Breaking & Mending: A junior doctor’s stories of compassion & burnout

‘A few years ago, I found myself in A&E. I had never felt so ill. I was mentally and physically broken. So fractured, I hadn’t eaten properly or slept well, or even changed my expression for months. I sat in a cubicle, behind paper-thin curtains…and I shook with the effort of not crying. I was an inch away from defeat… but I knew I had to carry on. Because I wasn’t the patient. I was the doctor.’

In this powerful memoir, Joanna Cannon tells her own story as a junior doctor, and the stories of many others like her, facing the extraordinary and sometimes daunting landmarks along the way: from the first shock of holding another person’s life in your hands, to moments of crisis and loss. In a profession where weakness remains a taboo, this book will bring this tension to life with vivid, human stories, and hope for how we can better care for those we rely on to care for us - as well as crucial lessons on mental health at work for all of us.