This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Medical Resident

I too am a doctor, albeit in a different country. What Alan went through appears to cross all borders and i can identify with so much of what he writes about. Humour is the only way to get through it. And the camaraderie.The saddest of all is that the public see us as money grabbing mean people! Really?Thanks Alan for sharing this journey. More people need to read it.

I saw the tip from John Niven: "You need to read this".Who? I dont' think I know the author? Really? OK then...Like with many great books, there's comedy (lots) as well as tragedy. The book starts off with a diary of short, dry, if rather hilarious, descriptions of the situations a junior NHS doctor -the author in a previous life- finds himself in. I read the first half gasping for breath, laughing way too hard, wanting to instantly tell the jokes to my wife, but suspected she might frown at being nudged at 4:00 AM to hear a placenta joke.But from behind the sarcasm I started to see the dedication and care - despite the sometimes bone-dry insanely funny descriptions of mishaps and human silliness. The hilarious bits are still there, yet there's another narrative coming to the front, with first hinted at, and then more open, drama. It's weird to almost feel guilty about laughing so hard when you fully start to grasp the background and even, yes, message. An ending that, if you have a heart, will make sure it will be ripped right out - which is pretty much in sync with the rest of the stories where things get ripped, gently or less so, from human bodies.No spoilers, but maybe, what hurts most, is realizing the author no longer practices medicine today, and that this, despite the seemingly cynical descriptions of bodily functions-and-parts going pear shaped (baby heads, often...), is probably a damn shame. Then again, this book wouldn't exist if that was the case.I finished this book at 5:30 AM the next day, surprised that it made me emotional the way it did. ("Woke", I think the more youthful reader might call it.) Anyway, unless you are planning to have a baby in the next year or so (and even then... there's quite a bit of useful information, but it might slightly put you off) you have to read this for yourself. You may need stitches though!

I love this book! You will definitely laugh and more than several times! I even laughed out loud! The true stories aren’t all funny as you will see if you read this. Very emotional ending. I hope there are other books written by this author but something tells me there might not be any more. Wonderful book. I’m so glad I read it. I forget a lot (most) of the books I have read over these many years but I won’t forget this one.

‘This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries if a Junior Doctor” by Adam Kay is a tough but important read. The author starts off “After 6 years of training and a further 6 years on the wards, I resigned my job as a junior doctor. My parents still haven’t forgiven me" and finishes with “Why should anyone train to be a doctor anymore?” In between he recounts story after story of life as a medical student and trainee in obstetrics and gynecology in the UK around 2010. Between f-bombs, several stories about objects in body cavities and scrubs soaked in bodily fluids, the author weaves in his reflections on the medical profession now and where it’s going. The first 30ish pages are not engaging and I couldn’t identify with the author’s perspective but stick with the book because it comes through slowly in little hints. I finished the book thinking through the choices I’ve personally made and how tough it must have been for someone to walk away from the field he’s trained in for so long. It’s painful to be on the other side of medical training, very happy with my current career, colleagues, and choices, but remember just how hard it was to get here. The author pleas for hospitals and administration to care for the emotional wellness of physicians and all medical providers. Doctors are supposed to be superheroes and get to work no matter what but we are human too. We all need to ‘Chip away at the ingrained notion that doctors and nurses don’t need to, or shouldn’t, talk about (bad outcomes, mistakes, abuse from patients, insert more here) because that same ingrained notion is partly responsible for the huge rise in people leaving the profession, the rise in stress-related absence, illness, and…suicide. We all need someone to talk to..Care for the Carer." Excellent read. @drlorashahine

A laugh out loud book as well as a peek into the unusual private habits of the human race. I have seen similar things while working in Law Enforcement. 50% of people are just stupid or weird. This guy is a saint. A good read in any case. Government health care turns good doctors into slaves and allows bad ones to have job security. Do you want to have surgery from a person who has been awake for 30 hours straight? Not me.This would have been a four star if it had not been for the medical jargon and British colloquial phrases. The Doctor included a lot of numbered notations that are in the back of the book. However, with an Kindle book you know how impossible that is to go back and forth without losing your place.

