Who?

I’ll get the disclaimer out the way at the start.

I am an Emergency Medicine Doctor currently in the last year of training before becoming a consultant. Nothing I post on here will be medical advice or me acting in this capacity. This blog is intended as a diary about being a better human being and trying to live life to the fullest and learning ways in which to do this. I want to bring whoever I can on this journey with me and learn from you too.

Despite some preconceptions some people may have about doctors I view myself as having a fairly normal job and working life. Obviously there are hard moments and specific stresses which are often things I have been exposed to over time and with some level of training. However, I am sure that there are plenty of people who I come across daily that possess the empathy and intelligence to do exactly what I do. The only thing missing is the training.

Within medicine we keep our knowledge up to date with continuing professional development (CPD). This is through training with constant assessments, courses, conferences and exams. Obviously since leaving medical school I have developed as a clinician and learned many things I previously didn’t even know existed.

On the basis of this I hope that continuing personal development can become a part of this blog.

I want to be as honest as possible with anything I write about here. Therefore, I will always welcome feedback if I am straying from this.

Why do I have value?

I am not going to pretend to be some philosopher or that anything I discuss is the right way to do things. My only hope is that as I grow as a person and reflect on my learning this might help other people.

Working a full on job with a young family and trying to fit in meaningful lifestyle changes is often completely impractical. I find that often lifestyle tips and tricks or “hacks” are aimed at people with time to implement them.

It takes incredible discipline and personal strength to want to even change a way of living. Never mind the pressures of modern life.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in any of the fields I cover. By pooling information from sources I have found to be useful I hope this might be useful for others. I am also not going to pretend that this blog is going to be something no one has ever thought of. I am only attempting to reflect on what I learn and take whoever wants to come on a journey of growth with me.

By including the reading list and dividing this into sections I hope to create a useful library of information. With this in mind, where possible, I will reference each post where I have gained my information (in a true scholarly doctor fashion…). I have currently no monetary interest in anything I recommend. If there is something you would like me to cover I would love to know.

What?

Like most medical professionals I am incredibly self critical and I have been reluctant to start this for years. Indeed the idea of blogging has felt like a vanity project. Given that in my professional life I am constantly reflecting on my practise and interactions with people it seems reasonable to consider this in my personal life.

Having tried to sift through all the masses of information on the internet and books for years, even if this blog helps at least one other person in a small way, I’ll consider that time well spent.

Another really important message I want to spread and remind myself of is that I see on a fairly regular basis extreme tragedy. Lives cut short or people in incredibly vulnerable or hopeless positions.

Everyday I come home from this I try to truly picture how fortunate I am. It is so easy in life to go through the motions. Letting life run away from you wishing time away until the next holiday or event. It’s painfully easy to see how this is a habit formed by so many people.

I don’t aim to fix your problems or presume that your situation is anything similar to mine. Everyone has the capacity to change their situation to some degree. The first step is being open minded to this possibility. This is something which modern life and media all try to steer us away from. Tribalism and polarising views seem to be what sells now.

How?

One of the easiest ways I have found to absorb this information is through audiobooks. This is through the recommendation of friends, colleagues and podcasts. Listening whilst doing anything that doesn’t require my full concentration is an incredibly efficient and rewarding use of time. I am definitely a latecomer to this revelation.

Having this mass of information in a manageable library will be one of the primary aims of this blog.

As I discover how to improve things for myself, I hope, we can discover a stepwise approach to this together. We can use the feedback from our own experiences and create a community that supports each other through this growth.

Why would anyone not want to make the world a better place?

It’s working for me so far.