“The unexamined life is not worth living”. Unfortunately it does so through a prologue, epilogue and fifteen chapters. Feeling the bird feebly moving in his hands as it tried to escape his grasp, he felt suddenly very ashamed. A brilliantly written(the author was a journalist before a Dr) and frightening but starkly true picture of the NHS. While it is no fault of the individual, it can seem to some doctors like a personal failure. This is not your usual doctor's memoir and the 88 references would have been the clue if I had bot. The answer is in your hands." Rachel Clarke. Nevertheless, this is an incredibly important book that the entir. It shows that doctors felt that the long-term costs of not voicing their concerns would far outweigh the harm that their momentary absence would cause. I completely understand her desire to leave medicine when she felt she wasn’t doing a good enough job and was letting her patients down. In Your Life in My Hands, television journalist turned junior doctor Rachel Clarke captures the extraordinary realities of life on the NHS frontline. My personal conviction is that the primary goal of any healthcare system should be to serve its people and ensure their health and wellbeing. This is echoed by 2018 TV programmes like 'Ambulance' and 'Hospital' as well as friends working in high pressurised NHS environments where firefighting is all they are managing to do. Good read! Aspiring to inspire, Title: Beyond Autism: My Life with Lina Author: Helena Hjalmarsson, Title: When Breath Becomes Air Author: Paul Kalanithi, Title: Outliers: The Story of Success Author: Malcolm Gladwell. Not only that, doctors and nurses can succumb to mental health problems precipitated by stress, anxiety and guilt at not being able to deliver the quality of care that their patients deserve. Telling it as it is. So now it time for Rachel to follow in their footsteps. I feared that, if my hours and workload continued as they were, I might fail to cling onto the one thing that had driven me into medicine in the first place: my compassion. The seriousness of one public mistake has her life resting completely in one, Emma Swan's hands. Terrified and humiliated, Clarke was lost for words, until a nurse sat beside her with kind gestures and words of comfort. Until I faced the prospect of losing a child, I didn’t know what grief was. Again the woman spoke calmly, "The answer, my young friend, is in your hands. I felt Rachel Clarke’s pain, frustration, fear and sheer exhaustion throughout the book when she so often found herself out of her depth. MY LIFE IN MY HANDS is Alison's story: from her mother's rejection at birth, through a childhood deprived of affection in children's homes, to independence, a first class art degree, motherhood and critical success. Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. Her leap from journalism into medicine was influenced by her parents’ background in medicine, as well as the irresistible allure of caring for patients through some of the toughest ordeals of their lives. At the age of 29 Rachel Clarke decided on a change of career, a starting out in journalism in television news she decided the pull of a career in medicine was too great. This is the face of the NHS that some of us have unfortunately witnessed. This book is about deepening doctor-patient trust, in a way that will allow both sides to see that they are essentially in the same fight together. They pick up pens and draw creatures with five feathers on each wing. Passionate about living life to the fullest, gaining knowledge and experience, as well as travel and adventure Mixed feelings about this one. Unfortunately it does so through a prologue, epilogue and fifteen chapters. Not being from Britain myself, I found Your Life in My Hands a refreshing read as it unveiled much about the National Health Service (NHS) that I had not been fully aware of before. This is not your usual doctor's memoir and the 88 references would have been the clue if I had bothered to flick through the book before buying it. I don't want to take anything away from the writing or the message which are both fluent and interesting - for a few chapters. During last year’s historic junior doctor strikes, Rachel was at the forefront of the campaign against the … [vc_empty_space height=”3.2rem” alter_height=”none” hide_on_desktop=”” hide_on_notebook=”” hide_on_tablet=”” hide_on_mobile=””], [vc_empty_space height=”0.2rem” alter_height=”none” hide_on_desktop=”” hide_on_notebook=”” hide_on_tablet=”” hide_on_mobile=””], medic inspires © 2020 all rights reserved, Oxford Medicine Introductory Reading List, Beyond Autism by Helena Hjalmarsson | Book Review, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi | Book Review, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell | Book Review, Is Studying Everything? Now, more than 140 years later, female medical students outnumber men. In Your Life in My Hands, television journalist turned junior doctor Rachel Clarke captures the extraordinary realities of life on the NHS frontline. A Junior Doctor’s Story. Balancing the long years of medical school with her family and pregnancy, she still relished every moment of intensive studying and training. In Your Life in My Hands Rachel Clarke talks passionately about life as a junior doctor in the NHS. For myself, this has served as an invaluable introduction to the health system which I am about to enter but have never experienced first-hand. Think the problem was the writing style and the author, and not the actual message. That changed in 1876, when, after a tenacious fight led by Britain’s first female doctor, Elizabeth Garret Anderson, the law was changed to prohibit women’s exclusion from medical