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By Editorial Staff 13th June 2022

Whether you’re looking for insight into medicine as a profession, or just something to read for pleasure, these books are among the best that doctors have to offer

B eing a doctor isn’t easy. You’re dealing with long hours, high amounts of pressure, and physical exhaustion. Then there’s the emotional toll of the job, issues with unpaid hours and unfilled posts, a terminal lack of resources, not to mention the years of study required to even qualify.

Being a doctor and a writer certainly isn’t easy. You’ve got all the difficulties of being a healthcare professional bundled with the additional stress of trying to put together a book. After a day of seeing patients, the last thing anyone wants to do is sit in front of blank page. Yet many on our list did just that. From the talented writers who currently grace these pages to GPs who’ve shared their experiences via fiction, these doctors now find themselves on night-stands across the country.

But doctors don’t offer the only perspective in medicine. After all, other people experience the health system. That’s why some of our entries aren’t healthcare professionals at all. Some are academics; one is a patient who writes beautifully about her years suffering from a very serious illness.

So, whether you’re looking for insight into medicine as a profession, or just something to read for pleasure, these books are some of the best that healthcare professionals have to offer.

An Irish Country Doctor Patrick Taylor This account may be a work of fiction, but anyone who’s lived in the countryside will recognise a lot of what transpires here. Author Patrick Taylor, himself a doctor, sketches out scores of anecdotes and observation from a career in medicine. He does so through a fictional relationship between two men: a young doctor, fresh out of medical school, and an older, eccentric, seasoned general practitioner. ‘It’s a mythical place, but the people are the way I remember them,’ Taylor said of his fictional Ulster village, Ballybucklebo, back in 2013. Naturally, there’s a lot of Northern dialect included here, but Taylor provides a handy glossary at the end. Dead on.

Healing Touch: an illustrated history of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland Alf McCreary Quite a lot has happened in medicine since the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland was founded back in 1784(!) by charter of King George III. For one, medicine now amounts to more than just luck, which was what mostly determined the fate of patients back in those days. A lot has happened to Ireland itself as well in that time, and Mr McCreary uses the RCSI as a fascinating vantage point from which to view Irish history. There are plenty of accounts of interesting and important figures who were involved with RCSI, too, not to mention loads of great pictures. A fascinating read, even to non-medical professionals.

A Life in Trauma Dr Chris Luke Our own Dr Chris Luke’s ‘rollercoaster’ memoir about a life in emergency medicine is a must. Having treated well over 100,000 patients during his career, Dr Luke has plenty to say on the matter. Praised by critics for its searing honesty, A Life in Trauma describes every aspect of a career on the frontline of medicine: from the highs of healing people who are sick, to the lows of burnout, exhaustion and operating in a dysfunctional health system. Sounds interesting, right? You can also read Dr Luke latest column for this month’s IMT here.

Against the Tide Dr Noël Browne Ever a controversial figure, Dr Noël Browne’s famous memoir is a unique, powerful account of Catholic Ireland, the influence of which still lingers in Irish medicine today. Dr Browne made a lot of enemies in both the Church and the Dáil with his introduction of the 1951 Mother and Child scheme, which sought to tackle high infant mortality rates, among other issues. Several Bishops said the initiative would pave the way towards abortion. Many doctors opposed the Act, saying it represented the socialisation of medicine. Browne also spent a lot of time working to eradicate TB, which claimed the lives of both his sister and his mother. The story of the definitive outsider of Irish medicine.

The Language of Illness Prof. Fergus Shanahan The language used by doctors is extremely important. But don’t take our word for it – ask Fergus Shannon, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at University College Cork, and Foundation Director of the Science Foundation Ireland-funded APC Microbiome Ireland.

He wrote the book on the subject. A work for ‘anyone who cares about caring’, Shanahan draws from his own life experiences – as both a medical professional and the father of an ill son – to illustrate the crucial role language plays in interactions between doctors and patients.

Can Medicine Be Cured? The Corruption of a Profession Dr Seamus O’Mahony We spend too much money on expensive drugs, many of which don’t amount to much in terms of palliative care. That’s one of the claims made by Dr Seamus O’Mahony, a gastroenterologist at Cork University Hospital.

He points to a medical-industrial-complex as having a stifling influence on healthcare, arguing that patients and doctors alike have been enslaved by its consumerism. Critically acclaimed, the book was described by the British Medical Journal as ‘the most devastating critique of medicine since Medical Nemesis by Ivan Illich’. Worth picking up.

All in a Doctor’s Day: Memoirs of an Irish Country Practice Dr Lucia Gannon Not to be confused with the other entry on our list concerning an Irish country doctor. This book is as a fascinating memoir set in the rural village Killenaule, Co Tipperary, where Dr Gannon moved with her husband, a fellow GP, and their children.

A warm look at the unique role played by doctors in communities, and the privileges and responsibilities that come with it. Who else but a doctor gets to learn such intimate details about everyone’s personal lives?

Constellations Sinéad Gleeson This collection of 14 essays document varying points in the author’s life, much of which was spent suffering from very serious illness: Gleeson was diagnosed with arthritis as a teenager, and leukaemia as an adult. Often writing from her hospital bed, the author discusses Irish politics and culture, as well as what it means to inhabit a human body, pain, and frustrations associated with being a patient. “The kingdom of the sick is not a democracy,” she writes, discussing her relationship with doctors and consultants. A moving account of being sick, and much more.

Beyond the Tape Dr Marie Cassidy It takes quite a strong stomach to do what Dr Marie Cassidy did for a living. Hailing from Scotland originally, Dr Cassidy became Ireland’s state pathologist in 2004, spending 14 years in the role. There are accounts of a lot of infamous cases, including that of Siobhan Kearney, whose husband left her murder scene to look like a suicide.

There’s also the death of young Robert Holohan, the murder of whom shocked the country in 2005. An important account of very difficult job indeed.

Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor’s Story Dr Rachel Clarke “I am a junior doctor,” writes Dr Rachel Clarke, in her 320-page memoir about her career in medicine. “It is 4am. 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.”

Sound familiar? Journalist turned doctor Rachel Clarke discusses her time on the frontlines of Britain’s NHS, and the role she played in strikes that took place in historic junior doctor strikes.

Tagged with: A Life in Trauma Dr Chris Luke Against the Tide Dr Noël Browne All in a Doctor’s Day: Memoirs of an Irish Country Practice Dr Lucia Gannon An Irish Country Doctor Patrick Taylor Beyond the Tape Dr Marie Cassidy Can Medicine Be Cured? The Corruption of a Profession Dr Seamus O’Mahony Constellations Sinéad Gleeson Healing Touch: an illustrated history of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland Alf McCreary medical books The Language of Illness Prof. Fergus Shanahan Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor’s Story Dr Rachel Clarke

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