Ara Darzi - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the pioneering surgeon Professor Ara Darzi. He was born in Iraq and brought up in Baghdad but he moved to Ireland when he was 17 to study medicine. He came to England to finish his training and, highly talented and ambitious, was made a consultant when he was barely out of his 20s. Since then he's been nick-named 'Robo-doc' for spearheading the use of keyhole surgery in Britain and for introducing robotics to the operating theatre.

For the past year he has combined his surgical work with a position in government - he is a health minister and, on the eve of the NHS's 60th birthday, he is charged with reshaping the NHS in England. It is, he says, the greatest challenge he has yet faced.

Favourite track: Seven Seconds by Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry
Book: Yes, Minister by Jonathan Lynn
Luxury: Pencil and paper

Further episodes of Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010

Further podcasts by BBC Radio 4

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