schools. A brave decision and presented with the clarity of a well researched journalist with the dedication & soul of a doctor living on top of this unexploded bomb. I think we often forget that doctors are human, too, in our desire for them to provide clear diagnoses and to make us well. Be the first to ask a question about Your Life in My Hands. The declining health of our loved ones is a predicament that none of us want to face. In Your Life in My Hands, television journalist turned junior doctor Rachel Clarke captures the extraordinary realities of life on the NHS frontline. Such an act of compassion filled the wards with a palpable warmth and was especially uplifting for patients who had been forsaken by their families. Whilst it is true that the NHS was not created to deal with the wide range of treatments that are now available, and there are areas of waste, for example in the administration of prescription medicines, society and governments surely need to evolve to alleviate the problems. It acts like a social safety net, preventing its citizens from falling through the cracks. Albeit from a slightly condemning perspective, the candid reflections are deeply moving. Title: Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor’s Story. Your Life in My Hands Book Review is one of those books that ought to be read if you have no clear ideas on what the NHS is about. During last year's historic junior doctor strikes, Rachel was at the forefront of the campaign against the government's imposed contract upon young doctors. It is 4 a.m. The very fact that doctors would abandon their patients to go on strike was enough to highlight their desperation and fierce opposition towards the proposed contractual changes. Everyone wants the health system to thrive, and it takes courage and conviction achieve this. This struck a cord with me on a personal level as I'm currently an allied health professional working within the NHS on the 'frontline', and I've also recently been on the other side of care as an inpatient myself. The health system in the United Kingdom has always intrigued me; it seemed to be the apotheosis of equality in healthcare. The wise old man said, “You have a bird, my son.” The boy then asked, “Old man, tell me: Is the bird alive or is it dead?” The wise old man looked at the boy, thought for a moment and said, “Son, the answer lies in your hands.” This old story reminds us of a never changing and always relevant truth. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Hands"". I have run arrest calls, treated life-threatening bleeding, held the hand of a young woman dying of cancer, scuttled down miles of dim corridors wanting to sob with sheer exhaustion, forgotten to eat, forgotten to drink, drawn on every fibre of strength that I possess to keep my patients safe from harm.'. As a fourth year medical student, I enjoyed this book, even though at times it almost entirely destroyed any motivation I had to carry on in medicine. Her resilience, fortitude and humour are humbling, yet she rejects any notion of 'bravery'. This led her to adopt a leading role in the activism against the proposed junior doctors’ contract. In ‘Your Life in My Hands’, television journalist turned junior doctor Rachel Clarke captures the extraordinary realities of life on the NHS frontline. Your Life In My Hands not only talks about that life change, but also the growing NHS struggles and political events including the strikes and fears over funding. You are eternally secures when you find yourself in the hands of the Lord. Besides medical students and doctors, members of the general public may also benefit from reading this book by understanding the ups and downs of a doctor’s life. As the abrasive culture of Mid Staffs seeps through the NHS, Clarke notes that this has largely been the result of “the severely depleted numbers of frontline staff”, which aligns with the findings from Sir Robert Francis’ independent inquiry. But the repetitive tirade became tedious in book form. He reports that a woman told him, "I read one of the stories and, after that, I would not touch it with my hands. Even so, the only way you can truly empathise with a patient is to be at the receiving end of medical treatment yourself. But that presumption, it turned out, was a glib one – itself a failure of imagination. Many always dream of being a nurse or a doctor specialising in specific areas of medicine, but no-one At the age of 29 Rachel Clarke decided on a change of career, a starting out in journalism in television news she decided the pull of a career in medicine was too great. A brilliantly written(the author was a journalist before a Dr) and frightening but starkly true picture of the NHS. Thoughts from an Oxford Student, Patient-and-Doctor Course Reflection #1: First Time at a GP Practice, First Month of Medical School at Oxford – Honest Thoughts and Reflections, University Life in Lockdown and Self-Isolation, How to Make Aesthetic Notes: A Beginner’s Guide with Pictures, Free Medicine Personal Statement Review – 2021 Entry, Medicine Personal Statement Example (Oxford University). Through it all, she stayed true to the prioritisation of patient care and expressed her deep attachment and loyalty to the NHS, which threatened to be upended by unreasonable governmental policies. To a medical student books are both stepping stones and obstacles, huge tomes to surmount as much to absorb. Rings so many bells for me...I worked in NHS admin for 15 years as the current crisis built, flagging concerns at every stage. Under such psychological and physical exertion, how can they still be expected to exude confidence and warmth at a patient’s bedside? 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