Author: Adam Kay
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Published: September 7, 2017
Publisher: Mariner Books
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: April 19, 2025
My rating: 
Thoughts
I was curious if this book would analogize to my work as a CPA in the US. Obviously the medical stuff and life-or-death nature of the job doesn’t correlate at all. Despite the view of many corporate executives, a private company’s financial statements aren’t saving lives. No one dies if we don’t issue an audit on time. However, there are a lot of life lessons that can be gained from this book.
One of the biggest issues this book brings up is how broken the healthcare systems is in the UK. Yes, as much as the US wants to win the “we’ve got the most effed up healthcare system” award, the UK sure is keeping us on our toes. Heck, the number of years and the amount of hours (pretty much 24/7) is mind-boggling. And to think that when you’re being operated on, there’s a better than zero chance that the person operating on you is totally sleep-deprived.
Also, I learned way more about female anatomy from this book than I thought I would get.
Even though the book is about the UK healthcare system, specifically what we in the US call an OB/GYN, this was a remarkably easy read. Mainly because the book is broken up into various sections relating to the authors year in (what we in the US would call) residency and further into diary entries. And they are absolutely hilarious! I’m not sure how much editing was done from his original entries, but it’s clear that Adam Kay has a way with words. Just the way that he describes certain situations makes the stories a little more relatable.
Overall, I would give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I would consider reading more of Kay’s books, however many seem to be of a similar nature. And I came out of this a bit more jaded about the healthcare system than I’d like. Although… they do say laughter is the best medicine, so there’s that.
