“I left the profession because I had a terrible day at work,” said Adam Kay, the author of the multi-award-winning bestseller This is Going to Hurt.
Adam, who now writes for television and film, had a career as an obstetrician and gynaecologist. He shared the panel with Rachel Clarke, a palliative care doctor and host Anita Donley, consultant physician.
Rachel and Adam talked about their time in the health service and elaborated on the pressure and challenges of being a doctor. Rachel said doctors, despite all their training, remain unprepared for the long hours, exhaustion, and the disruption of their social life.
“No one tells you how to deal with a bad day of work,” added Adam. Rachael said the conversations with her patients help her get through the fifteen-hour shifts.
Adam said, he now hopes he can make more of a difference now that he is not a practicing doctor and that his writing will promote a more informed conversation about the NHS.
Pictured left to right: Anita Donley, Adam Kay, Rachel Clarke.
If you missed this, you might like to go to event 383, Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why, at 5.30 pm, on 2 June.