My path to becoming a junior doctor

Tell me a bit about your educational journey. What drew you to medicine after your degree in economics?

I knew at school I wanted to go into a career where I could have a positive impact on others. Throughout my Economics degree, I became more and more interested in economic decision making at the individual level. A number of experiences led me to medicine. I volunteered for, and eventually led, a Cambridge-based student charity called . This involved working on a health project with Tanzanian students in an informal settlement in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

"I had the opportunity to speak to individuals about issues they face with non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes."

Lack of savings and income volatility, as well as stretched public hospitals, creates an environment where there are many barriers to seeking healthcare. This is especially true for conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes where you may not have any noticeable symptoms for a long time. The experience revealed to me the importance of early intervention in the community.

After finishing my degree, I took a year out on an academic exchange programme with Heidelberg University. During this time, I received an advert for from . It quickly became clear that this would be the right career path for me. Whilst looking at health decision making from datasets is insightful, as an economist you lack the understanding of patient perspectives and disease pathologies that you get from seeing it all happening in the flesh.

"I believed I could achieve my ambitions of having a positive impact by treating patients day-to-day, whilst using these experiences and my economics training to contribute towards wider health policy."

How did you feel about returning to Cambridge to study Graduate Medicine?

Although I appreciated my first experience at Cambridge, I didn't have a healthy relationship with work. Coming back, I had a much better understanding of how to pace myself. Medicine is a marathon, so you have to manage your energy and not go crazy with work.

"My academic goals changed, so that I was no longer chasing top grades. Rather, I made sure I did enough to pass medical exams, and more importantly to feel competent in my knowledge as a soon-to-be doctor."

It's easy at this University to believe you're not doing enough, because there are so many amazing, bright, and high achieving people around you. This time, I focused on being comfortable with myself and staying centered on my own plan and path. I'm really glad I could benefit from some existing social circles from my first degree. welcomed me back with open arms, so I embraced getting back into training and I made more great friends through the club.

Can you tell me about your �鶹��Ӿ�experience?

"I adore Wolfson. I believe it's the best College for me for so many reasons. The mature college atmosphere is really different to the central colleges. �鶹��Ӿ�feels welcoming, authentic, and homely."

I've really appreciated having it as a central hub during the past three years, even if I only lived in halls in my first year. The �鶹��Ӿ�Student Association's (WCSA) work in putting on great events also really builds a sense of community. The College teams, from the Library team to the Bursars, provide opportunities for building skills and monetary support for research that makes you feel well supported.

If I had more time, I'd delve deeper into college sport and societies. The choir was such a great group to be a part of when I joined for a term, and the sports teams also seem really fun!

Can you tell me a bit about your role coordinating the Global Health Hub? What are the hubs and what made you decide to get involved?

"The �鶹��Ӿ�hubs are a network and vessel for academics, students, alumni, and the wider public to work on pressing issues."

For the Global Health Hub, this means hosting talks and panel events with renowned researchers and policy makers where we discuss topics ranging from tackling neglected tropical diseases to the challenges in global health politics internationally. Attendees are able to meet other interested individuals from a wide range of backgrounds that are ultimately connected by their interests in improving Global Health.

My biggest responsibility this year was running the first �鶹��Ӿ�Global Health Research Conference, which was a great success!

"My personal mission is to keep pushing the hub to do more to support our network. That is, going beyond sharing ideas to translate our aims into research projects, new business ventures, or other activities that have a tangible impact on improving health where there is the greatest need."

How have you found the medicine course overall?

My course has been consistently challenging. Medicine demands you to know a lot of “stuff”, which is different to the research mindset of learning how to find truths from whatever you're researching. Grinding content is a necessary component that's not my favourite past-time!

"However, interacting with patients and other healthcare workers is where the real reward is. This makes it a unique experience. �鶹��Ӿ�medics, and graduate-entry medics in general, are also just wonderful people. Many of my positive experiences with the course can be attributed to having such amazing people in my cohort."

How have you engaged with research interests outside your degree?

I was involved in a project during my second-year summer break, supervised by Dr Merlin Willcox from the University of Southampton and Dr Vincent Mubangizi from the Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

I analysed the impact and performed a cost-evaluation of an intervention offering couples counselling involving birth planning and education for pregnant women and their partners in Uganda. I felt my knowledge of both medicine and economics made me a unique asset for this project. I'm keeping up with this work part-time alongside my studies.

It was also a great experience to have a previous Cambridge University Vice-Chancellor and Director of Cancer Research UK ask me some tough questions about the future of AI use cases in healthcare after I gave a flash talk at the �鶹��Ӿ�Global Health Research Conference.

"The is excellent, and they have been a very welcoming community of researchers from a variety of backgrounds. My time doing research reaffirms that I want to have a patient-facing role alongside researching part-time."

You have had great success competing for the University in the Modern Pentathlon. What does sport bring to your life?

"Sport is so many things to me. It's something social, a personal challenge, and it's fun! Pentathletes are great people; they are weird in the best way. You have a group of people that looked at a sport involving running, swimming, shooting, fencing, and horse-riding (now obstacle racing) and thought 'yeah that sounds reasonable!'"

My family would say I've always had a rebellious streak and was the most willing to take risks among my siblings. I think it comes from a place of wanting to be challenged, and seeking my own challenges. After a period off school with a serious illness, I worked to establish what I could do on my return, and I started saying ‘yes’ to more things.

"In terms of my advice to incoming students, I'd say that there are so many welcoming spaces in the Cambridge ecosystem. It takes a little self-belief but there are spaces and people for you out there."

What are your ambitions or hopes for the future?

"I have a year left of my course, so I need to knuckle down and focus on preparing for being the best junior doctor I can be."

Given the nature of the junior doctor allocation system, it's hard to know where I will be after next year. For now, I want to crack on with my course, keep doing my sport, and keep on-going research projects ticking over.

Looking to the future, I'll keep pointing myself in the direction of a career in medicine and primary care research. I'm sure the right doors will open and reveal themselves when I come to them!

This article is part of the 2024 Undergraduate Student Profile Series.

Click through to find out more about current opportunities and support for prospective mature students, including our fully-funded virtual and residential outreach programme, 21 Plus.

In-person tours of College are additionally available for prospective undergraduate students. The Mature Colleges will also be hosting a as part of the general .