Author(s): Elizabeth Green

Biography

The incredible story of a woman who took the path less travelled to work for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in outback Australia, and what the experience taught her about life, death and human connection. 

It was 1988. I had no time for makeup and wore a crushed heart on my sleeve. My life was up in the air. Being a flying doctor grounded me. I went underground to rescue a miner trapped in a rock fall and flew across the outback to treat a critically ill baby. I learned that medicine was not all life and death experiences – it was the quiet moments when you gained a patient’s trust.

It was not Elizabeth Green’s destiny to be a doctor. Raised in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, her mother a teacher and her father a priest, the career options open to her were limited. But against the odds of the time and her upbringing, she was accepted to study medicine. The course was set for a life of extremes, one that would see her return to the remote places that shaped her, and grapple with life and death in the Australian Outback.

No Time for Makeup is a raw, unguarded insight into medical life. It is about the light and the dark sides of providing life-saving care. The complexities of practicing in a time of unprecedented social change. The conflicts of being a working parent. The quiet moments of gaining a patient’s trust, and being inspired to become a better doctor. A beautifully written and deeply affecting account of a woman raised in the Australian Outback, who then returned there as a doctor in the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Exploring the beautiful and harsh realities of providing life-saving care in extreme conditions, as well as the quiet moments of seeing a patient’s bravery and gaining their trust. A fascinating insight into the Royal Flying Doctor Service in outback Australia: an iconic medical retrieval service with unique challenges in some of the most remote and arid country in the world Will appeal to a broad readership of those interested in the behind-the-scenes of medical life, including fans of This is Going to Hurt, Grey’s Anatomy and House. A beautifully written account of both a fascinating life story, and of the insights into life, death and human connection gained by someone working to provide life-saving care.