Overview

Holding the Border is a debut collection of poems from frontline clinical care in UK General Practice by Dr James Brockbank who was a GP in West London for nearly 30 years. The 48 poems are not marshalled into any particular category, the stories have ‘come through the door’ in random order, just as patients do. Like many clinicians Dr Brockbank is well placed to observe stories that reveal much about being human and these poems capture in word and rhythm his experience. GPs work at the interface between symptomatic illness and biomedical disease, where human suffering and distress meets the classification of scientific medicine. This is where the border lies and it is where these stories were found.  This book contributes to the canon of Medical Humanities which explores how the humanities, traditionally concerned with recording and exploring human experience, engage with specific experiences of patients, doctors, health, illness and suffering. Dr Brockbank’s poems represent the stories heard in family practice, concealed behind the mask of symptoms or disease and demonstrate the value of using the arts and creative expression to explore lived experience. This is a book that conveys the challenges and rewards of being a family doctor. It is for patients and healthcare professionals alike.

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9781789635157

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Dr James Brockbank was a GP in a West London teaching practice for nearly 30 years. In addition to his frontline duties as a clinician he was heavily involved in GP Education and was a GP Trainer, Programme Director and Appraiser. His clinical interests included mental health and palliative care and for a period of time he was lead clinician at a children’s hospice in addition to his duties as a GP. He also worked for The Helen Bamber Foundation a human rights charity supporting victims of torture and trafficking. He continues to be involved in global health, teaching doctors overseas on behalf of The Royal College of General Practitioners. Dr Brockbank is a member of The Society of Medical Writers (SOMW) which has been a platform for submitting writing including poetry for scrutiny and feedback. He completed a masters degree in Medical Humanities at King’s College London and has been involved in teaching medical humanities to medical students and GPs in training.

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