“This book contains pregnancy loss, depictions of disordered eating behaviours, including methods, and details of sexual violence.” it also mentions cheating. Now, these aren't mentioned right away in the book, and I believe they should. Yes, you're reading a book written by a former doctor, but if you are sensitive to those sorts of things, then it's best to know before diving too deep into a book.

I believe the book is mostly a re-telling of the author's life that includes part before they became a doctor, training to be a doctor, working as a doctor, and as a former doctor. So, if you're looking for a book more about being in the hospital, then start with the author's first book.

As always with this author, read their annotations, as it makes the book better. Reading on an eReader can help with this. However, there are still many funny passages, “And finally my dream was fulfilled. Well, someone’s dream, but … whatever.”, or, “At the time, I felt like reminding them that I hadn’t actually been to medical school yet, so how about they let me in, and I’d get back to them in six years?”.

“so much human behaviour would seem like a very bad idea if boiled down to a list of pros and cons. Getting married, for example. Gym membership. The government. A quick drink after work. But despite what medicine may have taught me, not everything can come down to a logical list of benefits and risks. It’s all outweighed by a strange intangible – call it love if you want, call it your brainstem, call it a primal urge – but it’s big, and it’s unknowable, and it’s real.”

I do like how the author ends the book, “The best you can hope for in life is that you leave behind a legacy that makes this world a better place for someone, somewhere, in whatever small way you can.” ( )

Adam Kay’s book are always good for a laugh and a cry. Undoctored is no exception, with some very sad experiences and some hilarious one. It’s not all about medicine, but Adam’s experiences after leaving the profession with multiple flashbacks.

The book starts with Adam revealing that he’s experiencing nightmares of tragic things that happened during his time as a doctor. As the book goes on, we find out that it’s not the only trauma he’s experienced. He’s come out to his parents, but they seem to still think he’ll return to being a doctor and give them grandchildren. There are of course some good points to being a former doctor – using the title in hope of getting something and being able to self-diagnose and get scans with just a few WhatsApp messages to mates. Of course, as we all know, doctors (and really most health professionals) aren’t great at self-diagnosis, we’ve always seen someone worse and most things are not urgent…right? This sees Adam being pushed around Las Vegas in a wheelchair rather than attempting the notoriously expensive healthcare system, but ends up in the emergency room for a different reason. And back home, he uses his physics knowledge to try to pass a kidney stone, with excruciating results.

Every now and then, there’s a flashback section about his time as a medical student or young doctor. Mostly these are funny, but often have a serious side to them too. I loved how names of colleagues were changed to names from the Marvel Universe, it made some of the anecdotes even funnier (and some more evil). Some of the parts are very raw, such as when Adam discloses to his GP that he thinks he has PTSD (but automatically thinking that he’s just caused this GP to fall behind in seeing patients). It’s a good balance of the humanistic, do no harm side of medicine with the external pressures of time, money and that the queue never seems to shorten.

I also liked how this book delved deeper into Adam as a person, not just his career. From his attempts at home renovation to his arguments with his partner, it was a look into the mind of a real person, flaws included. It was much more fascinating because of it. I really hope to see more from Adam.

Thank you to Hachette for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

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