In 2011, while living in China and building his own science communication business, Ben Bravery was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. At just 28 years of age, he returned to Australia and underwent 18 months of treatment, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery. After having both good and bad experiences as a patient, and seeing gaping holes in the medical system, Ben decided to become a doctor, in an effort to (hopefully) become part of the solution. The title of Ben’s recent book – ‘The Patient Doctor: How one man's cancer diagnosis led to a quest to put the heart back into healthcare’ – will give you an insight into our conversation. I enjoyed it and hope you will too.
