Bush Doctor

A memoir from the beautiful, rugged heart of outback Australia

Damien Brown

• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781923627994
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Medicine Biographies

The author of the bestselling Band-Aid for a Broken Leg comes home and discovers that being a doctor in outback Australia is at least as challenging as working for Medecins Sans Frontieres in Africa.

Damien is convinced that this is the best job anywhere: beautiful skies, red earth, dramatic landings, treating families in remote communities.

At a tiny, isolated hospital in central Australia, a paramedic arrives with a joey for babysitting, police help to bring in two men from a car crash, and a young man with heart failure doesn't want a transplant - he'd rather stay on Country. Damien's other job is with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Can they reach two badly burnt men in time after a fuel tank explodes on a remote Queensland cattle station? Meanwhile, Damien and his girlfriend Maya, an aid worker living in London, try to maintain a long-distance relationship.

During a violent week, Damien's exasperation boils over: the difficult cases keep arriving, and social issues can't be fixed in clinics. But the medical wins are many, and Damien finds that small interventions and human connections can be more important than dramatic rescues.

By turns thought-provoking, funny, and deeply moving, Bush Doctor is a testimony to people's resilience in difficult situations, and the joys and hardships of working in some of the most isolated parts of the country.

'Bush doctoring is real medicine. Damien's journey is fascinating.' Norman Swan, ABC Radio National The Health Report

' Bush Doctor is a superb read, in equal parts entertaining and gut wrenching. Damien captures the wonder and humour of working as a medic in remote Australia without sugar-coating the hard realities. I loved this book.' Sonia Henry, author of Put Your Feet in the Dirt, Girl

'With a light touch and occasional dark humour, Damien Brown navigates the physical and emotional challenges, the ethical conundrums and the irreconcilable contradictions of front-line medicine in remote Australia.' Kim Mahood, author of Wandering with Intent

'I am grateful to Brown for sharing such raw and grounded reflections about places and experiences I may never witness. His quiet observations speak volumes about the intersect of the ordinary and the sacred in this gem.' Sally Gould, author of Frog: The secret diary of a paramedic

'Damien Brown's humanity shines through his writing.' David Hunt, author of Girt

'There are some jobs AI will never take!' Rob Sitch, comedian, Utopia

'Written with honesty and humility, Bush Doctor is eye-opening and insightful' Benjamin Black, award-winning author of Belly Woman

'Reminds us that medicine is not just about saving lives, but about understanding them' Matt Morgan, author of Critical, One Medicine

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• DEDICATION
• CONTENTS
• AUTHOR’S NOTE
• MAP
• 1. ANXIETIES
• 2. BREATHING
• 3. CIRCULATION
• 4. DON’T FORGET GLUCOSE
• 5. EXPOSURE
• 6. FEVER OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN
• 7. GEOGRAPHY OF GRATITUDE
• 8. HAEMODIALYSIS
• 9. IMPAIRED JUDGEMENT
• 10. KNOWING LITTLE
• 11. MISCONCEPTIONS AND NUMBERS
• 12. OFFERING APOLOGIES
• 13. PSYCHOLOGY AND SORE BACKS
• 14. QANTAS LOUNGES
• 15. REMOTE SEAFARERS
• 16. TESTIMONY
• 17. UNDER THE RUG
• 18. VISUAL FIELDS
• 19. WORKING WITH XY AXES
• 20. ZEBRA DUNG
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• SELECTED SOURCES AND READING