Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay

194 reviews

rubyrosereads_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative fast-paced

5.0

“So I told them the truth: the hours are terrible, the pay is terrible, the conditions are terrible, you’re underappreciated, unsupported, disrespected and frequently physically endangered. But there’s no better job in the world.” 

Wow, what a phenomenal memoir. This is Adam Kay’s collection of diary entries from his years working as an obstetrician and gynaecologist in the severely underfunded and underresourced NHS. 

“The money is utterly out of step with the level of responsibility you have - literally life and death decisions”

For something that covers some severely dark experiences in the workplace, it was hilarious and entertaining. Adam Kay’s humour is on every page and I found myself laughing out loud every time I picked this up. The footnotes explaining the terminology and procedures were really helpful for someone from a non health background. 

Another stark reminder of the conditions and abuse that healthcare workers put up with yet continue to show up to their job. My partner is a paramedic and I have so much respect for the tireless work he does, often working long shifts without meal breaks and then ending up on overtime. 

“You work yourself to exhaustion, pushing yourself beyond what could be reasonably expected of you, and end up constantly feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing.”

If you like dark humour and are intrigued by the inner workings of healthcare, give this one a read. I also recommend the dramatised tv series on Stan. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

aliced's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional funny informative fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

kieransilika's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

It was crazy to see how the writers pain was masked under the words of a light heart. He talked about things that would be scary, challenging, emotional and overwhelming like it was normal. Kay managed to give a great insight into a life in the NHS - balancing a non-medic point of view with an informative counter part. It makes me angry and annoyed.

the writer works on a labour ward where he is stressed and overworked, and on the other side of that: black women are 4 times more likely to die during labour than white woman. This really highlights the awful dynamic between stressed workers and inadequate healthcare - a clear change needs to be made for employee and patient benefit.

overall the book was informative and intriguing and definitely a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racism, Dementia, and Abortion

ezzo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

obviously amazing i couldn't put it down at all. unfortunately adam kay does kind of come off as quite a dick in some scenarios like when he feels he has to trick people into getting the treatment they need, etc. he also makes a few really unnecessarily rude comments about a patients' weight. i'm really glad the uk has the nhs and i know nhs doctors go through a rough time but it's beyond "dark humour" to just straight up make fun of somebody's appearance. besides that the book is great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Fatphobia

reillya's review

dark emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma

smupple's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

bookbird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

Jan 2023: This must be my third or fourth reread of this incredibly special book. Kay is a master storyteller, and it's his finely balanced combination of light and dark that make this book so impactful. A must-read for anyone who has ever had even the briefest experience of the NHS.

Jan 2024: I don't think I'll ever be able to properly express how highly I recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

westeggspinster's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

5 stars for a memoir. It was definitely entertaining, funny and horribly sad at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Medical trauma

rosalie362819's review against another edition

challenging funny informative sad fast-paced

3.0

Favourite quotes:
“It now seemed extreme and unreasonable in terms of what was expected of me, but at the time, I’d just accepted it as part of the job. The extra mile was the normal distance.”

“The depth of the lows is the price you pay for the height of the highs.”

“She bursts into tears, and out come all the will nevers, the crushing realization that forever is just a word on the front of Valentine’s cards.”

“The other thing I realize is that none of her many, many concerns are about herself; it’s all about the kids, her husband, her sister, her friends. Maybe that’s the definition of a good person.”

“He must realize we have the same chat every time, but it clearly doesn’t matter—he just wants to know there’s someone out there who cares. And actually, that’s a very large part of what being a doctor is.”

“I dress him again, look up to a God I don’t believe in, and say, ‘Look after him.’”

“You don’t cure depression, the same way you don’t cure asthma; you manage it. I’m the inhaler he’s decided to go with and I should be pleased he’s gone this long without an attack.”

“Medicine is the host who manages to keep you at the party hours after you first think about leaving.”

“It’s funny—you don’t think of doctors getting ill.”

“Think about the toll the job takes on every medical professional, at home and at work. Remember that all of them do an absolutely impossible job to the very best of their abilities. Your time in the hospital may well hurt them a lot more than it hurts you.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion