Publications abroad

Your life in my hands

Katarzyna Kalukin in interviews with doctors of Poland's most popular specialisations and Polish healthcare professionals. What does a patient see in a hospital emergency room? A crowded waiting room where one sits for several hours at a time, crowding, doctors and nurses who...

Born with a cap. The invisible heroines of hospital corridors

Nurses. They complete difficult studies and receive low salaries. They are frustrated when they are treated only as doctors' assistants - after all, they do a hard and demanding job. Often unrewarding, too, because patients can be a pain in the ass. And yet they love what they do. They enjoy...

War doctor

For more than twenty-five years now, Professor David Nott - a general and vascular surgeon working in London hospitals - has periodically taken unpaid leave and travelled as a volunteer to the most dangerous war zones. He has carried out lifesaving ...

Wherever you are doctor...

"Wherever you are, Doctor..." is a passionate account of the lives of friends, initially medical students, later experienced doctors. A record of their lives, full of adventures and emotions, working on different continents of the world, in the Doctors Without Borders mission, skilfully...

Gynaecologists

(Dehumanisation of gynaecology) Gynaecologists, or "female butchers" as they were called, competed to see who could cut out a uterus, deliver a baby with forceps or remove a cyst faster. At times, the demonstration of operations and the skilful use of the scalpel were more in the interest of fame...

Small Gods. How Poles Die. Volume 2

(Evaluation of care systems) In his previous, acclaimed book Small Gods (Empik Bestseller nomination), the author was employed by a hospital as a paramedic. This time, he travelled with the ambulance service to dramatic cases and took part in on-call duty in the ED. After discussions with...

Small Gods. On the anaesthesia of Polish doctors

(Physician's work as a tough profession) WHO HEALS US? Frustrated, unconsciously tired doctors after forty-eight hours on call. We feel that they are just soulless money-making machines. They, that they have become hostages to a system that is destroying ....

If I have a bad day, someone will die today

(Medical errors due to fatigue, inadequate training, lack of communication, stress, difficult ethical choices) A young Swedish doctor, Christian Unge, after graduating from a prestigious medical school, wants to use the knowledge he has gained and gain experience....

Spare parts

(Surgery/transplantology, ethical considerations) Difficult everyday life, history of transplantation, shocking cases and ethical issues. Mezrich also reflects on his vocation as a doctor. He recalls stories of courageous pioneers and independent surgeons whose...

Operator 112: report from the life-saving centre

(Patient stories, life responsibility) The book 'Operator 112: An account of a life-saving centre' is the moving and shocking story of a man who has been a participant in human dramas over the years. The author recalls the recruitment process for CPR, recalls...

An invisible front

(COVID) "This story was happening before my eyes. You will find humour, sometimes black, as well as tragic stories that sank deeply into my memory. Organisational absurdities, endless on-call duties, medical conundrums, as well as one-of-a-kind relationships....

We are doing everything we can. Tales from the ICU

(ICU and patient stories) Moving recollections of a doctor from an intensive care unit. Stories from the ICU, or intensive care unit, usually begin with sirens and ambulance lights and end with the rescue or death of a patient....

Unexplained circumstances

(Forensic medicine / how work affects personal life) Whether it's a serial killer, a natural disaster, the perfect crime or a suspicious accident - Dr Shepherd never assumes anything in advance, but always strives to discover the truth. Although he has been involved ...

Fragile life

An infant who has already suffered several heart attacks in her first months of life. A woman suffering from locked-in syndrome - fully conscious, trapped in her own body, unable to even move a finger. Finally, a pioneering operation to implant an artificial heart, in...