Making the cut as an ENT Surgeon

I joined St Joseph’s College in 1994 in the nursery department when it was still based at Oak Hill! I was lucky enough to attend all my schooling at St Jo’s, including my A-level education to study Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and English Literature with the wonderful Mr Davey, our Head of Sixth Form at the time. I left in 2009 to study medicine at King’s College London. Having graduated in 2015, I progressed to undertake my foundation year one and two as a junior doctor in Kent, Surrey and Sussex deanery. Having decided to pursue surgery as a career, I then moved to the Thames Valley deanery to undertake my core surgical training for the following two years.

I am currently an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgical registrar in the Thames Valley region, aiming to become a surgical consultant in the near future, but I am still a junior doctor with more exams to go!

My usual week consists of getting to work for 8.00am and doing a ward round of any inpatients admitted under the ENT team. Common conditions we manage are tonsillitis, nose bleeds and ear infections, but can also include airway emergencies, which are at the scarier end of the scale!

I will then go to clinic to see out-patients attending their ENT appointment – much like someone attending a GP appointment, but for more specialist advice – or go to theatre to operate with my consultant. There are a wide range on ENT operations to learn about. The first procedures you learn to do independently are taking tonsils out (tonsillectomy), ventilating the middle ear to help treat hearing loss and infections (grommets) and taking biopsies of suspected head and neck cancers. Gradually, you learn more advanced operations, for example, taking a thyroid out, performing sinus surgery and complex middle ear surgery.

ENT is a lovely mix of medical and surgical management, with a large focus of improving the quality of life for our patients across all ages, which is why I really enjoy it.

It is a long road to become a doctor, and even more so to become a consultant. I would not have got here without the help and support of the teachers at St Jo’s. I would encourage anybody who wants to do it to go for it. I am happy to be contacted for any career advice in medicine via Mr Kemsley, Futures Advisor.