What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?
Well, my inspiration was when I was very, very young. My grandfather was a medic, and he passed away when my father was about 11 years old.
He was out up in the Himalayas visiting patients, looking after patients, you know, not just medically, but he was providing them with blankets and food and things like that. So he went way beyond his medical duty to serve his patients.
And my father used to talk about him a lot, and his stories about my grandfather really inspired me. And at the age of eight, I decided that’s it; that’s what I was going to do. I was going to become a doctor.
And then from that point onwards, my journey was towards becoming a doctor, getting my qualifications, and being in a similar position where I could help people.
Can you share your educational journey? Where did you complete your medical degree and training?
Well, my education started at school because I chose my subjects carefully. So, you know, I did science subjects as well as English, mathematics, and history, but my main subjects were in science, and I had a great interest in that. But I also was very much involved in athletics, and really, you know, I became sort of a national champion at the age of 17.
And my journey, my athletic journey, also inspired me to have the focus and not just to have a vision of what I wanted to do, but it taught me how to focus, how to put the effort and work behind it to get the results and achieve what I wanted. So I decided to go to university, which also did athletics. I was actually offered positions in London, Birmingham, and Leeds.
I chose Birmingham because they had a great athletic team and they had one of the best medical schools in the country.
So I went to medical school in Birmingham, where I completed my medical degree in 1986. And at that point, I had worked with cardiology, respiratory medicine, as well as doing surgery.
And I initially thought I was going to go into cardiology as a career. However, during my training, I decided that I wanted to be able to help people in greater ways and just with heart disease. So I then decided to choose a path that included anaesthetics and ITU so I could learn about human physiology and the very ill patient and how to handle and deal with them.
I then did my own very broad rotation, and I did some paediatrics and E-dermatology, ophthalmology, in which I did neurology, and I also did psychiatry. I think I’ve already said paediatrics as well as old-age medicine and general medicine before going into becoming a general practitioner. And of course, obs and gyne were part of it as well.
So it was a very broad-based education because, as a general practitioner, I felt that I would be dealing with people with all sorts of different concerns, not just physical but psychological as well. And so I made sure that I was well equipped to be able to deal with all of that.
And I started my general practice in a group practice. And because I had done quite a lot of surgery and I held a surgical position doing outpatients, minor operative procedures on a regular basis at Selling Oak Hospital, I decided to carry on providing that service and bring that into primary care and general practice where I would do minor OPS, lumps, bumps, skin scars, and some plastics, which then, of course, triggered that interest in looking at plastics and aesthetics to get the best outcomes for my patients.
How long have you been practicing medicine?
I qualified in 1986. So my practice of medicine was before then because, as senior students, we had attachments in hospitals, and at that time we were involved with operations, and I’d already carried out a number of operations under the supervision of my consultant.
But with my sort of postgraduate qualifications, I started practicing on the 1st of August 1986, and I did my first attachment in surgery. My consultant surgeon was a vascular surgeon. So we did a lot of vascular work, but also lots of general surgery.
There were two consultants, and I had one consultant who was vascular and one consultant who was gastroenterology and general surgery.
So I gained quite a lot of experience in surgery during that attachment. And then I went on to do cardiology and respiratory medicine in the teaching hospitals from my experience there, following which I went into anaesthesia for a year, and that’s where my career started.
Have you pursued any additional certifications or specialised training beyond your medical degree?
I have, but they’re all part of the medical degree. So I’ve got as exams in obstetrics and gynecology. I’ve got the DLO, which is the diploma in laryngology and Ontology, which is basically a higher surgical qualification in ear, nose and throat surgery. I’ve got MLCGP, which is a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners. And instead I’ve got a Bachelor of Technology in laser treatments and applications.
Can you describe your specific area of expertise within this specialty?
Well, to become a medical practitioner, you need further training. So after my very training, I became a registrar in general practice, and I gained my qualifications to be registered on the GMC register as a medical practitioner.
And then since then, most of my experience has been on the ground with patients. I did quite a lot of psychiatry and psychology. I looked after her for many, many years. For about, I think it was about 15 years, I looked after a forensic psychiatric unit providing medical care for them.
But of course I gained good insights into the psychiatric care, and I was involved in the multidisciplinary meetings, but that gave me a lot of knowledge and insight into the psyche. So it’s, it’s, and I did a lot of surgery, hands-on surgery throughout my career.
I had a specialist; they were called GP specialist interest clinics, where I provided services for the local German practitioners in the area for surgery by the surgical procedures. So I ran a regular clinic, which I’m serving to the German practitioners.
I was also involved in, through my research and development, the development of the new treatments for hypertension, asthma, and diabetes with the university. So we looked at the new medications, and that was really interesting because it allowed me to stay ahead of the curve and it gave me a real drive and interest in studying and keeping up with papers and research papers in areas that I was particularly interested in.
How do you stay updated with the latest advancements and research in your specialty?
Well, I do a lot of reading. So reading the journals, all the papers, and the research and development that’s going on.
I get involved with conferences that I attend and lecture at, and that gives me an opportunity to speak with other people at that, at the forefront of the industry, where we can share knowledge and share our experiences.
I also teach, and in order to teach, I’ve got to do my background work and research, and that has to be absolutely spot on. I also write in our journals, for which I do a lot of research, and I do. I write for the papers and appear on television and radio.
Again, this requires a lot of research and development and a lot of reading behind it. So that helps me to keep right up to date with what’s going on, not just in our industry but broadly as well. Because on the radio, I talk about medicine, not just about aesthetics. So it could be any topic that I talk about; they give it to me, I research it, and then we go and talk about it.
