Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22931 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent read
I enjoyed reading the read. It was funny, witty and light reading. I now understand what happens within the NHS and a hospital, life of a junior doctor, disease, old age, death and a better understanding on society as a whole. I am very happy I bought this product.

The life of a house officer laid bare
This is an entertaining and insightful account of Max Pemberton's year as a house officer. Fresh from medical school and faced with real patients, Max's number one fear is that he will kill someone by mistake. But when he actually gets on the ward he realises he doesn't know how to do even the simplest thing, such as prescribing paracetamol. He is on the very steepest of learning curves, burdened by a seemingly impossible workload (though clearly not quite bad enough to prevent the writing of this book) and overseen by ghastly consultants whose attitudes appear to be at least 100 years out of date. As the year rolls on, Max encounters situations of real poignancy, hilarity and horror.

The diary-style entries make this book very easy to read but in places the writing was a little sloppy and there were some grammatical errors which bugged me so I deducted a star (sorry to be such a pedant).

So true...
I am only 3/4's of the way through this book and I think it is brilliant. As many have previously said, it is so very true...and not just for junior doctors but for anyone starting out in the medical profession. I have just qualified as a midwife and got my first job in a large consultant led unit. Max Pemberton has managed to express all the same feelings and experiences that I am currently having as a newly qualified midwife..."Will I ever get a break?", "Have I prescribed the right drug to the right person?" and ultimately "When will I kill my first patient?". All joking aside this book is nothing but fantastic and Max Pemberton has managed to add humour to the dark and depressing days that are the first year as a newly qualified in the wonder that is the NHS.