Briefly, tell us about your background and career up to this point?
I grew up in South East London and attended what was then UMDS medical school (at Guy’s and St Thomas’). The school merged with King’s in my penultimate year. On graduation in 2002, I went on to complete my house jobs (now known as the Foundation Programme) at Lewisham and St Thomas’ Hospital and most of my Junior Doctor training on the South Coast and in London. In 2012 I became a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and accepted a post at King’s College Hospital (KCH) where I still work.
I currently hold two roles within the MBBS programme at King’s, and these take up more of my working week than my clinical work. I am Head of Stage 3 and the Inclusive Education lead. I have always been an active clinical teacher, and have held a number of teaching roles at both KCH and at King’s during my professional career. I am really excited to have taken on the Inclusive Education role, and hope to positively impact the student experience to make it fairer for all.
I have two children, now 13 and 10, and live in Kent with my husband and our dog Albie. A lot of my ‘leisure’ time is spent ferrying my kids around and standing on the sidelines of various sports pitches! It’s a tricky balancing act, which I do with varying degrees of success.
What is a typical day like for you?
I feel lucky to have quite a lot of variety in my days due to the different roles I fulfil. The alarm always goes off at 6 am and then I do the first of two school runs. I will travel to Guy’s Campus or to KCH if I am working clinically. If it’s a clinical day, I will go to handover and then supervise junior doctors and see patients. If I am at Guy’s campus, I will generally spend my time in Faculty meetings or student meetings, a mixture of face-to-face and online. There are usually complicated school sports club logistics to navigate in the evening, and once I get home it is standard to have to prepare three different meals. I may or may not squeeze in some exercise (sadly more often ‘not’ at the moment), and then depending on how the late afternoon has gone, I may well do another hour of work in the evening. Sometimes I watch a bit of TV (boxset probably), or try to persuade the children to play a game – they are not generally keen. I like to get to sleep quite early as I know I am a much better mum, wife, colleague and friend, not to mention much more efficient if I have slept well!
What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
Don’t waste your time on people who aren’t sure they want you in their life.
Put a bit of money away each month.
Do you have any current projects that you’d like to tell us about?
I would like to mention the Faculty’s Inclusive Education strategy which we are just finalising, as we are hoping to have a number of workstreams in place to explore and understand inequities in student experience and opportunities within the Faculty so that we can focus on making improvements. We will be looking at how we can better support students to speak up if they experience discrimination on campus or during placements and making sure that students are provided with the right equality and diversity training. We will also be reviewing our teaching materials from a decolonisation and diversification perspective and seeking to understand the awarding gap (for medicine in particular) as this data is not currently scrutinised. This is a really exciting time for the Faculty as we link to and build on the excellent inclusive education work already underway at King’s, and work to address the specific needs of our students.
What do you do with your time outside academia/work?
I read and listen to books all the time. I also listen to podcasts: true crime, politics, academic (in that order). I like hanging out with my family (though the reality is often slightly different from how I imagine it to be!), we are best if we are doing a shared activity like cricket, tennis or cycling. We can never agree on a film we all want to watch, but I do also like to go to the cinema and theatre when I can. I also very much like singing and dancing – but not in a formal sense, more a late night karaoke sense.
Who inspires you most and why?
I think ‘inspiring’ is difficult to define. If I take it to mean those who encourage me to work hard, and be the best I can be, then that would be my family. But I am also inspired by how people approach their professional work. I would like to give special mention here to Professor Richard Phillips, a GP and MBBS colleague who very sadly died last year. He was a truly inspirational person whose expertise in student support and coaching was incredible. I remain influenced by him and what he taught me in the way that I approach supportive conversations.
What is something positive that happened to you this year?
This year, I have made the decision to step away from out-of-hours clinical work, including covering the long major trauma shifts, which although rewarding, can be very challenging. Major trauma, in particular, holds professional ‘kudos’ and I was worried that I would somehow be seen as less of a clinician by doing this. But I also knew that it was taking too much out of me, and I needed a break so that I could be more present for my children. Taking this step was very difficult, but I now realise it was absolutely the right decision, so this has been a positive change for me.
What is your favourite thing about working at King’s?
I love being at Guy’s Campus. It might be in part because it is where I studied, but it really is a much more vibrant place now that it was then. I like to sit outside, visit the Science Gallery, visit the Gordon Museum, it is a real privilege to work there. I am also so grateful to work with such interesting and talented colleagues. I really like the fact that we are starting to move to more face-to-face meetings - it’s just not the same on a screen.
QUICK-FIRE:
Favourite season: Autumn
Favourite scientist: Not scientists as such, but pioneering women in medicine, Mary Seacole and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Favourite cuisine: Mexican or Sushi
Netflix recommendation: Schitts Creek
Coffee order: Skinny cortado