Doctors at Work

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Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand, and manage our own emotions and the emotions of others. Much of what we do as doctors and leaders involves emotions. In this episode I explain what emotional intelligence is, and share some tips for developing it.

If you'd like to learn more you can watch this episode with slides on youtube. You can also read more on my website.

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We all face challenging work situations, but what makes makes one instance stressful and the other one not? And how come some doctors just seem to rise above it all, but others struggle? Sanjay Popat has researched stress in foundation doctors, and identified that the way people make sense of situations really matters. We all have "schemas" which are lenses through which we see the world, and these schemas influence what we make out of the situations we face. Seeking professional help can be useful to unpick ingrained ways of thinking, and individuals can also make sure that they pay attention to and notice what is going on, what triggers them, and how they think. Once you have identified ways of thinking,  you can then fact check the assumptions that you make, look at possible alternative explanations, and recognise that situations are usually complex shades of grey more than binary all or nothing thinking.

Dr Sanjay Popat is a researcher in Organizational Psychology at the University of Leeds. He has a keen interest in the well-being of employees, and particularly healthcare professionals who suffer from elevated levels of stress in comparison to the general population.  His PhD research involved asking 58 foundation doctors to keep audio-diaries for 2 months to understand their stress experience. His work was included in the international media coverage of the junior doctor strikes and won the award for Outstanding PhD Prize from the University of Leeds.

You can read his blogs summarising his research here and here, and you can find him on LinkedIn. 

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When you have done a great project you want to share it with the world, so that others can benefit from your experience and findings. Plus it helps you progress your career too. But how do you get a paper published? In this episode, Kieran Walsh takes us through the journey of a project from inception to publication, and he shares his views on how to get published. Top tip is to start with the end in mind.

Dr Kieran Walsh is Clinical Director at BMJ. He is the clinical lead of the medical education and clinical decision support resources at BMJ. He has a vast amount of experience in online medical education, clinical decision support, face-to-face delivery of medical education, and both summative and formative assessment. He has experience of using all of these in programmes to strengthen health systems. He is Adjunct Associate Professor in Teaching and Research at Monash University. He has published over 200 papers in the biomedical literature and has written four books on medical education. Competing interests: KW works for BMJ.

Further resources
BMJ Best Practice
https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/
Equator network
https://www.equator-network.org/
BMJ Research to Publication
https://rtop.bmj.com/
ICMJE
https://www.icmje.org/
BMJ Impact Analytics
https://impactanalytics.bmj.com/

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Many of us have interests outside clinical work, but struggle to find the time to pursue them. Heerani Woodun dances, has a YouTube channel, and won the Queen Miss Africa UK competition. In this episode, she tells me how she manages to combine clinical work with those outside interests. For her it's not about having either clinical or non-clinical activity, it's about having both, and the secret is to plan ahead, and to adjust your activities based on what the demands are at different points in your career. And it's important to remember that far from the non-clinical activities being a drain for the clinical work, they fuel your energy and make your clinical career better in the long term.

Dr Heerani Woodun is an aspiring ENT surgeon, and currently a clinical teaching fellow in Nottingham. The extracurricular activities help in her work life balance. She recently won as Miss Africa UK 2023 representing her island of origin Mauritius. She enjoys dance classes and performances as a Bollywood dance artist. Her youtube channel is at https://www.youtube.com/@heeraniwoodun and you can also find her at https://www.instagram.com/heerani_w/?hl=en.

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Connor Allen is a medical student who spent a year doing research and then then did an internship at WHO. In this episode, he tells me how to get started in research, and what skills you need to succeed. His top tips are networking, starting small by getting a foot in the door, investing in your own learning, and developing a niche for yourself.

Connor is a final year medical student at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He has keen interests in public health research and has previously completed an honours year at the Burnet Institute and more recently undertook an internship at the World Health Organization with a focus on LGBTQ+ health. You can find him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/connorallen2309/

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The healthcare system is in crisis across the world. In this episode, Jennifer shares her experiences of working as a nurse across two continents, and stresses that by working together, nurses and doctors are a stronger force for good than either could be alone. Her top tips for doctors include the importance of social chit chat, involving nurses in decision making about patient care, and public praise.

