It takes five years and more than #150,000 to train a doctor, and the training is tough and emotionally taxing. Tying in with a BBC1 television series, this book follows a group of medical students from their first challenging interview at St Mary's Hospital in West London, through to the jubilation of qualifying, and on into their first stressful weeks on the wards as qualified doctors. The ten students are from widely differing backgrounds. Dong Chiu Chin grew up in Malaysia and first came to England to do A-levels; Nick Hollings came to St Mary's from Shrewsbury School; John Shephard spent 12 years in the Navy before beginning his medical studies; and Fey Probst, another mature student, had to accommodate bringing up four children on her own. The book raises, and answers, some important questions about the way in which ordinary people are prepared for one of society's most demanding jobs.