This Is Going To Hurt completely changed my view of medicine.
No one goes into medicine for the fun of it, right? It’s a calling, a vocation. It takes all kinds of guts alongside the ongoing academic study and clinical research. You literally never stop learning.
And after seven years of grueling university and foundation programme study, graduating as a doctor in the UK is an incredible achievement. What awaits for the newly qualified is the stuff of nightmares and daydreams (in equal measure) according to former doctor Adam Kay.
This Is Going To Hurt aired on the BBC in early February and has received rave reviews for its frank, brutally honest and shocking revelations of life on a labour ward as a junior doctor. Watched by 6.10m viewers, the seven-episode series is based on real life diary entries of Dr Adam Kay, played by Ben Wishaw, and takes viewers on the emotionally draining rollercoaster ride that is 26-hour shifts, abusive patients, mental health battles, friendships, racism, relationship breakdowns, pressures and the miracle of life, in every one of the seven episodes.
You wont like all the characters in this programme. Adam is particularly short tempered, sarcastic and nasty to junior doctor Shruti Acharya (Ambika Mod), while fighting his own battles with Consultant Nigel Lockhart (Alex Jennings) who is detestable in his ability to belittle staff and abuse his seniority.
Consultant Vicky Houghton (Ashley McGuire) is perhaps one of the most interesting characters as her brusque manner rubs members of staff up the wrong way. However, she is painfully astute when it comes to the realities of the NHS, lack of funding, complexities of child birth and loss. She is a champion of the ‘high status working class’.
In one episode, Adam covers a shift at a private maternity hospital. For those of us at home who can only dream of such luxuries, the insight into how patients but, more interestingly, staff are treated is a real eye-opener. Without wanting to spoil the episode, thank goodness for the NHS!
This isn’t Holby City. This Is Going To Hurt is more 24 Hours in A&E with babies and the main characters having time to break the fourth wall and talk to the camera about what’s really going on. It’s hellish and beautiful. You’ll laugh one minute and cry the next. It’s real.
As a medical student, it may compound what you already know about the pressures of working on the wards. It may frighten the life out of you. The show might give you an insight into the valuable friendships you will come to rely on when the proverbial hits the fan at work. It may prepare you in ways you’d not yet thought about.
This Is Going To Hurt also gives non-medical professionals an opportunity to understand the real-life sacrifices, commitment and sheer brilliance of those who make us better and save our lives. Some of the patients featured in the show are abhorrent in their behaviour and language and yet are still treated with the utmost respect and professionalism.
Medical students, we see you and you rock.