'Sometimes in hospital people die - but not all of them should. A moving, addictive debut novel for readers of Going Under and Emotional Female.
''Emma, you'll be totally fine ... If there's ever a doctor who's going to thrive in surgical training, I'm sure it's you.'
'Dedicated and ambitious, Emma Swann is about to start a gruelling year as a surgical registrar at the prestigious Mount teaching hospital. She's excited to join her adored older brother Andy in pursuing the same career as their father, an eminent surgeon who made his name at The Mount.
'But the pressure of living up to his distinguished reputation is nothing compared with the escalating stress Emma experiences as a registrar. It's an arduous, unremitting slog of twenty-hour days, punishing schedules, life and death decisions - and very little assistance, instruction or support from her superiors, who waste no time pointing out just how superior they are. Amidst a background culture of humiliation and bullying, being a woman just makes things worse: misogyny is rife and Emma is subjected to other, more insidious, kinds of male attention.
'As Emma battles overwork, exhaustion and increasing disillusion, she has less and less ability and time to care for her patients' welfare, and that of herself and those she loves. Is it possible for her to be the doctor, wife, sister and friend she aspires to be in such a broken hospital system? Can she salvage her own life while she's trying to save others? And how can she and her colleagues endure such impossible conditions without making fatal mistakes?
'With the frenetic pace of a psychological thriller, The Registrar offers a rare insight into the world of a surgeon-in-the-making from one who has survived it. Told with compassion, skill and emotional heart, this gripping and moving novel goes behind the headlines to reveal the human experience of being both doctor and patient in a medical system at breaking point.' (Publication summary)
'It can only be coincidence that two very similar novels have been produced by contemporary doctors, but the overlapping characters and themes of Cut and The Registrar are so striking that it’s hard not to visualise their authors, Susan White and Neela Janakiramanan, getting together somewhere to sketch out their early drafts. Both novels feature young female protagonists working in teaching hospitals, who are as dedicated to their patients as they are to advancing their careers.' (Introduction)
Neela Janakiramanan on Writing What Really Happens to Our Doctors
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2022
24915576
2022
single work
podcast
interview
'Dr Neela Janakiramanan is a reconstructive plastic surgeon and advocate, and with the 2022 publication of The Registrar she adds novelist to her list of achievements.
'Neela was also one of the medical leads in the Kids off Nauru campaign and in bringing together the Australian medical community and operationalising the Australian Medevac legislation to facilitate medical care for refugees in offshore detention.
'Neela is a regular contributor to Women's Agenda, and has also written for The Age/Sydney Morning Herald andThe Saturday Paper, and often appears on ABC's The Drum.'(Introduction)
'It can only be coincidence that two very similar novels have been produced by contemporary doctors, but the overlapping characters and themes of Cut and The Registrar are so striking that it’s hard not to visualise their authors, Susan White and Neela Janakiramanan, getting together somewhere to sketch out their early drafts. Both novels feature young female protagonists working in teaching hospitals, who are as dedicated to their patients as they are to advancing their careers.' (Introduction)
Neela Janakiramanan on Writing What Really Happens to Our Doctors
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2022
24915576
2022
single work
podcast
interview
'Dr Neela Janakiramanan is a reconstructive plastic surgeon and advocate, and with the 2022 publication of The Registrar she adds novelist to her list of achievements.
'Neela was also one of the medical leads in the Kids off Nauru campaign and in bringing together the Australian medical community and operationalising the Australian Medevac legislation to facilitate medical care for refugees in offshore detention.
'Neela is a regular contributor to Women's Agenda, and has also written for The Age/Sydney Morning Herald andThe Saturday Paper, and often appears on ABC's The Drum.'(Introduction)
