Despite its intentionally misleading title, this book collects the life stories of over 90 experts from an enormous range of medical specialties. Each of them presents an account of the medical path he or she has chosen. Each section gives the reader a unique insight into what it's like to work in a particular field. The information is presented in a entertaining and accessible manner and enables the reader to make a quick comparison of the different specialties based on the informal insight these personal stories provide.

Christopher Ward is a Plastic Surgeon, Richmond, London and Simon Eccles is a Specialist Registrar in Accident and Emergency, Whittington Hospital, London

Postgraduate training and flexible training, Elizabeth Paice

Women in medicine, Judith Evans

Medical research, David Evered

Breast surgery and surgical oncology, Dudley Sinnett

Cardiothoracic surgery, Jon Anderson

Coloproctology and upper gastrointestinal surgery, A J Shorthouse

ENT, Grant Bates

Head and neck surgery, Nicholas Stafford

Maxillofacial surgery, Peter T Blenkinsopp

Plastic reconstructive surgery, Per Hall

Hand surgery, David M Evans

Neurosurgery, Peter Richards

Orthopaedic surgery, Andrew J Carr

Special trauma surgery, Christopher J K Bulstrode

Paediatric surgery, D M Burge

Transplant surgery, Paul Lear

Urology, Jonathan Ramsey

Vascular surgery, John H N Wolfe

Obstetrics and gynaecology, Michael Hull, Bob Anderson, Pippa Kyle, Julian Jenkins, and Phillip Smith

Family planning and reproductive healthcare, Tunde Gbolade

Anaesthetics and intensive care, Raja Jayaweera

Practice of pain management, Peter Evans

General Practice, George K Freeman

Remote rural practice, Jon A J Macleod

Inner city practice, Brian Hurwitz

Accident and Emergency medicine, Jonathan Wyatt

Audiological medicine, Tony Sirimanna

Cardiology, William N Hubbard

Care of the elderly, Stephen G P Webster

Clinical oncology, Barbara Southcott

Clinical pharmacology, J M Ritter

Dermatology, Jonathan Leonard

Endocrinology and diabetes, Philip J Heyburn

Gastroenterology, B T Cooper

Genitourinary medicine, D Daniels

Infectious disease and tropical medicine, Robert N Davidson

Medical oncology, Gordon Rustin

Musculoskeletal medicine, Bryan English

Nuclear medicine, John Buscombe

Neurology, Roderick Duncan

Occupational health, Ian Lambert

Ophthalmology, Nicholas Evans

Paediatrics, Christopher Rolles

Palliative medicine, Andrew Hoy

Public health medicine, Tom W Davies

Radiology: diagnostic and interventional, Philip J Robinson

Renal medicine, Charles Tomson

Respiratory medicine, A Seed

Rheumatology, Simon Allard

Spinal injuries, David Grundy

Sports medicine, J B King

Psychiatry, David John Cottrell

Royal Navy, Surgeon Commander John Gabb

The Army, Major Tim J Hodgetts

The Royal Air Force, Group Captain M Ranger

Chemical Pathology, Philip D Mayne

Forensic Pathology, Christopher Milroy

Haematology, Sally C Davies

Histopathology and cytopathology, Iain Lindsay

Immunology, Jim Darroch

Medical microbiology, D K Banerjee

Transfusion medicine, Virge James

Virology, Judy Breuer

Anatomy, John Morris

Clinical genetics, Helen Kingston

Physiology, Frank Harrison

Medical research charities, Diana Garnham

Pharmaceutical medicine, Dr Hugh Boardman

Medical devices, Wynne Weston Davies

Complementary medicine, Penny Brougham

Civil service, Wendy Thorpe

Prison medical service, Roy Burrows

Medical management and politics, Peter Simpson

Medical education, Peter McCrorie

Medical defence organisations, Patrick Hoyte

Law, Paul Yates

Medical ethics, Len Doyal

Medical journalism, David Devlin

Working overseas, Sallie Nicholas

International health exchange, Isobel McConnan

Voluntary service overseas, Sue Randall and Jane Ellis

Christian medical work overseas, Peter Saunders

Ship's doctor, Gerald Waddington