Adam Kay - This is Going to Hurt

Adam Kay - This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor 

4.5⭐

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Autobiography, Medical, STEM, Humor.

Pages:  285

Format: Paperback 

Publisher: Picador 

Date Published: 7th September 2017 

Book Blurb: 

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.

Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn't – about life on and off the hospital ward.

My Review: 

I finished this book in like 3 hours and honestly, it made me chuckle and be grossed out and sad…basically the whole spectrum of emotions and more. I also wished it was longer. Nevertheless, it was such an interesting and important book, full of sometimes very dark yet funny British Humour. 

This is Going to Hurt follows Adam Kay’s career as a junior doctor in the National Health Service from when he finishes his medical studies to when he quit the profession years later. The book is written as diary entries and each entry is from his real diaries, which he kept throughout his career as a junior doctor. Through these diary entries, we get a great glimpse and insight into his experiences as an obstetrician-gynaecologist, day-to-day emergencies, personal relationships, and hard and long hours. Most importantly his book doesn’t shy in displaying what is wrong with our National Health Services but at the same time shows that NHS are the ones that keep the country and people going, thus should be valued, cared for and protected at all costs.

I just wish I read it before watching the TV show, as I loved the TV show so much and although the book was brilliant it didn’t live up to the same expectation as the TV show did. Also, there were a few times during the book when Kay’s writing just didn’t work for me but I do believe it is because the book is written in this diary format. I still very much enjoyed the content of the book and the important messages that Adam Kay sends with this book. I also really enjoyed the fact that although Kay has seen in all, whilst being a doctor, he looks at it all with humour too, which was very refreshing to see and read. I would love to listen to the audiobook of this book as I believe I would definitely enjoy it more since it is narrated by the author.

Overall: Very interesting and important book, showing the realities of the NHS in sometimes a bit comedic and humorous way. Yet, this book sends so many important messages about how important the NHS is and how we need to take care of it and take care of people working in it. In this very rare case, I did prefer the TV adaptation of this book but I am glad I read the book too as it gave me a different perspective on what I have seen in the show. I would be reading Kay’s other books, especially if it's humour involved. 

About the Author:

Adam Kay is an award-winning comedian and writer. He previously worked for many years as a junior doctor. His first book "This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor" was a Sunday Times number one bestseller for over a year and has sold over two million copies. It has been translated into 37 languages and is a winner of four National Book Awards, including Book of the Year, and will be a major new comedy drama for the BBC.

His second book "Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas" was an instant Sunday Times number one bestseller and sold over 500,000 copies in its first few weeks.

"Dear NHS", edited by Adam Kay, was an instant Sunday Times number one with all profits donated to charity. 

https://www.adamkay.co.uk/