Book launch: Life and death decisions

Registration is essential.

About the book

From Millaa Millaa in Far North Queensland to Geneva, Switzerland, Dr Lachlan McIver weaves his journey of practising medicine with an examination of the most urgent global health crises of our time in this no-holds-barred memoir. Drawn to 'wild medicine' after the death of his father, Lachlan has worked as a rural generalist and public health specialist in some of the most remote places across Australia and the world. From operating on axe wounds to the head, to delivering a baby in the middle of a cyclone and treating severely ill patients with the bare minimum of equipment and supplies, Lachlan shines a light on the struggle of providing health care in rural and remote communities.

In telling his own story, Dr Lachlan McIver exposes the reality of the pressures on our patients and health systems the world over. He writes candidly about his own mental health concerns, alcohol abuse and bankruptcy. Alongside the individual repercussions, Life & Death Decisions exposes the pressing health concerns we face as a global community including the increasing urgency of climate change and antimicrobial resistance. Part rollicking medical memoir, part analysis of global health crises, Life & Death Decisions is a call to arms. A deeply human look at the personal cost of our broken global health system, and how we must work together to change it for the better, it is the book we need right now.

Join Dr Lachlan McIver and Professor Hilary Bambrick for a conversation about his story, the overarching themes, and the underlying message. The audience will have an opportunity to meet Lachlan, ask questions, and purchase the book.

Register now

Dr Lachlan McIver

Dr Lachlan McIver specialises in rural & remote medicine, tropical medicine and public health, and did his PhD on the health impacts of climate change. Originally from Millaa Millaa in Far North Queensland, his travels to date have spanned almost one hundred countries. He has co-authored close to fifty scientific publications in medical journals and textbooks on topics ranging from environmental health and infectious diseases to anaesthetics and emergency medicine. He is an adjunct Associate Professor at James Cook University in Australia and the co-founder of the international non-profit organisation Rocketship Pacific Ltd, which focuses on improving health in Pacific island countries. He currently lives in Switzerland, where he works as the Tropical Diseases & Planetary Health Advisor at the Geneva headquarters of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

Professor Hilary Bambrick

Professor Hilary Bambrick is Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University in Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country (Canberra). She is an environmental epidemiologist and bioanthropologist researching the health impacts of global heating, especially on more vulnerable populations, and has expertise in the development, implementation and evaluation of adaptation strategies.