This is Going to Hurt: The Bestselling Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

Genuinely compelling read, as a woman that has given birth 5 times it's fascinating, heartbreaking, funny and makes me even more proud of the NHS and awe-struck by the staff.

A good insight into how these drs cope,funny and sad,well written even the gory stuff! I take my hat off to you all.

Loved how this book was written. Easy to read, medical terms explained and unimaginable stories from the everyday life of a Dr in the NHS.

I was expecting great things with this book. I bought it a few years ago, when everyone seemed to be reading it. Then I made the mistake of reading his other short, Christmas edition book first-that wasn't so good for me, but I had heard so many good reports about this one, I went back and read it-and am so glad I did. It's written in diary format, which I love. At first, I wasn’t sure it was completely my thing. It's written in a jokey way; not getting the high emotion of life and death situations. (Although there is some of that later). Light, short diary entries, easy to read, and hard to put down. The author spent six years qualifying, then another six years on the wards, going through the various departments and grades. He decided to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology, also getting the opportunity to work in infertility clinics. It was very amusing, I soon got into the style of it. I liked his humour-l laughed out loud (just a couple of cringey bits, hence the 4 stars). Yes, this is funny-but quite different to other medical/ doctor/ nurse/ vet memoirs that I've read. It's not the heavy, emotional read- it's a lighter look through his short and snappy diary entries. These types of jokes, and quite a bit of bad language I might not normally like in a completely serious memoir, but this one, if I imagined eg. Sarah Millican on the stage narrating it: Hilarious. More of a stand-up take on a doc's adventures. It's not repetitive. There are plenty; in fact tons of different medical scenarios-and hilariously funny. Lots of footnotes too-and I absolutely read them all, because, as well as info, these were often so funny too. And because I've said it's funny, don't think it's all silly stuff-so much happens in this. What a great read!

Very funny and enjoyable book

This book has just taken the spot of my favourite book to have ever read. I listened to the audiobook but ended up buying the kindle version as well to be able to screenshot the best moments to share and encourage friends and family to read it. I have never been inclined to do that before. This book took me between the most extreme points of the emotion scale. So many laugh out loud, literally giggling alone in my room, hilarious moments. Still more that were immediately followed by slight guilt that I was laughing so hard about something ultimately pretty horrifying. It is hard to believe that this is not fiction but the experiences of a junior doctor in our NHS. But vital to keep remembering it and incredibly sobering to realise, and takes you from laughing to grimacing or even tears on occasion. I would highly recommend listening to this book as an audiobook. It felt like a privilege to be listening to Adam Kay revealing his own memories in his own voice with his own inflections and tone and, at the end particularly but no spoilers here, emotion. The voice is able to portray emotion and help you visualise the scene better than words on the paper alone ever can when it’s the very person who wrote the words reading them out to you. I think it should be imperative for everyone to read this book. To truly appreciate what doctors go through and to further appreciate the NHS. It feels very timely to be writing this review the day after the election that re-elected Boris Johnson and the Conservative party. I hope that this book continues to raise awareness of and gratitude for the NHS and all who work in it and that all efforts will be made to sustain it and support it further.

Adam Kay is a good writer and you can tell they write how they probably speak. They have an easy way of getting the message across to the reader. The book is funny and it makes you feel like you are there alongside Adam on their adventures. Quite a few moments in the book which made me literally laugh out loud (on the tube too!) so a nice way of putting a smile on your face. The book is an easy read and you can easily read a bit of it and put it down. It is written as diary entries so some long, some short but easy enough to read one or two or even more diary entries a day. Enjoyed the book so much that I had to just lend it to my friends who love the whole medic world!

Superb . laughed , cried (allto extreme) brilliant mixture of great humour and heart felt sorrow. So sorry you left the profession but completly understandable. A troubleing eye opener .will always have my support and grateful thanks.

A great read .It actually tells the story of all doctors.wonderfully written

Always love adam kay book

I laughed out loud and snorted tea out my nose so be careful not to be drinking a hot beverage when you read this book. The author lays bare the absurdities of the hospital system in the UK (which still beats the heck out of private healthcare in the US). The dangerously over-worked junior doctors, the toll on young doctors’ family life and the caring and compassionate healthcare workers who do their best to keep patients safe. I couldn’t wait to get back to the book each day. One of the best books I’ve read.

The blurb and publicity praise the book as an adorably funny satire on the hospital business. Yes, it is funny, it is set in Great Britain, mainly in gynaecology and in the British NHS healthcare system, but it is not (actually) satire. It is an exact description of a doctor's work and, apart from a few deviations (our specialist training does not follow exactly the same pattern), it can be transferred exactly to Germany, to everything that goes wrong, to everything that is a daily burden for all employees in the healthcare system. Even many of the situations that seem very strange or even absurd to outsiders have probably been experienced in the same or a similar way by almost everyone who has worked in a hospital for a few years. I am sure that they happened in exactly the same way and were not invented by the author. In particular - and this is where the book ends - it is an indictment of the complete disregard shown by politicians for the people who work in hospitals or elsewhere on a daily basis. But in the end it doesn't matter. Even our current Minister of Health, Mr Lauterbach, would probably not change anything if he were to devote his precious time to this book at all, and would probably not even feel addressed. In this respect: absolutely worth reading, but also very depressing. Not funny.

Very good wife happy