First of all don't hurt (Salamander, 2016) is a book by neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, an eminence in his field. This essay has received many awards, including PEN Ackerley and South Bank Sky Arts, as well as being a finalist for other awards. It also obtained recognition from the public, which placed it among the best books on lists such as the Financial Times o The Economist,.
Likewise, it is a book praised by critics, a conscientious essay that serves the author to confess. First of all don't hurt becomes a confession of its author before the responsibility of having the life and health of a person in his hands and the gratification of doing well a job that requires such precision and expertise.
Do No Harm Above All: Confessions of a Neurosurgeon
An unwavering commitment
First of all don't hurt is the title of this thoughtful and intimate compendium resulting from years of experience and wisdom. But it is also a maxim of the Hippocratic code to which every medical student must take an oath before officially becoming a doctor. These precepts oblige the recent graduate to always pursue the well-being of the patient, acting conscientiously at all times.
Be doctor becomes a solemn act, and beyond that, an unwavering commitment to life and health. The most important thing there is. This essay is a reflection of the oath and the experiences that Dr. Marsh has accumulated throughout a long career. Likewise, he describes himself in the subtitle as a humanistic neurosurgeon. Perhaps for that reason the need to write a book like this.
On the other hand, he does not show himself benevolently, but rather goes through his experiences as a neurosurgeon in an expiatory act, since, just like the feeling of healing or helping thousands of patients, it has compensated him on a professional and personal level. , has also experienced critical moments that have marked him and that is also described in this book. Sometimes it is terrifying, and other times moving. Neurosurgery is one of the most complex and subtle branches that exist. within medicine and a mistake can spell disaster.
The humanist neurosurgeon
The book also highlights the sincerity with which the doctor confesses and the ability he has to captivate the reader, taking into account that he is a man of science. The most humanist part of Henry Marsh stands out in this essay, his first book of these characteristics.. The vocation of the author is also appreciated, the love and respect for his profession, a profession that he has not abandoned despite his retirement and that he continues in different ways.
In addition to confessing, referring to various anecdotes, Marsh makes a premeditated analysis on the health system, as well as some philosophical comments that reflect, again, that humanist nature mentioned above. He expresses himself, however, with naturalness and closeness to such an extent that in his prose a certain tenderness can be seen. In fact, the essay is quite close and pedagogical for most who are not familiar with medical vocabulary and procedures.
Another aspect that the doctor refers to is the luck factor, to which he also attributes the success of an operation or not; something added to all the knowledge and wisdom, to the skill that has to be demonstrated every day in this profession. He also explains that before scheduling surgery it is necessary to determine if the operation should be performed or not. Which is sometimes not easy. Failures in the operating room are sadly internalized, even though a doctor must learn to live with them..
Conclusions
First of all don't hurt They are the confessions of Dr. Henry Marsh, which are loaded with honesty and which become a memoir that the author begins with this essay. It is a close book, without erudite pretensions, but brimming with wisdom and vocational love for the profession. It is a very human and natural reading about an eminent scientist who has developed his profession in the best way he knows how. In no case does he make a personal defense, but rather the text becomes a frank outlet to the thread of reflections and experiences where successes and setbacks coexist.
About the Author
Henry Marsh is an English surgeon born in Oxford in 1950.. He studied Medicine at the Royal Free Hospital, although he began his training in Political Science, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University. He worked for thirty years in the field of neurosurgery at St. George's Hospital until he retired.
He is a very famous doctor in England and has participated in informative documentaries, recognized with important awards: Your Life in Their Hands (Royal Television Society Gold Medal Award) and The English Surgeon (Emmy). In addition to First of all don't hurt (2016) He has written a biography titled Confessions (2018) and In the end, matters of life and death it is his last book (2023), published in Spanish, like the rest, by Salamander.