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The Registrar (Neela Janakiramanan, A&U)

Emma Swann has worked her whole life to get here—and it’s even worse than she imagined. The young doctor has recently been accepted onto the highly competitive orthopaedic surgery program and is about to start her training at a prestigious hospital. The problems start straight away: the bullying; the gendered discrimination; the unachievable workload; the expectation that she never complain. Emma is faced with a system that is broken and dangerous, for doctors and patients alike. In The Registrar, doctor and author Neela Janakiramanan takes aim at the many issues deeply ingrained in the Australian healthcare system, with particular focus on the pressures placed on young doctors during their training. Through Emma’s story the reader is shown how doctors are forced to choose study and work over everything else, including food, sleep, family and their own mental health. Janakiramanan doesn’t shy away from highlighting how this causes a ripple effect—how it impacts patient care, and how it can cut lives short. Janakiramanan’s debut novel, an earlier version of which was shortlisted for the 2021 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, is written from a place of knowledge in an accessible and engaging way, spotlighting the frustrations and injustices rampant throughout the medical system. The Registrar is a page-turner with a message: the system is broken, and it’s killing people. Things need to change.

Elizabeth Flux is a freelance writer and editor. Read her interview with Neela Janakiramanan here.

 

Category: Friday Unlocked reviews Reviews