Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

An interesting book. Some parts struck a chord with me, while other parts struck me the wrong way. I found it quite dense, and it's definitely nothing like the diary of a doctor style books that are currently popular. Well worth a read though.

Also Human by Caroline Elton is about the pressures and challenges faced by doctors and medical students.

At its core, psychologist Caroline Elton's book is about empathy. Her stories of doctors who seek to help others but struggle to help themselves is compelling but obviously only tells the difficult stories (no one is going to see her if everything is going well, are they?) The case studies provide insights into the career growth in the medical profession and the trials and tribulations that accompany it.

Essential reading for anyone who wants a thorough understanding of life as a doctor in the UK, although there is an element of repetition in the case studies and points the author is making.

A must read for physicians and other medical professionals

Dr Caroline Elton is an occupational psychologist specializing in physicians and dentists. She had the unique opportunity to shadow a number of different medical teams in their daily work, and has worked with a large number of physicians during her career. Thus, she is very well qualified to write about this topic. I don't think her book is much suited for the general public, but should be a must read for physicians.

"We take it on trust that the doctor is up to the task, and doesn't feel tired or overwhelmed. We rarely consider whether the doctor (...) is terrified of accidentally hurting us. We simply assume that if they are relatively junior, there will be a senior clinician somewhere nearby to answer their questions and ensure that they're doing their job correctly. (...)"

Elton touches on a number of issues that doctors face today, including getting through Med school, starting work as a junior doctor,
unpreparedness, exhaustion, lack of support, working long hours, leaving the field of medicine and more. I especially enjoyed the first part of the book, as Elton reminded me of lots of experiences I went through in my early career, and still go through. The second part got a bit more difficult to read through as it was more dry, but still enjoyable. Elston mentions a number of resources (books and studies) which sound like interesting reads, but unfortunately the ebook did not include a reference list. This is definitely something I'd recommend for later editions. I would recommend this to every physician and med students becoming junior doctors. As Elton closes, "Perhaps in 150 years' time, society will recognize that, whilst the demands of the job are exceptional, the person inhabiting the role of the doctor is, just like their patients, also human.".

Thank you Random House UK and Netgalley for an ARC in return for my honest opinion.

I am always interested in book related to the medical field and psychology so I was grateful for the opportunity to read this book written by a psychologist about doctors she sees in the course of her work.

Many many years ago I worked In the public hospital system in an admin role and remember, as a young 20 year old, residents not much older than myself being subjected to the harshness described in this book. The memory of me finishing work at 3pm on a Friday excited to celebrate the next two days ahead with friends before returning to work on Monday morning. I distinctly remember one Monday morning, working on a ward in a large, public hospital in Australia and seeing the poor resident who had been lucky to take a toilet break and maybe get 15 mins rest (not sleep) in the whole 60+ hours since I had left. She looked, understandably spent after a weekend of covering the whole medical side of this large hospital with only one other resident covering the surgical side.

I am saddened that decades on this has not changed and stories are similar around the world.

We all know on some level, the difficulty of med school but this book has given me a deeper, greater appreciation of what anyone aspiring to be a doctor goes through, even before they put on that white coat. I hope that this book can help a large audience of readers be more aware of the difficulties doctors face and the strength they face on an hourly basis to make life threatening decisions whilst often trying to keep the,selves alive in the process.

I really enjoyed reading this book. There are so many books where the doctor tells stories about their patients (civils), but this book is something different because this doctor is a psychologist and he has doctor patients as well.

I just want to personally thank NetGalley and the publisher of this book for allowing me the chance to read an advance copy of this book, I apologize that the review is late.

This book was so raw and real and showed what doctors have to go through to get to where they are and in life. Although the statistics had drowned out the impact the book had on me I felt pure empathy for these doctors and was honoured to have been able to read into their lives as it gave a new perspective to what they go through.

I definitely recommend people to read this book.

