Join Lucy O'Hagan to celebrate her memoir Everything But the Medicine, a candid insight into the life and work of a general practitioner. Lucy will talk, read from her book and create a conversation about the important things that are needed in a room with a doctor.
Longlisted in the General Non-Fiction Award category of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Copies of the book will be available for sale through Bruce McKenzie Booksellers.
Wise, candid, brave and moving, this superbly written memoir by a New Zealand GP is reminiscent of the warm wisdom and humanity of the American physician and writer Atul Gawande.
Over her long career Dr Lucy O’Hagan has developed deep insights into the profound but often complex relationship between patients and doctors. Reading about her own struggle with what it means to be a truly useful doctor is both fascinating and absorbing.
From working with people living on the margins and her own burnout to her efforts to better serve her Māori patients and the humour that’s sometimes needed to get through the day, she keeps her eye on one key question: What is it to be a good doctor in this place? Lucy's memoir is deeply personal, searingly honest, cage-rattling exploration of her personal history and of the profound and complex relationships between doctors and patients.
Copies of the book will be available for sale through Bruce McKenzie Booksellers.
‘One of the best books of nonfiction of 2025’ — Steve Braunius, Newsroom
‘Everything But the Medicine is straight out of the trenches. Read it, then call me in the morning. It is very much a medicine itself.’ — Glenn Colquhoun