Jennifer Thietz (nee Marais) is a master-trained nurse and author. She immigrated to California in 2003, where she worked in acute care settings for eighteen years, most of those at the bedside. She has a wealth of experience regarding the changing face of healthcare in the USA and the current needs of nurses. In 2016, Jennifer published a book for cancer patients under her maiden name, Jenny Marais, which won multiple awards. In 2023, her chapter "Tribe of Angels: Lessons Learned from Nurses on Resilience during the COVID Pandemic" was part of an anthology that achieved Amazon's International best-seller status. Jennifer is deeply concerned about the healthcare crisis, particularly the fate of nurses suffering from compassion fatigue and burnout. Jennifer's book focuses on self-care and a nurse's movement for transformational change. Her new nurse model addresses nurses' working needs and empowers them to lead the conversation on transforming healthcare. Her upcoming book,  "Nurses Matter: From Compassion Fatigue to Resilience. A Nurse Movement to Transform Healthcare.” will be published at the end of January 2024.

You can find her at
www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferthietz and www.facebook.com/jennifer.thietz

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In this episode, Joe tells me what a career in public health is like. Public health is about working at global and population level, and with much more long term outcomes than many doctors may be used to. It's also about dealing with the root causes of disease, rather than the end symptoms. Training is varied, you get to mix with lots of different people, and in different contexts.

Joe Home is a London-based Public Health Registrar with a medical background currently. Prior to starting training he undertook Fellowships in NHS management, health policy and leadership. He completed his medical studies at Peninsula Medical School and completed a masters degree in medical law and ethics at the University of Manchester School of Law and an MBA at Alliance Manchester Business School.

He is currently undertaking a Masters in public health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and holds an honorary research position at The University of Salford School of Health and Society. You can find him on LinkedIn.

Further information on the public health training programme can be found here.

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Our workplace is full of issues that are complex, multifaceted, and with no clear solutions. In this episode Ekpemi and I discuss the challenges of dealing with complex issues at work. She tells me that good relationships are key, it's important to be clear on what it is that you want, and to take the other person's perspective into account.

Miss Ekpemi Irune is Consultant Laryngology, Head & Neck and Thyroid Surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. Her practice includes complex benign and malignant Head and Neck pathology. She has a further interest in trans-oral LASER micro-surgery and in trans-oral robotic surgery. She also undertakes research as Chief Principal and co-investigator for studies in oncology and COVID-19. Miss Irune is actively involved in Higher Specialist Surgical Training and participates in national and international education programmes. She is an Examiner in the Intercollegiate Specialty Fellowship Examination in Otolaryngology. She has a keen interest in the application of Mixed Realty technology in surgery and is a founding member of the global network- The Holomedicine Association. Miss Irune is a member of the British Association of Head & Neck Oncologists, the European Academy of Facial-Plastic Surgeons and the British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons. She founded the Academic Collaborative for Equality & Inclusivity in Surgery (ACEIS UK), a multi-specialty think-tank. She also mentors a number of individuals in the public and private sector. She provides professional opinions and surgical services on an adhoc basis to medical teams and patients in West Africa. She is an avid reader and loves horse riding.

You can find her on LinkedIn or Twitter @ENTMimi.

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Gill Tierney is the head of the School of Surgery in East Midlands, and experienced medical educator, and president of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. In this episode, we discuss how doctors can get involved in medical education, and how one role leads to another. She highlights the key role that people skills play when it comes to succeeding in non-clinical roles. And I love her tip to do what gives you pleasure.

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Michaella set up a mentoring programme for aspiring surgeons, has been on committees for Melanin Medics and for Students & Foundation Doctors in Otolaryngology, and is now enrolled on the Emerging Leaders programme through RCSEng. In this episode, she tells me that every doctor is a leader, whether they have formal designation or not. For her, leadership is about leaving the situation / people better than she found them, and the key to noticing improvement opportunities is to have your eyes open for things that aren't as they should be and then doing something about it. And it's important not to talk yourself out of applying for roles through a belief that others are better than you, there will always be set backs, but what's the worst thing than can happen? Just focus on what is meaningful to you and take it one step at a time.

Michaella Cameron works as a London based ENT registrar with a special interest in mentoring, career development programmes and Diversity/Equity/Inclusion initiatives. She volunteers her time as the Students and Foundation Doctors In Otolaryngology  representatives network lead and the Melanin Medics programmes coordinator for Surgin: The Lewin Programme. In order to improve her own leadership style and voice, Michaella is currently completing an Royal College of Surgeons Emerging Leaders fellowship. 

You can find her on LinkedIn.