It is too easy to put doctors on pedestals without regard or consideration they are human just like the rest of us. It is also unrealistic to expect the medical profession to be able to rise above any upset. The author is a psychologist with many years experience treating doctors and well placed to highlight the problems faced by them including factors exacerbating lack of confidence and/or depression. She also comments on training methods, which are not always up to date with the times.
This book was very enlightening and highlighted several things I had not considered in relation to doctors eg they might feel marginalized, job satisfaction isnt guaranteed or the profession is not supportive of those with caring responsibilities. I was stunned to learn mental/physical illness; gender and disability are still not widely accepted or treated equally. It is not surprising to learn it is almost impossible for them to find a little time for themselves, their health, families and relationships.
Real life stories have always been of interest to me. I felt I learned something (quite a few things actually) and had a good time along the way! If you have ever complained about your doctor/medical profession reading this will encourage you to be more tolerant.
It was good to see nurses given recognition for greater value than their job description details.
Just as a side note, I was interested to learn that author Michael Crichton trained as a doctor prior to becoming an author.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Caroline Elton notes in the introduction to her book ‘Also Human: The Inner Lives of Doctors’, that while there have been several books written by doctors reflecting on their work and case studies of the patients they have treated (Suzanne O’Sullivan is just one example along with Henry Marsh, Kathryn Mannix, Oliver Sacks and many others), there have not been nearly so many where doctors themselves are the subjects of case studies. Over the past two decades of her career as an occupational psychologist, Elton has shadowed and interviewed hundreds of doctors and this book offers an eye-opening look into how the transition from medical school to junior doctor is managed, the varied reasons why doctors choose their specialties and how clinicians develop emotional resilience. Many medics experience sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination and it’s clear that the system is not well designed to help those who are struggling. For example, those who don’t score highly in the Situational Judgement Test at the end of their final exams are more likely to end up in placements where they are not well supported or working in a part of the country they have no links with.

Although many of the case studies eventually have positive outcomes, the tone is generally pessimistic presumably because Elton has come into contact with more doctors who are not well suited to medicine or have had unfortunate experiences than I hope is typical in the profession. Overall, ‘Also Human’ is a thought-provoking book which rightly reminds us that doctors are not superhuman. Many thanks to Random House UK, William Heinemann for sending me a review copy via NetGalley.

Parts of this book I really enjoyed. Namely the parts which were about the actual people on the front line. It was interesting to hear their struggles and how they coped and basically showed the human side. I work within the NHS and don't always realise the impact on doctors and nurses etc. Unfortunately for me, there was not enough of this type of writing within the book it was more about the statistics which I found pretty boring.

As the parent of a first-year medical student at university, I was interested to read 'Almost Human' and found it a fascinating book. The author has had unique insights into lives of doctors and the way they work and the book highlighted the rewards of a career in medicine but also the many pitfalls, not least to the mental health of doctors. I liked the statistical element to the authors discussions although found the chapters too long and felt the author focused too much on the 'segue' by trying to constantly link back to pervious information. In this regard, some parts of the book read a little too much like an academic essay.

I hope that my medic-student does not find she has made the wrong career choice in life but it is good to know that the author's career service is available and provides such valuable assistance if she ever does.

Wow what an emotional read, really showed the human side of doctors. Very thought provoking I will certainly have more empathy for doctors and the emotions tgat they must go through on a daily badis to do their jobs. I thoroughly enjoyed this book very well written.

Working in the medical field (not as a Dr) for the past 30 odd years, the subject of how Dr’s cope with what they see and their hours always interests me. I have not worked a hospital setting since the early 1990’s but reading this book is exactly like I remember, even if it was based around the UK. I wonder if Australia’s conditions for their medical staff have improved.....I’m not sure they have.

I loved reading the personal stories of the doctors but sometimes it became lost in all the ‘jargon’ and it slipped into being a ‘paper for submission’ type of reading, with lots of facts and figures.
My interest waned when I came across those passages/chapters, so I did find myself skipping to the more personal stories. These were varied and interesting and a common theme of being under supported and over worked ran through them. I have a lot of respect and empathy for these Doctors and I really hope conditions are improving for them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read

Having just come through a serious illness I am already in awe of the UK health service, but I am aware of the incredible pressures it is under.
This book gives an insight to these issues and also the support that is or isn’t available to the staff.
At times a hard read but always interesting and I have even more respect for our doctors now.