I worked as a nurse and student midwife in the seventies. I have witnessed many things both incredibly happy and devastating sad. But with the black humour and support of colleges we coped. The situation is now desperately and in many cases life-threatening deplorable. I loved this book and would highly recommended that all ministers as well as managers of hospital trusts read it and ask themselves why it is allowed to get worse . To Adam kay, I think you are a remarkable person your book was an amazing read

Working on the wards as an auxiliary all through Uni as well as a being a Student Nurse, and then qualifying as a Staff Nurse I have a complete understanding for not just the funny stories, but sadly the down sides of what our junior doctors have to endure.I have been the impatient Nurse paging an already overstretched junior doctor to come and review a patient, prescribe more pain relief or fluids, check Gent or Vanc levels or write a discharge letter (as the patient is standing in front of me dressed, holding their packed belongings with their angry relative who has come to collect them...because the Consultant told them 7 hours ago on the ward round they could go home after dinner).I have taken junior doctors a cup of tea, a biscuit and a “patients sandwich” from the ward fridge because it’s 6pm and they haven’t eaten or drank anything since before their shift started 9 hours ago.I have been there on a ward round when they have been belittled by a Consultant in front of their colleagues and the patient for not ordering a test the day before, or because they didn’t give an answer to a seemingly straightforward question and have been met with raised eyebrows and “did you graduate from medical school Dr?” from said Consultant.I have also been the nurse on Nightshift when things have been the “Q” word, turning a blind eye as a junior doctor sneaks into the Day unit next door for some shut eye because they are exhausted on their 5th night. Or sitting at the Nurses Station swapping comical stories about patients, because sometimes you need that shared humour to get you through to the end of your shift.I left the wards for a less stressful stint in Occupational Health after 6 years of working rotational shifts, which I appreciate on the grand scale of things is not that long at all. However, for my own sanity I felt I had no choice. I was burnt out, stressed, irritable, permanently exhausted through crazy shift patterns (3 nights, a sleep day then a day shift, off for two then back in for 3 days?) sick of constantly being short staffed, being left unsupported (especially on nights) and having to make decisions above my pay grade then being chastised for it in the morning by Sister, missing countless social and family gatherings because of “being on shift”, my husband and I were on the road to starting IVF treatment after unsuccessfully trying for a baby for nearly 3 years....the list goes on.The NHS relies on the goodwill of its staff working past their time, (usually writing up notes or Incident forms that you haven’t had time to do during your shift), or swapping their shift due to staff shortages at the last minute, relies on them building their own support network instead of giving them the right support to deal with traumatic events that are all too common in the job (but no amount of training will ever prepare you for), working through their breaks “because the ward is too busy”....etc, etcThe pressures of the job are increased ten fold by the pressures of management, audits, paperwork (sometimes its like paperwork for the sake of paperwork) which is generated by our unrealistic government. And also not forgetting the negative attention the media places on the situation giving some patients/relatives the idea that your fair game in questioning your abilities and informing you the papers said this or that so it must be true...it’s sad to think that this wonderful system that was once the envy of the world has been brought to its knees, leading valuable and extremely competent staff to leave the profession in their droves.

I didn’t like this book. I’d say that right from the start Adam clearly wasn’t cut out for doctoring. He didn’t seem to enjoy his job from the start. It was moan, moan, moan. Not well enough paid, no time off, working until the job he has started was finished etc. He should have done more research before he went to medical school.I completely understand about black humour in times of stress and it is a stressful job but all of what he lists as ‘anecdotes’ were human beings and even if they did some weird things and weren’t too bright - they still didn’t deserve to be the butt if his jokes and used to earn him a penny or two when he gave up doctoring.I’m not even sure that he liked his patients and I think it’s probably just as well he has left the profession. I finished the book but I wouldn’t recommend it and I’m not sure how it gets all the good reviews - well I am, he no doubt has a very good agent and publicity machine.

I bought this book (Kindle edition) because of Kindle pop up adds which held snatches of rave reviews from people I have actually heard of. The reviews assured me it was laugh out loud funny and after my last disappointing and somewhat heavy read it was just what the doctor ordered (you see what I did there). Only I did not find it funny at all. I found it cynical, occasionally bordering on misogynist in his horrible descriptions of women and their bodily parts when they are at their most vulnerable (gynae detail in the book but perhaps not for a review but describing a womans vagina as a 'tw*t' is one such example). I think possibly the author was going for wry and dry humour but to me it came across as toxic and unpleasantly brutal at times. The books was repetitive and the initial faintly amusing anecdotes paled after a relatively short number of pages. I did however read it all and in the interests of full disclosure laughed out loud once. Just the once when he was describing two unfortunate names given to new babies but that was it. The book is not without merit - it does describe working conditions for junior doctors in such a way as to be a call to arms for those of us keen to protect our NHS - as indeed the author is and his stories are compelling: the NHS is at risk, worth saving and possibly even dangerous for patients in running on a threadbare empty purse. I hope the book at least draws attention to that aspect of the authors writing but laugh out loud funny it is not.

As a doctor myself, I found Adam's book honest and endearing, but above all very funny. He uses humour throughout to tell us of his experiences, both good and grim and how to came out the other side and ultimately left the profession. Definitely one of those 'un-put-downables.' I had the whole book finished within a day. This got a few laughs from me, well done Adam for producing such a great book!