Product Description

If you're going to be ill, it's best to avoid the first Wednesday in August. This is the day when junior doctors graduate to their first placements and begin to face having to put into practice what they have spent the last six years learning. Starting on the evening before he begins work as a doctor, this book charts Max Pemberton's touching and funny journey through his first year in the NHS. Progressing from youthful idealism to frank bewilderment, Max realises how little his job is about 'saving people' and how much of his time is taken up by signing forms and trying to figure out all the important things no one has explained yet - for example, the crucial question of how to tell whether someone is dead or not. Along the way, Max and his fellow fledgling doctors grapple with the complicated questions of life, love, mental health and how on earth to make time to do your laundry. All Creatures Great and Small meets Bridget Jones's Diary, this is a humorous and accessible peek into a world that you'd normally need a medical degree to witness.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3283 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-21
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
'Painfully funny.' --Boris Johnson

'Very funny and frank account of his time working as a juniro doctor in the NHS.' --Independent

'Reads like Scrubs: The Blog... This diary-style account of Pemberton's first year on the wards is funny and awful in equal measure.' --Maureen Lipman

Review
'TRUST ME I'M A JUNIOR DOCTOR is painfully funny.' (Boris Johnson )

'very funny and frank account of his time working as a juniro doctor in the NHS.'

(Independent )

'Reads like Scrubs: The Blog... This diary-style account of Pemberton's first year on the wards is funny and awful in equal measure.' (Observer )

'Reading his absurdly funny, beautifully observed, day to day, horror stories from the wards, made me laugh and shudder.' (Maureen Lipman )

Synopsis
If you're going to be ill, it's best to avoid the first Wednesday in August. This is the day when junior doctors graduate to their first placements and begin to face having to put into practice what they have spent the last six years learning. Starting on the evening before he begins work as a doctor, this book charts Max Pembertons touching and funny journey through his first year in the NHS. Progressing from youthful idealism to frank bewilderment, Max realises how little his job is about saving people and how much of his time is taken up by signing forms and trying to figure out all the important things no one has explained yet. For example, the crucial question of how to tell whether someone is dead or not. Along the way, Max and his fellow fledgling doctors grapple with the complicated questions of life, love, mental health and how on earth to make time to do your laundry All Creatures Great And Small meets Bridget Jones's Diary, in this humorous and accessible peek into a world which normally requires a medical degree, a scratch golf handicap and ward-clearing halitosis.

---

Customer Reviews

Brings back memories...
This book is scarily accurate. Scary, in that it reminds me of my house officer days, and scary in that it reveals to the layman (and woman) the enormous naivety of the junior doctor on the first few days and weeks at work. However, this is not something to be hidden, and the author is to be commended for his brutal honesty. (For the record, we're not related, and I've never heard of him before, let alone met him!)

I'm not sure if this will appeal more to fellow doctors, who will remember everything Dr Pemberton all-too-well recalls, and laugh and cry at it, or to members of the public, who will see behind the eyes of the terrified junior doctor, facing disease, expectation and impossibility all at once.

I'm not sure what is meant by the contributor who thought House of God more representative of the NHS. For one, House of God is a much older book. Two, it is set in the USA. Three, it is a satire, whereas this, I promise you, is as real as life (and death) gets.

Buy it for your doctor friend, and he or she will thank you. Then borrow it.

Brutally honest
A few people are commenting saying that this book is not particularly funny, and its not. However, they don't seem to realise that it is not meant to be funny, that instead it lays bare the harsh reality of life in the NHS as a junior doctor. Stressed, tired, unappreciated and doing a lot of unpleasant things for not a lot of money.

As a medical student myself I can say that it is very close to the truth, and I would recommend this book to anyone considering a career in medicine. You will probably reconsider such a rash move, as I would have done if only I'd known!

Thought Provoking
Boris Johnson is quoted as saying this is "Painfully Funny" Well . . . yes and no.

Rather, it is a thoughful, well-written, worrying account of life for a junior doctor in his first after qualifying. There are actually very few genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, however the stories Dr Pemberton regales us with will make you smile, frown, laugh, almost cry . . .

If this is a true reflection of how the NHS is run - and treats it's Junior Doctors, then it is almost beyond belief that more people haven't died, and that more doctors aren't leaving in their droves.

There are stories of abuse, love, hate, fear, laughter, joy, discouragment - from colleagues and from patients. There are moments when you want to cry out in anger and frustration along with the autor. There are moments when you will laugh out loud. There are moments when you will shake your head in disbelief.

You may find yourself agreeing with the author - and others in the book - that things could be done so much better, if it wasn't for political creed and expediency - from all sides of the political spectrum.

I would recommend this book to everyone who is considering a career in medicine. I would recommend it to evey politician and management consultant. To every Clinician, nurse, medical consultant and patient (past present or future).

This book is a damning indictment of the way the NHS is run now, and it is also uplifting. It is uplifting to understand that there are still dedicated people out there who want to work in our hospitals and put up with political interfering and the aggrevation from patients and senior doctors.

Like the author I believe that the NHS is a good thing, and must be saved at all costs. However, also like the author I dispare sometimes of the way it is being treated.