Ep 137 Dr Neela Janakiramanan - Time for change

When it comes to medical drama’s we’ll often think about Grey’s Anatomy, ER or even House. What’s missing from these drama’s is the perspective of the female Doctor and the truth behind a medical system that truly needs an overhaul.

Dr Neela Janakiramanan is a reconstructive plastic surgeon with expertise in complex hand and wrist surgery. She is a seasoned public speaker and advocate on issues including health equity, gender equity and diversity, and inclusion.

Neela is a regular contributor to Women’s Agenda, and has also written for The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The Saturday Paper, and often appears on ABC’s The Drum.

Outside of seeing patients, Dr Neela has turned her hand to fiction writing. Her latest book, The Registrar offers a rare insight into the world of a surgeon-in- the-making from one who has survived it. Dedicated and ambitious, Emma Swann is about to start a gruelling year as a surgical registrar at the prestigious Mount teaching hospital.

Emma quickly experiences escalating stress 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.

This gripping novel goes behind the headlines to reveal the human experience of being both a doctor and patient in a medical system at breaking point.

Soak up the new perspectives and lived experiences shared by this deep thinking advocate, Dr Neela Janakiroamanan.

Roll-call:

Host & producer: @alihill

Guest: @drneelaj

Book: 'The Registrar' published by Allen & Unwin

Dr Neela's Website: https://drneela.com.au/