🚆 The Journey (so far)

🎓 Medical School

King's College London

My time at GKT was incredible, it's been over a decade since I started as a naive 17-year-old kid and now I've been magically transformed into a 28-year-old kid. Wild. Enjoy the videos for each year of medical school - linked below

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3
• Year 4
• Year 5

🏥 Foundation Training

South Thames Deanery

Foundation Year 1

• This was my first year as a doctor. I kicked things off as an overly enthusiastic house-man arriving early and leaving late almost everyday. I learnt loads and paid my dues to the institution of medicine and developed a good foundation to kickstart the rest of my career.
• I rotated through Vascular Surgery - originally the speciality I wanted to pursue but after doing the speciality I changed my mind 😬 - Emergency Medicine and Cardiology.
• Loved all the rotations but would probably do things differently if I could do it over.

Foundation Year 2

• I was now an experienced, jaded foundation doctor and given the title of senior house officer. I continued the theme of turning up early and leaving late and surprise surprise I continued to learn lots.
• I rotated through quite medical specialities of HIV Medicine, Geriatrics and General Medicine.
• Importantly I managed to sit my MRCS Part A examination and attend an ENT Taster Week which would lead to me pursuing that speciality within surgical training, but not before a Gap Yah.

🛩️ Out of Programme

Funemployment Deanery

Foundation Year 3

• Now this was my first year out of training, my first gap-yah. I had gone straight from school to medical school and from medical school straight to foundation training. This was the year to get off the conveyer belt.
• I had a great time for the first six months; I travelled to Switzerland, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Zanzibar, South Africa and Italy but unfortunately all the fun was interrupted by this new thing known as COVID. This was a largely unwelcome interruption and I didn't feel like I completely lived out my Gap Yah - perhaps this means another one is due soon.
• Forced back to the UK, I spent the remainder of my time working on COVID wards until my time as a Core Surgical Trainee would begin.

🔪 Core Surgical Training

Pan-London Deanery

Core Training Year 1

• It begins. Surgical training. I heard alot about what junior surgical training in London was like but that didn't matter to me. I wanted to be in the big centres, working for the best bosses and most importantly in my city around my friends and family.
• I kicked things off with my first ENT rotation and I absolutely loved it. During this time I managed to do a number of solo operations including my first tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, grommets, abscess drainage and some trauma work. It was settled - I would chose ENT as my speciality of choice.
• I then rotated through Paediatric Surgery and lastly another rotation of ENT at a major trauma centre. I managed to also sit my DOHNS OSCE examination thereby becoming a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and officially a Mister (even had it written on the theatre board as such).

Core Training Year 2

• This would be the hardest year of doctoring to come. I would be stepping out of my comfort zone as a 'senior' senior house officer on my way to being a registrar. I would be applying to speciality training in one of the most competitive specialities in the most competitive city. fun.
• Despite all the extra-curricular work I did, I had an enormous amount of fun on my Maxillofacial placement. I did a huge amount of operating and almost considered the speciality for around 7 minutes. The dental degree really put me off.
• I sat my interviews and rotated to more ENT, where I found out my dreams had come true and I had secured a ENT training number in the prestigious North Thames.
• Let the holidays begin - till this point I hadn't been away or taken any annual leave (except to revise for my interviews).

🤕 Speciality Training

North Thames Deanery

Speciality Training Year 3: Rhinology & Anterior Skullbase

• This is where my real training started. I completed six months of a senior rhinology and anterior skull base job with some of the best surgeons in the country.
• It was in summary phenomenal.
• I learnt a lot a lot. I spent most of my free time reading up on this complex topic and attending extra lists and getting my operating numbers up. I considered doing it as my sub speciality of interest.

Speciality Training Year 3: Laryngology & Airway Surgery

• With of a bit of confidence in me and the knowledge that my hands weren't completely useless I moved to another senior job. This time I would be working for yet again some of the best surgeons in the country. I'm talking the people that pioneered the speciality.
• Again phenomenal.
• I was gaining stride within this discipline and gaining confidence in managing difficult airways.

Speciality Training Year 4: Head and Neck Surgery

• Having had the best ST3 year of any trainee ever I went into my ST4 year with close to 450 STS cases. These weren't simple cases either. I dove head first into a year of head and neck surgery.
• Surprise Surprise. I had the best year ever. I learnt a crazy amount in such a short period of time. I climbed that Dunning-Kruger curve so quickly as I learnt to operate within the neck. By the end of the year I was independently performing relatively difficult cases.
• Incredible.

Speciality Training Year 5: Paediaitric Surgery

• I don't know who was overseeing my training but they finessed it.
• I went to work for the head and neck and airway surgeons at Great Ormond Street. I loved every case I saw. I was exposed to incredible cases and saw some operations that are rarely attempted world wide.
• Fantastic experience but I don't think I'll be sub-specialising in paediatrics.

Speciality Training Year 5: Rhinology & Facial Plastics

• I went back to do more Rhinology but with some more exposure into facial plastics and specifically septorhinoplasty. This is a highly complex operation that at the surface seems so straightforward. It has truly humbled me. I've loved the creativity and the different mode of thinking its required.

To be continued...