On Call: The anatomy of my life as a surgeon, a daughter, a mother, for readers of Adam Kay, Cynric Temple-Camp and Noelle McCarthy

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Frank, sharp-witted and heart-rending, On Call is a stunning memoir by a female Samoan-New Zealand general surgeon about life, death, and the human limits of care

As soon as she could, Ineke Meredith left her family home in Samoa for New Zealand, filled with determination not to be like her mother: loving but loyal to a violent husband, trapped in a country that limited her. Achieving a scholarship to study medicine, she became a general surgeon at age 33 and worked extreme hours by the motto that what didn't kill her made her stronger. But nothing could have prepared her for when her own parents fell ill - not even a career in medicine.

In this sharp-witted and heart-rending memoir, Ineke tells her story of burnout and finding compassion where she least expected. Racing between hospital patients and torn between her roles as a surgeon, a single working mother and a daughter to two sick parents, this is a book about the cost of care, when empathy comes easier with a patient than with family. When every day presents a life-or-death decision, how do you know when you need to stop

'Do you take your work home with you' my son's psychologist asked me once.

'Yes,' I answered honestly. 'Everything is compared to what I see every day. Sometimes I go home just grateful to be alive.'

Author Bio

Ineke Meredith was born in New Zealand to parents of mixed-Samoan heritage. She spent part of her childhood in Samoa but moved to New Zealand after winning a scholarship to study medicine. She graduated from the Otago Medical School, Dunedin, in 2003 with an MBChB, and became a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2014. In 2015, she commenced her subspecialty training in breast cancer and reconstruction, and spent time in New Zealand, Sydney, UK and Paris. Now a General Surgeon with a subspecialty interest in breast cancer and breast reconstruction, Ineke is working and living between New Zealand and Paris. She has published research articles in international peer-reviewed medical journals on breast cancer and reconstruction, cancer rates among Pacific peoples in New Zealand, and has participated in international collaboratives on cancer rates in diaspora. She is formerly a lecturer for the Wellington Medical School in New Zealand and a member of the clinical advisory group for the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand. She also founded and runs Fur Love, a dog skin and body care business. Ineke started to write patient stories in her early consultancy, both as a testament to patients and as catharsis after difficult days on call.