A combination of some experience in psychology and an interest in the medical profession made this book appealing to me. The author is a vocational psychologist with considerable experience dealing with doctors. In this book she seeks to discuss issues affecting doctors illustrated with case studies from her own experience. She also looks at the topic of training doctors - particularly new ones in the UK and in other countries itoo. She starts with a statement of her background and aspects of the reality of being a doctor in the NHS .

The first chapter focusses on first year doctors in particular. The statistics for outcomes in the first week of August (when doctors first state work on wards) speak for themselves. The individual cases serve to underpin the statistics. The author makes some pertinent and, to me, intelligent observations on the issues and it simply emphasises the fact that the system is in need of review.

A number of areas where doctors have issues with their work are looked at in subsequent chapters. Those who have joined the medical profession because of incidents in their family which then cause them problems when treating particular conditions is an example. However both gender and sexuality are looked at too as well as other pressures on doctors.

There are some real gems in this book. The chapter that includes hospice care and training there was excellent for example. In general the chapters start with a case study by way of introduction. Other case studies are often offered. Then there is consideration of the issues at a more general level. The author then returns to the original case study. On a number of chapters this felt rather drawn out to me.

Without question this book shows doctors as "also human" living up to the title. It also shows them as laudable, dedicated and flawed. The system and underlying structure of the education and development of doctors is really in need of careful review. I did find that the gems in this book could be quite hard to extract from the narrative.

In part academic, in part case study based this book feels as though it can't make up its mind which it wants to be. There are no references here (although mine was an advance copy so presumably that might change) despite extensive mentions of research and publications . Equally there was no "further reading" section which I would have thought appropriate. Ultimately I'm not clear who this book is aimed at. It is not truly an academic book. I did not find it particularly readable compared with a number of other similar books I've read and reviewed. It is of interest but maybe the audience for it is a little limited sadly.

Doctors are seen as the pillars of our communities, they look after us when we are ill but who looks after them? Making life and death decisions each and every day do we put them under too much pressure?

In the book we get to see the world of medicine from a psychological viewpoint, how do we support our doctors? Is their training really meeting their needs? Caroline gets to see a side of medicine not told in the media and not discussed on the wards but she gets to see this in her unique role.

We see doctors unable to cope with the challenges they face, from confronting illness their family has been affected by to the long unsociable hours they work each week. Unfortunately, ensuring doctors mental and physical health is not being affected by there work doesn’t seem to be a priority in many places around the world.

I was fascinated to see the selection process of medical students and this differs around the world, with some of the universities adopting the MMI method which unlike a traditional entry interview panel gives the student the opportunity to show a wider range of skills from problems solving to people skills.

Another topic discussed was how F1 assignments are allocated, seeming to leave the most vulnerable students at the most risk while this affects the performance of the doctor, it in turn may keep the hospital from improving. Questions from the SJT are included, a test that assesses doctors on their clinical judgement rather than their medical knowledge. Combined the SJT and the final exams will determine where they are placed.

When cases regarding individual doctors were discussed I found it really interesting, the thoughts and feelings behind decisions where explained but the second half of each chapter contained the theories and some studies which lacked any form of character. On some of the topics, I didn’t agree with her point of view and noticed she didn’t offer any counter-arguments therefore not allowing for a balanced discussion.

To begin the book was very engaging and drew me in to keep reading but the further I was reading the more I couldn’t relate to it. I don’t think it’s a book to pick up randomly and get lost in with intrigue unless of course you have a deep interest in medicine or psychology however for studying purposes the book is excellent at bringing together different ideas and studies.

3/5 for general reading
4/5 for studying – needs to have a proper reference list

Great book about the hard work and decisions behind becoming a doctor, so interesting. Fascinating to read about what motivates doctors in their career and what psychological issues can prevent them continuing, as well as how universities are behind the times in both assessing and supporting doctors.