Navigating the non-standard route

Dr Ellen Tullo

Following a thoroughly enjoyable undergraduate experience at Newcastle University, graduating to work as an F1 was a difficult transition. I enjoyed seeing patients but struggled with multiple competing demands and the emotional stress of making clinical decisions under time pressure. I was also surprised to miss the academic component of life as a medical student. I took a year away from training and completed a Masters in the History of Medicine, with some locum jobs to make ends meet.

Suspecting that full-time medicine would not be compatible with mental health I re-entered F2 part-time alongside taking on some undergraduate clinical teaching sessions at Newcastle, a rewarding experience that I wanted to build on. I completed a PG Certificate in Medical Education and expanded my teaching remit.

Ellen selfi

After taking four years to complete the foundation programme I attempted to get back to full-time training as a Core Medical Trainee. Unfortunately, I encountered similar difficulties as I had as an F1 and needed to take time off – at this time I seriously considered leaving medicine altogether. I was fortunate enough to be mentored by an academic who corrected my misplaced belief that research had to take place in a lab. I successfully applied for an academic clinical fellowship in geriatric medicine with a project focussing on improving undergraduate education about dementia.

A couple of shifts acting up as a medical registrar convinced me that standard medical training was never going to be possible for me. I was offered a teaching and research role at Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and was able to undertake a medical education PhD as a staff member. During this time, I did one clinical session per week in a geriatric medicine day hospital in an honorary capacity. The stability of working in the same place with the same MDT reminded me how rewarding patient contact, especially with complex older people, could be.

 

I now have a specialty doctor role in geriatric medicine at Northumbria Healthcare Trust, with outpatient clinics in Parkinson’s Disease and comprehensive geriatric assessment. 

 

I am joint lead for audit and quality improvement for our department and do two sessions per week with Sunderland medical school as clinical academic training lead, supporting students and graduates who are interested in academic medicine. It took a while, but..

I have found a sustainable blend of clinical medicine, teaching and academic work that is enjoyable, varied and rewarding.