance Under Pressure, Dan Dworkis, MD PhD takes you into the minds of the doctors who run resuscitation rooms and treat the ill and injured to teach you how to perform when the pressure is on. Leveraging the mental models and lessons from his own practice of emergency medicine--as well as from experts in the military, business, and athletic worlds--Dr. Dworkis shows you how to train mentally to perform at your best when you're needed the most. Whether you're an emergency medicine resident, medical student, APP, nurse, paramedic, entrepreneur, athlete, or anyone else who performs under pressure, The Emergency Mind will teach you simple, concrete steps to wire your brain for the best possible performance and build your own emergency mind.

©2021 Daniel Dworkis (P)2025 Daniel Dworkis

This is the book every clinician wishes they had on day one.

Dan Dworkis distills the chaos of emergency medicine into clear, usable principles without ever oversimplifying the work. It’s grounded, practical, and genuinely mindset-shifting. Whether you’re new to EM or twenty years in, this book makes you better—not by giving you more facts, but by sharpening how you think under pressure. Essential reading for anyone who takes care of people when it matters most.

Educational and approachable

Great concepts even for folks not in emergency medicine in an approachable, easy to digest format.

Review

So many references to so many other books. I was not impressed. I was bored by 1 hour into the book.