"We can have a huge impact on people's lives"

I have taken a slightly circuitous route into a career in psychiatry. After leaving high school I moved from the Highlands of Scotland to the capital city Edinburgh to study physiotherapy. 

I enjoyed studying and worked for a few years as a physiotherapist. I enjoyed working with people, but found I was increasingly interested in many medical conditions and so I decided to return to university to study medicine. 

During my final year at medical school, and through two psychiatry rotations in foundation training, I developed an interest in psychiatry. Like within physio, I enjoyed having time to spend with patients, talking to them about a wide range of difficulties. 

Like many doctors, you had time off to start a family during your foundation programme and core training years. But your experience was a little bit different, can you tell us about it? 

I came into medical school as a graduate student, and had my first child right at the end of my final year.  

I took a year off and decided to return to foundation training less than full time.  

I job shared at 50% with another trainee, and had my second child after completing foundation year 1.  

I returned to FY2 still LTFT, and applied to core psychiatry training. I delayed entry to core training as I had my third child.  

I was delighted with the unquestioning support from the core psychiatry Training Programme Director – he listened to my situation and agreed very quickly that I could delay the start of core training.  

We also discussed my training needs and took into account my situation when discussing potential placements when I finally entered core training.  

I found psychiatry  to be more flexible than foundation training, and was able to work at 60% and 80% depending on my circumstances at the time.  

The supportive nature of psychiatry training allowed me to sit and pass college exams in line with my full-time peers.  

I enjoyed the friendship and support of my fellow core trainees so much that I studied for the CASC exam with them and sat it in January 2020 - eight days before having my fourth child! 

Raising a family and completing medical training is a challenge. If it hadn’t been for the unwavering support, understanding and flexibility of my psychiatry seniors I don’t think I would still be in medical training.  

The ability to train LTFT has allowed me to better balance raising my children and engaging in my psychiatry training. I have learned to be more boundaried - with keeping work to working hours and prioritising my children when I am not at work.

In my experience this has been a stance that has been supported by my peers and colleagues in psychiatry. I will always remember the support I received returning to work whilst still breastfeeding and the adaptations to working conditions that were agreed for me. 

This support was so vital for the health of my child, and for my mental wellbeing too. 

Although life is busy, I find my children (and my bonkers cocker spaniel!) ensure that when I get home I leave work behind me, which helps protect me against workplace burnout. 

In addition to core and higher training you’ve done a one-year Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellowship and you’re now doing a 3 year doctoral training programme for health professionals – can you tell us what’s inspired you to do that, and how it is going? 

One of the great advantages of psychiatry training is that core and higher training are separate and there is potential to take some time out in between.  

I had completed core training over 5 years, and although I knew I wanted to enter higher psychiatry training eventually, I was attracted to a range of alternative possibilities open to doctors in training.  

I secured a one-year Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellowship, as I was interested in management and leadership within medicine. I worked with the Scottish Government Health Workforce Directorate and with NHS Education Scotland Quality Management. 

This was an excellent experience, where I worked on several projects related to medical workforce planning and postgraduate medical training quality management.  

I was even able to continue as co-chair of a Scottish Government working group on recruitment and retention of psychiatrists when I returned to higher training in General Adult Psychiatry, using my special interest time.  

Psychiatry is a medical specialty that really excels at allowing time for, and encouraging, trainees to engage in activities that contribute to their all-round development as doctors and potential leaders.  

On entering higher training I received a bespoke individual programme of development from the Associate Medical Director, to help reinforce the learning from my fellowship year. In addition to special interest time, there is also dedicated time for research in psychiatry training. I was fortunate to be selected for a core training rotation which allocated time for research.  

This fuelled my interest in academic psychiatry and spurred me on to apply for a PhD programme. I am now undertaking a clinical research fellowship at the University of St Andrews, supported by the Wellcome Trust, investigating harmful alcohol use and multimorbidity. 

Would you recommend psychiatry as a career and why?