BOOK REVIEW: THIS IS GOING TO HURT BY ADAM KAY

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor
Author: Adam Kay
Published: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 280
Rating: 4/5

Summary:
Adam Kay was a junior doctor for six years before a devastating experience caused him to leave the profession and this book is a combination of the diary he kept when he was working and reflections on that time and those experiences.

Review:
This book is a weird combination of things; both funny, gross and heartbreaking, all at the same time.

This is one of those books that I feel like is really easy to get into and sort of get addicted to reading; I really didn't want to put this down when I first started it. It has a lot of humour in it, but also a lot of interesting (and sometimes slightly unpleasant) bits in it, and then some difficult and sad bits. I think it's hard to write a book that balances all of that, but I feel like this does it well.

I feel like throughout this book you really got insight into the intensity of this work and both the joy and the struggle of it. It shows us the dark side of this kind of work; people are overworked and underpaid and how anyone manages to do it over a long period of time is nothing short of incredible, especially when the consequences to the health care professionals personal life and mental health are so devastating. It also shows us the importance of health care and a health care system that works well, which it often doesn't.

I also have to give extra praise to the footnotes in this book, as they not only explain what needs to be explained when it comes to medical terms etc. but they're also really, really fun to read.

I did kind of feel like the end of this came about very abruptly and I felt like there was a little something missing at the end there, but otherwise, this was a great book and well worth reading (although I'll say it again, some things in here are quite graphic and would gross some people out, so just bear that in mind).

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You can read more about it on Goodreads