Trust Me, I'm a (Junior) Doctor

good

Not satisfactory

to read

I loved this book almost as soon as I started reading it. The narrator is funny and likeable, and so are his friends. His writing is wittier than that of similar books. The stories are the usual "I'm a new doctor and I have no idea what I'm doing and I haven't slept in a while" but he also addresses things like racism. I look forward to reading more by the author.

What truth told through humour, curiosity and the shock of being immersed in an alien system. Reading the book immediately after "Man's Search for Meaning" made the story much more profound: it became the lens through which I examined these stories. It became apparent that seeing the facts in such a light would never be possible again. As time passes, and careers progress, the system produces a lethargy and apathy, as its incapability to change is demonstrated. At the Junior Doctor stage, when the the anomalies that occur scream out to be addressed, the powerlessness associated with having no voice comes across very strongly. For people who really want to understand what the problem is with the NHS, this book defines some key problems with clarity. Again, following "Man's Search for Meaning" it is psychologically understandable that senior members of the profession have become apathetic about their ability to change the system. For Politicians - the message is clear: There are huge areas that need to be addressed: doctors require to be empowered to correct a failing system. For Doctors, who have permitted the emergence of the all-powerful manager, this is a wake up call. It could not be made more obvious that Management and Doctors have different goals. How can this be efficient and effective? Although many of his anecdotes are a humorous account of his first hospital experience, his perception his astounding at times. Problems are carefully and compactly explained, and analysed. Legislation, and the problems it has created, questioned. He correctly identified many problems, yet we are now 7 years on from the original publication, Who has listened? Who has seen? Worrying.

Trust Me, I'm a (Junior) Doctor - Very well written: The novel is entertaining, funny and thought-provoking for everyone. - A real insight into the experience of a junior doctor: for curious medicine students - Many moments of laughter and frustration as the author illustrates the complex way the NHS is now. - A comfortable read for any part of the day. I would sincerely recommend anybody to read this novel to develop their insight into how the NHS is operated and to be entertained by the many tales the author recounts. The novel is also a useful insight for aspiring medicine students and potential PPE students to develop an understanding of not just the clinical side of the NHS but the political factors that play a part. You will have many moments of laughter and sheer frustration while reading, making it a hard book to put down. If you found my review beneficial, please mark it as helpful. If anyone has any questions, please do leave a comment to my review and I'll get back to you.

Forget medical soap operas on television - which are FICTION - this is the real thing. Max Pemberton documented his real-life first year as a junior doctor (as it happened, I think) in a series of columns for the "Daily Telegraph", and since then they have been collected together into this book, told in a "Dear Diary"-style format. Max has just finished six years of medical school, and is about to start his first year as a junior doctor in an NHS hospital. He is still a very young man, and he is terrified. Along with all the other junior doctors he has to spend six months in surgery and six months in medicine, and then apply for his "real" job at the end. He doesn't yet know what that is going to be. Over the next twelve months he is involved in a lot of death and dying (I could never do his job), discovers what hideous or simply lonely lives some people have, and has to become very mature within this twelve-month period in a way most of today's soft and pampered citizens don't have to be. He is a very lively storyteller, and there are flashes of humour observing the Lothario senior doctor, the mad medical secretaries, and the patient with a hairbrush up his rectum (and some Lego as well.) They're really only there to relieve the tension. It's quite an impact discovering this world reading about it; experiencing it first hand would have hit with quite a wallop. Sometimes he spends a page railing against the idiocies of politicians, medical administrators, and dodgy NHS consultants who hinder health, rather than help. He spends more time berating himself for keeping quiet and not causing trouble. And there are times when he is literally in tears, and my heart wrenched for him.