In this powerful and sometimes shocking account, a surgeon reveals
her experience of hospital life with rare frankness.
In her mid-twenties, Gabriel Weston - an arts graduate with no
scientific qualification beyond high school-level biology - decided
to become a surgeon. She enrolled at night school, then went
through many years of medical school and surgical training.
Now in her late thirties, she has achieved her ambition and is
working as a surgeon in a British hospital. "But I have never quite
managed to shake off the feeling that I am an imposter,"she says.
"Even when operating, it sometimes seems like I am on the outside
looking in."
Direct Red is the result of those observations. It is a superbly
written, startlingly raw account of her experience of life in a
hospital. All her own doubts, mistakes, and incongruous triumphs
are faithfully recorded. It is also a revealing and at times
chilling account of what she sees around her. The world of surgery
is secret and closed - or was until now.
Excerpt
I knew that this man needed to be opened up immediately. I phoned
the on-call consultant, offering to meet him in theatre.
"Not so fast," he objected. "You youngsters are always in such a
hurry." When he finally did concede that we needed to go to
theatre, he picked up a coffee on the way.
Physiology forced pace on the situation: once we cut the man open,
we were confronted with the sight of the hollow cavern of the
patient's abdomen filling with blood as quickly as a basin fills
with water.
This consultant did not have a clue what to do; didn't know the
simplest emergency measures. He dressed his incompetence in a
mannered slowness of action. It took him almost an hour to admit he
wasn't coping, at which point he shouted at the scrub nurse: "Get
me another surgeon! Any surgeon!"
The night taught me the paramount value of a quick response.
"From the Hardcover edition."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
