Malvern Alumnae 100 Profile

MSJ 2011 Leaver

I am a junior doctor working in Cheltenham. I trained at Edinburgh Medical School and King’s College London. I hope that one day I’ll be a surgeon who also does academic research and teaching. My job as a hospital doctor is pretty exciting: I look after people when they are very unwell and apply my knowledge to help them. It is energising and tiring, joyful and sad, inspiring and frustrating, all in equal measure.

MSJ taught me to have balance in my life to help me cope with this stress. For me, learning to sing in Mrs Lindner’s choir provided this balance. It has been the source of lifelong friends, my own form of meditation and, crucially, an output where my self-worth isn’t measured in academic achievement. Since leaving school I have worked as a professional singer and sung with the National Youth Choir of Scotland across Europe and America, including at the Royal Albert Hall three times.

MSJ emphasises developing leadership skills at an early age, and this background set me up well as a medical student: in 2017, I led a group of 80 surgeons and students to publish a new surgical textbook, entitled Introduction to Surgery for Students. I am now an advocate for aspiring surgeons as a Foundation Doctor Representative at the Royal College of Surgeons, and am teaching on King’s College London’s Surgical Sciences BSc course. Although I am only just beginning my medical career, I am excited for the journey ahead.

What does success look like?

Success is working out a way to get someone to pay you for something you would do anyway for free.

What is your best piece of advice?

Throw all your energy into what MSJ has to offer. It doesn’t matter whether you’re academic or not, work out what YOU like doing and go for it.

Also, Malvern College boys improve with age. If he’s tolerable now, you’re onto a winner.