Dr Quin, Medicine Man

'Refreshing and eloquent' - Libby Purves, The Times 'Quin's acute powers of observation vividly convey the hinterland of the modern general hospital ... A medical memoir for the Trainspotting generation.' - The Tablet *** Surgeons cut, but physicians... what do physicians actually do? And is it true that other doctors really call them 'the magicians'? John Quin worked for thirty-three years as a physician for the NHS in both Scotland and England, specialising in endocrinology. Days on the wards were uproariously funny one minute, infinitely tragic the next. Starting with a stern lesson from the president of the British Society of Gastroenterologists that the younger doctor was not 'a f****** comedian', Dr Quin, Medicine Man is packed with vividly told tales of the joy and reward of getting the diagnosis right, the disaster of getting it wrong. Darkly amusing and with a keen eye for the absurd, this sharply observed memoir is not only an acute insight into the farcical frustrations and tensions of working in a chronically underfunded system but also a timely reminder of the humanity of the NHS staff who care for us.

John Quin was born in Glasgow. He trained in medicine there and qualified as a doctor in 1983. He works as a consultant physician specialising in diabetes and endocrinology. He has been writing about art, books and music for more than twenty years for publications including ArtReview, frieze, The Quietus, Tagesspiegel, The Wire, the BMJ, The Lancet and The Guardian.