Reviews with content warning for Self harm - This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

It brought me through an emotional rollercoaster in the most sensitive way possible. Difficult subjects compensated with moments of laughs and jokes. Funny patients interchanged with the emotionally draining ones. A difficult balance he manages to keep throughout. The book will forever change the way I view medical care and its employees. They deserve the utmost respect for what they go through every single day to help strangers. I salute you, but I will never wish to be you. That I know, I am not fit for a job in medicine.

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effys's review against another edition

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emotional informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

Amazing book that has you laughing out loud one second and on the verge of tears the next

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inhisbluegardens's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

It's me, back at it again, reading popular books five hundred years after everyone else has. I effing loved this book - absolutely worth the hype. Adam Kay recounts the highs and lows of his medical career with humour and the most brutal honesty. His anecdotes had me ugly-snorting in public and deeply self-conscious of over-the-shoulder readers on public transport (Kay was an obstetrician and gynaecologist so expect an uncountable number of graphic descriptions of various objects where they shouldn't be, to put it extremely mildly. Also, babies.) We all are surely aware of the extreme pressures that healthcare professionals are under in this country, not least because of the current You-Know-What, but to read someone's personal experience of it was truly eye-opening.

To be overworked, understaffed, shockingly underpaid and just obscenely under-supported much of the time and all the while sacrificing life events often to the point of relationship breakdown for this absolute farce of a government to turn around and call you greedy and selfish for asking to be correctly supported in your job? BYE.

Kay makes a really good point that the public often fails to see doctors as actual people and that really resonated with me. Even in "The Before Times" many consider healthcare professionals as walking solutions to their problems, without thinking that whatever they've said or done to them is often taken home by them. Maybe I'm projecting here, but from my experience, this attitude has largely remained throughout this pandemic on the frontline of healthcare, to some degree. I can understand why eventually, even the most sincere of thank yous wasn't enough for Kay to remain a medic.

Although this is an account of one doctor's experience in our National Health Service, it is also, in my opinion, a damnation of what happens when the government tries to privatise and sell off to the highest bidder at every opportunity a service that every single person depends on. The NHS is one of the best things about living in the UK but the way it is continuously abused and taken advantage of is arguably one of the worst. The NHS is nothing short of miraculous. From womb to tomb, free at point of use and every staff member, from consultant to F1 to nurse to anaesthetist to paramedic to midwife to pharmacist to porter to cleaner to administrative staff, is an invaluable asset to a system that literally works to keep this country alive. Thank you.

To Boris Johnson and his spineless, greedy cretins and everyone who votes for them and this nonsense? Kindly get fucked. :)

(This turned into a bit of a rant but I really loved this book. Five stars. NOICE.)

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megan_deathe's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring fast-paced

4.75

This book was hilarious as it was heartbreaking! It simultaneously increased my love for the NHS and disgust for the government. Adam Kay is very quick-witted and creates a perfect balance between funny and horrific stories

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entanglednovels's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective

3.0

This was pretty interesting, although was a bit confused about some of the position terms since they're different in the UK than in Canada (as expected). But I love these behind the scenes views of professions. As someone who could never go into medicine, it's interesting to learn about what being a doctor/gynecologist is like. I know it's a difficult profession and I sincerely hope the NHS has improved the disparities and unfair expectations doctors face that Kay describes in detail in the book.

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dale1997's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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orlagal's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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