04/09/2026
Celebrating 20 years of being a doctor!
20 years ago, I graduated from medical school and became a doctor. 👩🏾⚕️
Returning to the University of Dundee medical school for our 20-year reunion has made me reflect on just how much life has happened since then.
Twenty years later, here are a few things I’ve learned...
1. Don’t let other people’s limitations become yours.
When I was 16 and choosing the subjects I needed for medicine, teachers questioned whether I could manage them all. My dad was furious. I didn’t understand what was happening. I took them anyway — and finished top of the year, taking prizes all subjects.
Sometimes people will underestimate you. Let them.
This is one of the only photos I could find of me as a junior doc. Social media wasn’t a thing then!!
2. You don’t have to announce what you’re capable of.
I was always quietly ambitious. I studied, I worked, and I got on with it. Not everybody needs to understand the plan. Not everybody needs to know your business.
3. Discipline matters more than motivation.
At university, I could spend all day in the library and still go out that night. Twenty years later, not much has changed 😂
I enjoy life, but I know when it’s time to work.
4. Work hard. Play hard. And enjoy your loved ones while you have them.
I mean this one wholeheartedly.
Your career matters, but so does your life. Travel. Celebrate. Dress up. Dance. Spend time with people you love. Make memories.
You don’t get these years back.
5. Medicine isn’t glamorous.
It is long hours, a lot of responsibility, exams, sacrifice, difficult days and years of training, time away from loved ones. You are definitely tested, from a young age.
It took me around 10 years after medical school to become a consultant dermatologist. There are no shortcuts.
6. The long road is still worth taking.
When you’re standing at the beginning, ten years feels like forever.
Then one day you look back and realise you did it.
Keep going.
7. Have goals.
You don’t need your entire life mapped out, but know what you’re working towards.
Ambition witho
