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Written by Medical staff
Written by Patients
Making the Cut
By Dr Mohamed Khadra – available from Random
House
In this compelling and beautifully written
impressionistic memoir, Mohamed Khadra recounts stories from
his life as a surgeon, from the gruelling years of training
to the debilitating sleepless nights on call. He looks back
at the doctors and patients who shaped his career; at the
endless stream of humanity - courageous, pitiful, admirable
and dislikable - who passed under his knife, as he recalls
shocking tales of mistakes in theatre and the shattered lives
of doctors defeated by the stresses of the job..
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Terminal Decline
By Dr Mohamed Khadra – available from Random
House
In this book, Khadra explains how our hospitals
came to be stifled by bureaucracy; whether we can and should
administer universally free health care to our population;
and how best we can do that in 2010. He also peppers the book
with compelling examples of real people he has treated - patients
whose health he should have been able to improve, but who
became stuck in a system that made their lives worse…
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The Patient
By Dr Mohamed Khadra – available from Random
House
At 47, Jonathan Brewster finally feels like
he's king of the world - he has a lucrative job, a happy marriage,
two children in private schools, an impressive house and a
flashy car. He's also hugely in debt, but that's never really
bothered him - until he wakes up at dawn bursting for the
toilet, urinates blood and ends up waiting eight hours in
Emergency before he sees a doctor. In the midst of his successful
life, Jonathan has neglected to take care of his health, or
even to conceive of the possibility of losing it…
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Vital Signs: Stories from Intensive
Care
By Dr Ken Hillman – book available
from UNSW
Press
This is a gripping collection of stories about the experiences
of intensive care patients, their families and carers, is
about ordinary people facing terrible tragedies and the ways
they cope with them…
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Saving Life or Prolonging
Death?
By Charlie Cork – book available through Erudite
Publishing
The last few decades have seen progress in
technologies that have changed medical care to a level almost
beyond imagination. Techniques have been refined to such an
extent that treatments previously thought to be too risky
to contemplate have now become standard, offering many patients
extra years to spend with their loved ones. This is, of course,
excellent news. However everything comes at a price…
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How Safe Is Your Prescription?
by Ken Lee – book available through BookPal
Research shows that around one in three
prescriptions (39%) which are checked via a medication screening
program in Australian community pharmacies has an error, with
the potential consequences for the patient ranging from minor
inconvenience to hospitalisation or even death. Given that
medicine-related deaths kill more people than heart attacks
or cancer and 6% of hospital admission are due to problems
related to medicine use, Mr Lee is asking why this issue hasn't
featured more prominently on the priority agendas of Federal
Governments, state health departments and healthcare professional
bodies.
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Breast
Cancer : Taking Control
by John Boyages available from Berkelouw
Books
Over 550,000 women are living with a past
diagnosis of breast cancer in Western Europe. Over 125,000
are diagnosed every year in Western Europe and 44,000 in the
UK. This is a unique, easy-to-read three-part book for patients
with breast cancer. Written by an international expert who
has treated thousands of patients. The book empowers women
and their families who are faced with a diagnosis of breast
cancer. In full colour and plain English. The book has 20
chapters centred around, 'Control-Points', decisions or steps
that need to be taken at key points of a patient's breast
cancer journey. The book also incorporates special features
to assist women and their families with breast cancer - flow
charts, end-of-chapter summaries; over 100 photographs. It
includes over 75 web sites, glossary and index.
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The Phoenix Rises - a story of survival
By Colin McGill available from Hudson
Publishing
In 1989, Mr McGill was employed as Head of
Chemistry at Mentone Grammar School. He bush walked as well
as playing and coaching football. "I had a very, very
active lifestyle," he said. With numbness in his fingers,
Mr McGill visited his doctor who diagnosed a weak blood vessel
in his brain. The doctor said the vessel would haemorrhage
within a year. "He said 'no one has ever survived it'."
Mr McGill had only recently married and welcomed a baby boy
one month earlier. During the year, Mr McGill's doctor phoned
to tell him a new type of surgery was available. "I had
the surgery but it didn't work." During the operation,
the blood vessel broke and Mr McGill experienced a brain stem
stroke...
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Through a Glass Darkly
By Caroline Jones – book available
through ABC
Books
Through a Glass Darkly chronicles Caroline Jones’ immensely
personal journey as she watched her deeply loved father die,
and the challenging seven-year chapter of her life since.
She was unprepared for the intensity of her grief; for a long
time the experience of the final eight weeks of his life was
locked up in images that haunted the dreams of her broken
sleep, and startled her with their clarity when
she awoke too early and unrefreshed…
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