Doctors at Work

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Doctors spend a significant amount of time in meetings, but how productive are they? In this episode, Adrian tells me about the importance of considering why the meeting is being held, what we need to do to meet its purpose, and how this needs to be done. Usually it is best to hold meetings to make decisions or generate ideas;  information giving can often be done better without holding a meeting, but if information giving is part of the meeting then we should try to link it to a decision or idea generation. And hybrid meetings are the hardest to do well!

Further resources:


Adrian is an Organisational Development Specialist. He has worked for 20 years in the voluntary and statutory sector delivering health and social care projects, social inclusion and engagement activities. He has significant experience in the equalities, inclusion and human rights agenda from policy development to engagement and training having been a personal champion and manager in this field. He is an experienced coach, trainer and facilitator. Through creative, supportive and thought provoking approaches he can develop practical and sustainable change for individuals, teams and organisations in the delivery of often challenging subjects. You can find him at www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-piggott-0b617342/ or @AdrianPiggott.

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As doctors we make career decisions all the time, and some of these will be challenging to make. In  this episode, Gilly shares her experiences of having career discussions with doctors. She tells me that as doctors we are used to having a very clear career road map, but doing something different requires agency and courage. I love her top tips: value yourself, be kind to yourself, and know that there are always more opportunities that seem immediately apparent.

Gilly has worked as a Career Coach, Executive Coach, Trainer and Facilitator for over 25 years and is passionate about enabling doctors and other individuals to make deep and lasting changes. She works both privately and through HEE, where she has had a contract for the last 8 years. Over this period she has co-run Core Career Coaching Skills 5 day courses with CCS (Career Counselling Services) www.career-counselling-services.co.uk and run hundreds of other workshops and courses in the area of coaching and career coaching. You can find her at www.linkedin.com/in/gilly-freedmancoach, www.reignitecareers.co.uk/, career-counselling-services.co.uk/, and  medicfootprints.org/

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Doctors from different backgrounds have different success rates in postgraduate exams and in interviews, and different rates of representation in senior leadership roles. In episode 36, Ricky Ellis told me what differential attainment is, and how it arises. The this episode we discuss what we can do about it. There are things that we can change at system level, at regional level, and at the level of individuals to make our profession better.

Ricky is a medical educationalist with a PhD in the use of big data in Medical Education and an expert in differential attainment in post-graduate medical assessments.

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Doctors from different backgrounds have different success rates in postgraduate exams and in interviews, and different rates of representation in senior leadership roles. In this episode, Ricky Ellis tells me about his work on differential attainment. In part 1, we discuss what differential attainment is, and how it arises. The next episode will be part 2 where we will discuss what we can do about it.

Ricky is a medical educationalist with a PhD in the use of big data in Medical Education and an expert in differential attainment in post-graduate medical assessments.

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We often talk about procrastination, but what exactly is it and how do you stop? In this episode, Richard MacKinnon distinguishes procrastination from laziness or busyness, and tells me that procrastination is about irrationally delaying something and with resultant consequences. Usually the cause is some sort of discomfort with the task required, and as a result we tell ourselves stories to try and justify to ourselves why we are not taking action. But we forget that sooner or later, the task will still need to be done. He advises people to notice when they find themselves in circumstances that lead to procrastination, to pause and notice what's going on (being honest with yourself), and then make a considered choice of what to do.

Richard is a Chartered Psychologist and coach with over twenty years experience as a practitioner. He's the founder of WorkLifePsych, a team of accredited and experienced workplace psychologists, providing coaching and training to clients worldwide. He supports clients with their wellbeing, productivity and interpersonal effectiveness. He's also the host of the 'My Pocket Psych' podcast, all about the psychology of the workplace. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, and he has shared some practical resources for dealing with procrastination here.

Listen at https://matdaniel.net/podcast/; https://open.spotify.com/show/1j8uLaUU1g5bYTRVuwUX7j?si=672ec26a73164d7f; https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/doctors-at-work/id1701284564; or watch on www.youtube.com/@dr-coach/videos.

You can find out more about Mat's coaching to help doctors create successful and meaningful careers at www.MatDaniel.net. 

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Syeda Gul Bahar carried out a short surgical training project and won the poster prize at the Faculty of Surgical Trainers meeting. In this episode, we discuss the importance of having your eyes open to potential ideas, the need to be passionate and to find collaborators, and to plan your project with the end in mind.

Syeda Gul Bahar is an SpR in General Surgery with special interest in transplant surgery. She moved to London from Pakistan one year ago. You can find her @SyedaGul9

If you'd like to contribute to her ongoing research project around experiences of doctors in training compared to those in non-training grades please complete the questionnaire at:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JzFBSP4yOgviLID0hp4gk50xywYwzlubBxO0qct-skI/viewform?edit_requested=true

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In this episode Nathan tells me how he got started in society leadership roles, and outlines how one role leads to more opportunities. He runs the ASIT mentoring course, and talks to me about mentoring and how to run a course. I love his passion for mentoring! One of his top tips when considering leadership roles is to stop worrying about rejection, and focus on learning instead.

Nathan is an ENT registrar, and ASIT mentoring lead. You can find him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-walker-a51251bb/ or @_NathanWalker_

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All of us face conflict at work. Adrian tells me that expecting perfect agreement all the time just isn't realistic. Conflict can actually be essential for high performing teams. He differentiates between functional conflict that helps teams grow, and dysfunctional conflict that is driven by emotions and lack of understanding. In this episode, he shares his understanding of how and why conflict arises, and gives his top tips for managing conflict at work. I particularly like the idea of approaching our interactions with curiosity, compassion and collaboration. 

Further resources:
Podcasts and TED lectures by Amy Gallo
Short course on team conflict (need to pay): www.linkedin.com/learning/managing-team-conflict-22834058/common-sources-of-team-conflict?resume=false
Books: How to work with anyone – Amy Gallo; Anatomy of Peace – Arbinger Institute; Vital Conversation – Making the impossible conversation possible

Adrian is an Organisational Development Specialist. He has worked for 20 years in the voluntary and statutory sector delivering health and social care projects, social inclusion and engagement activities. He has significant experience in the equalities, inclusion and human rights agenda from policy development to engagement and training having been a personal champion and manager in this field. He is an experienced coach, trainer and facilitator. Through creative, supportive and thought provoking approaches he can develop practical and sustainable change for individuals, teams and organisations in the delivery of often challenging subjects. You can find him at www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-piggott-0b617342/.  or @AdrianPiggott.

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In this episode, Shilpa tells me what to think about when planning your pots CCT fellowship, how to decide, and how to make it happen. Her top tips are to be clear on what you want from the fellowship, and start planning well in advance.

Shilpa is a Locum Consultant in Paediatric ENT at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. She completed a Paediatric ENT fellowship at Starship Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand in 2023. She has also done a research fellowship at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston in 2011/12 with a number of publications. Her sub-specialist interest is in Paediatric Otolaryngology - predominantly paediatric airway and head and neck surgery. Shilpa has a Masters in Medical Education with Cardiff University, and an active role in teaching junior colleagues, and organising ENT conferences nationally (AOT 2018, BAPO 2022). She has an interest in global health and has been part of the surgical team for the Northern Cleft Foundation mission to Nagpur in 2019. As a consultant, she hopes to become more involved in charitable missions.

You can find her at https://www.linkedin.com/in/shilpa-ojha-1700a79a/

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In this episode, I talk about assertiveness, and how to say no. I explain why saying no is difficult, I outline ways of thinking that might help, and share two frameworks to say no in a socially acceptable way.