The Patient Doctor

The Patient Doctor

Dr Ben Bravery was only 28 when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He survived and is now a qualified doctor telling his story and advocating for a better healthcare system. 

There was no lightbulb moment where Dr Ben Bravery realised he wanted to get into medicine. After being diagnosed with bowel cancer, Dr Bravery said it was the accumulation of his experience as a patient and having much needed time afterwards to reflect on his life post-cancer that made him switch career paths.

“You get discharged, and it’s amazing because you’re alive, but the hard part is going back to regular life – and my life had changed a great deal. The old work I did just wasn’t pushing my buttons the same way that it used to,” Dr Bravery said.

Prior to undertaking specialty training in psychiatry, Dr Bravery was a Zoologist and Science Communicator who was familiar with putting pen to paper. 

“It definitely took some time to work out that I wanted to give back to the public hospital system that had saved my life, and maybe through that process I could potentially tweak a few aspects of healthcare too.” 

The Patient Doctor was published in 2022 gaining rave reviews from both doctors and patients. It was written with the intent to bridge the patient-doctor gap that not many are aware of. 

“I went to medical school at the age of 32 to learn how to give back but also to learn the language of medicine to better understand how doctors think and approach problems so I could start to influence aspects of healthcare that I thought needed improving from the patient’s perspective. 

“But what I realised when I crossed over was that a lot of students and doctors were also hurting, and they were hurting mainly because of system factors – a bit like the patient hurts because of the healthcare system, the people working in it were also hurting because of the healthcare system,” Dr Bravery said.

“With this perspective, my agenda for the book became a bit broader, I realised that addressing only one side of the patient-doctor equation was silly and misguided – you have to balance attention and care on both sides of that. 

“The idea for The Patient Doctor was to take my experience as a patient and now a doctor so that I could bridge the gap that I see growing between patients and doctors to help them better understand what’s going on, on both sides, and from that help them find a common language and common set of values so they can demand change together,” said Dr Bravery. 

Dr Bravery states that both sides are asking for the same change – just in slightly different ways. It’s because of the divide in power, knowledge, and status that both patients and doctors are not always at the same table. 

Dr Bravery said the system can lack compassion. 

“Our health system is world class – I’m not taking away from that and I’m alive because of it. I received all the cancer treatment I needed quickly, confidently, and safely. It was the other experience, the side of the patient being in the system, that was lacking. 

“The system can lack humanity and can forget that it’s a human laying in that bed, and not just a problem. It’s things like the way we communicate with each other, the methods of communication, the way ward rounds are structured, the way hospital rooms are designed, the visiting hours, the meals we receive – the list goes on.

“Besides the world-class treatment, it’s that stuff that lingers, and patients remember and talk about for years afterwards. So there’s a real opportunity there to improve some of that stuff, not only so hopefully they can heal faster at the time, but they’re more satisfied then and into the future,” he said.

Dr Bravery acknowledges that many people have been working on improving the healthcare system for decades – he’s grateful for the opportunity to add to the conversation from a different voice. 

“If the unusual nature of my story means a few more people pay attention – both on the doctor side and patient side, and both take an interest in how our doctors are going and how our patients are treated then that’s what I’m happy to achieve the most with this book,” he said.

The writing process for The Patient Doctor took a year as Dr Bravery juggled with being a registrar – having a full-time patient load and keeping up with training requirements, with being a dad to a young child. He says if there’s any doctors out there who have the urge to write a book, to tell a story or their own story – just go for it. 

“Medical training positions us well to focus on a big goal, long-term, and just chip away at it. Find the bit you want to contribute to and just start writing. I recognise my voice alone isn’t going to change the system, but it’s a small start,” said Dr Bravery.

The Patient Doctor is available now in bookstores and online. RRP $34.99. Purchase here: www.benbravery.com/book