Albany GP shares tales of the dead in new memoir exposing secrets of the post-mortem world

Sliced brains on cafeteria trays, maggots, blood and guts. To some it might sound like a gory scene out of a horror movie. However, these are just some of the sights Albany general practitioner Meryl Broughton experienced as a country medical examiner conducting autopsies. Dr Broughton has just published her book titled Autopsies for the Armchair Enthusiast which exposes the secrets of the rarely seen post-mortem world. The doctor-turned-author believes that while her patients’ voices can no longer be heard, their tales can teach a lot and deserve a wider audience than the autopsy room alone. Taking one decade to complete and ready for publication two years later, Dr Broughton’s more than 35 years experience in the medical world has been captured in her 224-page memoir. The last GP to do autopsies for the coroner in regional WA, Dr Broughton’s career involves a wealth of stories that some people might struggle to stomach. The coroner can ask any medical practitioner, usually a forensic pathologist, to perform an autopsy to determine the cause of an unexpected death. However, Dr Broughton said because of her experience and the fact that older doctors were already doing the procedure here in the region, she took over from retiring Albany doctor Joe Lubich. “People are curious about the human body and the processes of delving into it, if the popularity of entertainment based on hospital themes and crime investigation is anything to go by,” she said. “In the course of doing autopsies for the coroner while also being a clinic doctor, it became clear to me that we can improve our lives by knowing what causes death.” Dr Broughton’s compelling insights are not only encouragement to look after our health but also to be amazed by the human body. Dr Broughton worked in Melbourne hospitals for six years which included specialist training in anatomical pathology. This involved looking at body tissues removed during operations as well as doing more than 300 autopsies. In 1987, she had a change of pace, moving into general practice on the urban-rural fringe in Victoria in 1987. She has been a country doctor ever since. Relocating to Albany in 2003, she is currently taking some time off work as a GP at the Aberdeen Medical Centre. Dr Broughton said the performance of autopsies was becoming increasingly rare so it seemed fitting that she record her experiences. “It doesn’t happen at all now outside of the capital cities and specialised centres. I thought it was appropriate to set down my experiences for others to share and learn from,” she said. “And I’m old enough to not mind about getting into trouble.” Completing her medical studies at Monash University, Dr Broughton said the intriguing investigations of an autopsy attracted her to this line of work. “Real bodies are different from plastic models and simulators ... it engages all the senses: seeing, feeling, hearing and smelling,” she said. “Pathology is the study of how health goes wrong, which can help us work out how to avoid problems or deal with them.” Dr Broughton briefly recounted her very first “strange encounter” with death as a teenager on a tour of Pathology House in Perth. “There were whole brains suspended in buckets of formalin in the laundry and slices of brain set out on cafeteria trays in the kitchen waiting for analysis by the specialist in diseases of the brain and nerve tissue,” she said. Adding to her writing resume, Dr Broughton used to contribute to the Medical Observer’s Real Cases column detailing “lessons” from her time performing autopsies relating to sudden deaths or natural causes. Dr Broughton said most people’s knowledge of autopsies came from fiction as real cases had privacy issues. “True stories of sudden death from natural causes are compelling and they can teach us so much,” she said. “I'm just a doctor who is able to tell you what you want to know about autopsies, and possibly a few things you didn’t want to know.” Dr Broughton will officially launch her book in Albany at 3pm on Saturday, October 23 at Six Degrees. To register, contact Paperbark Merchants.