Hello everyone! Long-time, no see! Work has been pretty crazy lately and it’s kind of sucked all the creativity out of me for the past few weeks, also my luck has just been terrible and, I’ve felt like one thing after another has happened against me and it’s made me feel crap! Anyways, vent aside, It’s time for another reading challenge update! We’re 7 months into the year and I’ve already smashed my reading goal of 10 books, Hooray!!! I’m so proud of myself and have even re-set my goal now for 15 books, so that’s another 5 to read by the end of the year! Here are my thoughts on July’s book…
This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor – Adam Kay
Genre: Medical Non-Fiction/Memoir/Biography
Blurb
97-Hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.
Welcome to the life of a junior doctor.
Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay’s diaries provide a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward.
I think medical non-fiction is my genre. I’ve never read one that I didn’t like and this one is no exception, in fact, it’s actually my favourite.
For those of you who don’t know, when I left college the first time around, I considered a career in healthcare, specifically Midwifery. It was something I’d thought about many years before I left school, but how is anybody supposed to really know what they want to do at that age? Instead, I took a Diploma in Production Arts thanks to my love of theatre. It wasn’t until said course was nearing its end that I re-considered pursuing Midwifery, so I got my qualification and then enrolled on a Health & Social Care Course.
A few months before starting the course, I really struggled with Anxiety thanks to some issues in my personal life at the time, I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder and thus, my career was over before it had even begun. I stuck the course out for a year (so still managed to obtain some sort of qualification) but found it difficult to detach myself from situations emotionally, something you kind of need to be good at in Healthcare. The idea of someone being in pain or distress used to freak me out and my anxiety would get the better of me. I decided a career in healthcare probably wasn’t the best route just yet and I left the course after the first year. Fast forward 3 years, my anxiety is under control and there’s that little niggle in the back of mind saying maybe now’s the time to get back to it? I then have a serious think about it and my mind once again gets the better of me. After reading ‘This Is Going To Hurt’ I’m somehow both relieved that I haven’t yet started a career in healthcare, and spurred on to pursue it even more?
Adam Kay has written one of the most honest, genuine, funny and witty accounts of working in the NHS, and I could not be more here for it. I love his zero-shits-given attitude to what he reveals, whilst also showing just how much he really does care at the same time. Nothing is sugar-coated, It’s educational, uplifting and moving at the same time, It also confirms just how stupid the general public can be (seriously, I urge you to get a copy of this book and read some of the stories he shares, you would not believe. And I thought working in retail was bad…)
I totally understand the reason why he left the profession, It’s exactly what I am afraid of and what puts me off training in the first place, though after everything he went through as a Junior Doctor, I’m surprised he didn’t leave sooner! Some of the stories he shares are both hilarious and terrifying at the same time, the lack of common sense and the mere stupidity of the general public astounds me (to the couple mentioned in the book that thought it would be a good idea to use a Listerine cap as a condom, I’m looking at you here.)
I think this is such an important book for everyone to read, whether you are an aspiring doctor, midwife, nurse etc. if you are already a healthcare professional or simply if you have a brain at all, you need to read this book! There are so many interesting insights into the life of a Junior Doctor, what it’s like working for the NHS and the toll this kind of work can have on a person. I have always felt such a huge sense of pride in our NHS and how lucky we are to have it. The more I learn about it, the more I realise just how much it is being screwed over by the government in terms of staffing, working hours and pay, all of which are evident in this book.
I could have quite easily devoured this book in one sitting, It’s such an easy read and the diary entry format makes it a perfect book to dip in and out of when you get chance! I 100% recommend that you read this book!
RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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