When did you leave Chesterton Community College?

I was at Chesterton from 2012-2017!

What is your current job title or field?

I am currently a final year medical student at the University of Cambridge, soon to graduate and begin my career as a Foundation Doctor this year. 

Did you know as a teenager which career you wanted to pursue or did you come to realise this later on?

I did not know what career I wanted to pursue throughout most of my time at Chesterton. It was only around Year 10 and 11 that I considered being interested in a career in science and began exploring the idea of studying medicine or engineering. After trying out some work experience and talking with professionals who worked in both fields, I decided to pursue medicine and began working towards this in sixth form.

How did you start on your career?

I reached out to loads of people to try and get any sort of work experience, eventually managing to do some work experience at Addenbrookes Hospital and volunteering there as well. I learnt how interesting I found medicine and how rewarding the work can be. I did Biology, Chemistry and Maths at Hills Road and was accepted to study medicine at St John’s College in Cambridge. Medicine at Cambridge is a 6 year course – during this time I intercalated in Pathology and Psychology, and did elective rotations at Stanford University and Children’s Hospital Colorado in the US. This year I am in my sixth and final year, which means that I will qualify as a doctor in June and begin my generalised Foundation jobs within the NHS.

What do you like about your job? High points?

I chose medicine because of the breadth of experiences the career offers you. Broadly speaking, there is the fun of daily problem-solving through scientific reasoning, huge scope for scientific research which is very exciting and opportunities to work with professionals from all over the world. There is also the very human aspect of medicine that is as challenging as it is rewarding. Working in healthcare means you encounter people from all walks of life and it can be a special privilege to be trusted with significant moments in people’s lives. Furthermore, there is also the issue of health policy and public health which can have a broader impact on people’s lives and is often hotly debated in the news.

An example of a highlight could be when I took a project that I had worked on in Addenbrookes to a conference, meeting Professors there who have a passion for the subject matter and being invited to rotate in the USA for a summer. I was able to experience a very different perspective on healthcare, whilst also applying the training I had thus far to work in their clinics and Emergency Departments. Despite it being a very different healthcare system, I was able to lead consultations in a Quaternary Care Trauma Centre and also get involved in research projects.

What is the first advice you would give a student wanting to follow in this direction?

Put yourself out there as much as possible to find out about medicine! This can be through pestering doctors to let you shadow them, having a read about some of the latest research coming out (there is always super interesting news coming out of Cambridge!) or going to talks about medicine/medical research (also plenty open to the public in Cambridge!). Generally people are very welcoming if you show a genuine interest or curiosity. Medicine is definitely one of the longer career pathways, but it is very rewarding and super interesting at every stage. Don’t be put off by any negativity in the news, come and find out yourself!