DubaiReader

It has never ceased to amaze me just how badly our junior doctors are treated. Their decisions are often life-saving, yet they are expected to operate with minimal sleep and almost no time off. This is Going to Hurt brought home some of the facts that I had long been aware of and put them into context within the life of one doctor. He informs us that the suicide rate amongst women doctors is twice the national average. It's not so much surprising that doctors are leaving the profession, than that we aren't losing many more.

Adam Kay worked on the labour wards, as an obs/gynae, delivering babies and solving problems associated with difficult births. He was also involved with IVF treatment, which can be available if you have a certain post code, but much more limited if you are unfortunate enough to live down the road, in the catchment area of another hospital.

The book consists of snippets and longer accounts, drawn form his diaries. Many of them are amusing (you wouldn't believe what people put up inside themselves!) and some are sad. This does make the narrative a bit disjointed, but on the whole it worked.

I was listening to the audio book, well read by Adam Kay, himself. I discovered that one of the distinct advantages of the audio was that the footnotes and explanations that are added at the end of the chapters in the book, are narrated as appropriate, either in a lowered voice, or with the word 'footnote' and 'end of footnote'. This saved a lot of the page turning associated with the written version.

Definitely recommended for anyone who is considering entering this profession.

It left me wondering how trainee doctors are treated in other parts of the world??