Briefly, tell us about your background and career up to this point?
King’s and I go full circle: as a small child, I spent Saturday afternoons in King’s College Hospital paediatric outpatient clinics as my father worked there in the 80s (childcare wasn’t a thing back then!). I found my way back to King's as a medical student in the 90s, graduated and worked as a doctor in many of the King's partner hospitals in South London in the 00s. Then, I took up a consultancy in Adult & Paediatric Emergency Medicine - a post I’ve been in for the last 14 years in the King’s NHS Trust. I love working there alongside the GKT graduates!
My love of education always burned bright and opportunities came up to be part of central medical school faculty working through block, module, year group and finally the programme lead roles for MBBS, culminating in becoming a Clinical Academic and Reader in Medical Education two years ago. I love teaching small groups, especially at the bedside, but I also feel passionately about ensuring a better learning experience for medical students that will prepare them to be the doctors of the future. There is no bigger privilege than to help shape the experiences and careers of the next generation.
What is a typical day like for you?
As a self-confessed workaholic but also a jack of all trades, no two weeks are the same. My clinical late shifts are always busy in the Emergency Department (ED) seeing patients and supporting the wider clinical team. My medical school days include a range of meetings to plan both the day-to-day and long-term running of the school, with a very welcome sprinkling of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
I am lucky to also be the lead doctor for the Olympic Stadium, so I spend evenings and weekends planning and delivering medical care to their spectator crowds. The medicine can be a challenge but being up close to Usain Bolt, Beyonce, Axel Rose and Jurgen Klopp has its benefits!
Most days however are bookended with rushing home to kids, ferrying them around to their various clubs and sports matches and desperately trying to convince my 16 month-old that sleep is actually a very good thing.
Looking back, did the pandemic and resulting lockdowns teach you anything you’re willing to share?
The pandemic was particularly hard as a front line ED consultant where we experienced the devastation of previously healthy patients becoming critically ill and dying. It made me appreciate how transient life can be, and that when it comes to the crunch, it is our loved ones that are most precious – that's something we can sometimes take for granted.
What do you think people in the School would find most surprising about you?
I'm an expert three ball juggler and bad (dad) joke teller, and that I did my first work experience as a MacDonald’s children’s party helper. Maybe it’s why I ended up in the jobs that I have done.
What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
It’s going to be OK. I was an anxious teenager (on the inside at least) with huge imposter syndrome who didn’t appreciate the wins enough and held on to the failings for far too long. Everything seems so final at that age and now I regularly remind both my students and myself that the failures are genuinely the most important ways that we learn and grow. I’ve failed more than I’ve succeeded, but I'm actually still doing well.
Do you have any current projects that you’d like to tell us about?
I’m lucky to be supporting a range of curriculum improvement projects but there are two I’m particularly excited about. First, introducing a new clinical block focusing on the transition to clinical practice between years 1&2. The NHS is a fierce and hectic place and expecting second year brand new clinical students to simply fit in is shortsighted and unrealistic. We are building a transition period to introduce students to the concepts of patients and people, places and protocols and professional priorities – the three core areas that a new clinician needs to understand. If we lay the foundations, we hope the students will find it easier to cope with clinical practice.
The second project builds on our successful reverse mentoring programme, now working with students from the LGBTQ+ society to offer mentorship for senior team members to learn more about their lived experiences at medical school and placements. Building community is crucial for our course and this is an important next step.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
I guess most parents would say this but genuinely raising three beautiful kids and seeing them thrive and become happy, kind, inquisitive but cheeky individuals beats anything.
QUICK-FIRE:
Favourite season: Summer (I’m a lover of the sun).
Favourite London restaurant: I love food so Borough Market is a dream for me. I recently had the most delicious dinner with a friend at a Greek restaurant called Agora – and I would highly recommend.
Favourite book: A classic – The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. For a wellbeing lift – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Macksey. And for some good old-fashioned motivation – Becoming by the wonderful Michelle Obama.
Favourite scientist: William Osler – he said, ‘treat the patient, not the disease’.
Favourite cuisine: Nearly everything but my death row meal would be an Indian curry.
Netflix recommendation: Rom-com feel-good movies and mini-series all the way – the world is too intense for anything else.
One thing you could not go a day without: Laughing with friends and my kids - you should never take yourself too seriously.