Pf Reviews

I will need to break your other leg: tales of medical adventure and misadventure Prasanna Gautam – Hammersmith Press (RRP £9.99)

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I must confess, had I not been given this book to review I probably may never have chosen it. My interpretation of the title as a comical, after-dinnerspeaker- type read couldn’t have been more wrong.

Reading this book was a humbling, enjoyable and thought-provoking experience of one medic’s passion to save lives whatever the cost.The book left me with a warm feeling about an endlessly creative individual whose passion was to save lives regardless of constraints.

From a representative’s point of view it gives great insight into the other side of our doctors’ lives and the challenge they face whilst we press to get our product messages across. As representatives we bemoan a lack of respect from some medics, however, this book illustrates that life’s no picnic dealing with patients either.

Dr Gautam’s natural, sometimes amusing story-telling ability takes you on the journey of his life as a new doctor working in rural Nepal to Professor of Geriatric medicine in inner city UK.

Trisha McGarry

Summary: Quantum of Solace is the rage-fuelled sequel to Casino Royale, in which Daniel Craig, as possibly the best James Bond since Sean Connery, sets out to avenge the death of the deceiving Vesper and uncovers a powerful secret organisation. It is: A compelling espionage-based action film with some nice quirky touches. It isn’t: Likely to have the same all-round appeal as Casino Royale. It will appeal to:Anyone who likes their James Bond shaken and stirred. Worth seeing for: Some bizarrely located fight/chase scenes and Olga Kurylenko as a refreshingly real Bond-girl.

Effortless Success – Michael Neill – Hay House (RRP £18.99) Michael Neill is a master practitioner of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) and this 6-CD set is ideal for anyone who would like to know about how NLP can help you get what you want from life, whether on a personal or professional level. Whilst his style of coaching is based on NLP, his style and use of language is much more universal and his natural enthusiasm and general zest for life is very apparent.While he holds the view that the universe can provide what we want, his theory is that we need to be clear and honest about what we want first. He also believes that we can’t force things to happen and that sometimes we need to sit with something that we are pushing and when we reflect back we often realise that it was not the right thing to do at that time. He uses some examples from clients he has worked with to illustrate how his techniques can help, for example, around time management suggesting that you allow three priorities at a time to keep things manageable. Initially, they will be big rocks that you need to scale down in terms of time to a month, then you break them down into smaller actions, initially down to two weeks, then one week, then daily. The idea is that you end up with three priorities for each day linking into your initial big rocks that you have set yourself to achieve over a month. The box set comes with a very user-friendly work book, which is a good way to work through some of the exercises, in particular around goal setting and being clear about what it is you want, what is stopping you from getting it and then what actions you need to take to achieve your goal. Kim Hollis Pf Reader competition! To enter the draw for one of four free copies of Michael Neill’s 6-CD set Effortless Success, simply answer the following question: What was the title of Michael Neill’s first book? Please email your answer to: diana.spencer@healthpublishing.co.uk.