03/09/2026
šThe Prologue - Have I failed as a doctor?
I think the only conclusion I can come to, is that I have failed as a doctorā¦
Because the narrative we are fed as doctors and medical students is that the only way you are validated as a doctor is if we take that traditional career path, progressing through training and eventually becoming a consultant.
And therefore, as a doctor who has taken a route which is anything other than conventional, I must have failed.
As my career looked more like working frontline in a pandemic, being an expedition doctor, quitting clinical medicine, going back to university to study public health, starting a health podcast - and I guess whatever I do online here in this space.
Which, in my head, are all still pretty important ways to be a doctor. But I am sure there are many people out there who beg to differ.
The thing is, what I have planned to do with my role as a doctor, I am confident I can help more people than I could have ever done in a hospital and I am so excited to make this happen and share this all with you.
But I think before I do this, I take you all back to the start of my journey, about how I got to this point, as to be honest, I wish I saw more people taking a less conventional route when I was at medical school and in the hospital.
So here is my journey⦠from why I became a doctor and what my experience working in the hospital was actually like. To why I left, how I build a career outside the hospital, how I actually make money. And then I guess what I want the next few years to look like.
So, lets go right back to chapter 1⦠š©ŗ