Blog – Page 4 – Next Generation GP

NEXT GEN NABS: AMI SEN MUKHERJEE

Written by admin on 11 February 2022. Posted in Next Gen +: Nabs.

NEXT GEN NABS: AMI SEN MUKHERJEE

What role(s) do you hold at the moment?

I am currently a Portfolio GP, so I have a few hats! I am a locum GP and am putting my time management and organisational skills to the test by multi-tasking and ensuring that I am a ‘present’ mum.

I am enthusiastic about ‘paying it forward’ to the next generation of medics and pursue this through a role in medical education as a facilitator at GKT medical school. I am passionate about supporting peers through my roles on the local LMC and co-Lead the London Next Generation GP Programme.

I am a keen advocate for holistic Wellbeing and take great pride in representing colleagues as the First5 Wellbeing Lead at RCGP. Owing to the current crisis, I have set up a voluntary Wellbeing support service for my local hospital which seems to have kept me quite busy recently. In between all of this, I try and make time for studying for a Masters and spending time developing a Wellbeing venture to support others moving through transition.

What brings you the most joy at work?

Knowing that someone has benefitted from an interaction with me. As a doctor, this can be a patient getting better, or receiving positive feedback from a patient. As a wellbeing professional, this can be feedback from a podcast or a post I have written. As a Coach, this can be in the context of seeing a tangible change in a client or receiving feedback…. the list goes on, but essentially knowing that I have been able to ‘serve’ an individual or my community and that I have helped in some way.

What is your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge is that of balancing my professional and personal self and this is something my mother always spoke to me about. I have learned though that ‘good enough’ is OK too and I have learned to be comfortable and accepting of this.

What’s the best leadership/career advice you’ve ever recived?

I would say I have been given a few pieces of advice that I try to hold in my mind’s eye. The first is that ‘We are all human. We all bleed the same blood.’

Essentially, we are all equal – no one is better or worse and therefore we should treat people and be treated with respect and equality. I also embrace and welcome the following from myself and colleagues: ‘I don’t know’; ‘I made a mistake’ or ‘I’m sorry’. This promotes and encourages a non-judgemental and inclusive culture.

Who do you look up to?

Hmmm, that’s a really hard one as there are so many people, but the older I get, the more I realise the two best role models I had were my parents. My parents came to the UK when my sister was only 6 months old and I was then born here. I saw my parents working hard every day and night to provide a secure happy life for my sister and I. They taught me the importance of integrity, humility, patience and perserverance, but most importantly they taught me to be true to myself and to be kind. Life’s rich tapestry has shown me how blessed I was and the mistakes I have made personally and professionally have made me the person I am today. I just hope that I am able to learn and grow to become a better human being.

What would you like to achieve by the end of your career?

I don’t really have a plan. I am carving my own career because what I do makes me really happy. I have found something that I am not only enjoying but that I feel I become (with practice) good at. If I can support others to know that it is ‘OK’ to walk the path of most resistance because it is what you want to do, then that would make me happy. I would like to support people in making the tough choices that may not be easiest ones. I am hugely passionate about Wellbeing and I would love to be able to support people in this sphere, helping them to connect with themselves in order to reach their own potential and therefore thrive and flourish. Ultimately, if I can support people in finding their own happiness that would make me really happy.

What have you learned about yourself in lockdown?

I’ve learned that I shouldn’t really bake. I’m OK at it, but I should leave it to the experts! To be honest, what I have been able to do is put my learning and things I have been taught into practice which is something that I didn’t necessarily ‘have time’ for before. For example, I am really paying gratitude to people, even for small things. I am making sure I end conversations/zoom calls with enough love and affection and ensuring that when writing emails, I pay gratitude to those I am communicating with, even for something small. Kindness, compassion and love make the world go round and so I am actively trying to be more mindful of acknowledging the importance of everyone who I come into contact with. We are all human, we are all living in this strange climate and so if I can make someone’s day a bit brighter by being positive then that’s what I try and do.

What are you reading at the moment?……and (no judgement) the last film you watched…

Sad to say that I am not reading anything at the moment as I simply don’t have the time. I do have a lovely book on my bedside that I dip in and out of related to Mindfulness which is really grounding. It’s called ‘The Things You See Only When You Slow Down’ written by a Buddhist Monk called Haemin Sunim. It’s a lovely read which reminds me of the importance of connecting with my authenticity, core values and principles in all that I do. This is a philosophy that my father instilled in me which I truly value. As a British born Asian, I really feel that I have been able to benefit from a multi-cultural heritage and so am naturally drawn to books with a religious or spiritual teaching.The last film I watched was, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ – Part One. I am a huge HP fan and so had this on in the background late at night when I was replying to emails!

DEVELOPING A PORTFOLIO WORKING PATTERN

Written by admin on 12 September 2020. Posted in Next Gen +: Blogs.

Will Owen (GP trainee and Next Gen GP leader) reflects on developing a ‘portfolio career’ as a trainee.

I recently had the slightly surreal pleasure of being asked to share a few thoughts on setting up a ‘portfolio career’ for a short article in the BMJ. To be honest I’d never really made time to think about it before but it was a useful exercise! Here are a few things I’ve learnt so far….

For the last 2 years I’ve split my week between GP training, work as a paediatric specialty doctor, helping lead Next Gen GP, and spending a day each week with my 2 year-old daughter. Creating a varied ‘portfolio career’ was one of the reasons general practice appealed to me so much, and I’ve not been disappointed… I’ve unexpectedly found that I have more energy through my working week and a greater appreciation for my clinical time with colleagues and patients. It also, inevitably, comes with added complexity; at times developing a portfolio career has felt like spinning lots of plates – and I’ve certainly dropped a few.

Consider what different roles or opportunities will give you – not necessarily in terms of career progression but in what they add to your life, wellbeing or energy levels.
Be clear on the challenges – aside from the added complexity of ‘life admin’ (keeping track of finances, annual and study leave etc) I’ve also experienced more self-doubt as ‘a jack of all trades, master of none’. This is compounded the longer-time taken to gain clinical competencies and the difficulty some others have in understanding non-linear training paths. If developing a particular clinical interest then relevant qualifications or accreditation may help in benchmarking your experience.
Find allies – when you have several different roles then issues in one can impact the time and energy that you have for the others. Try to find supportive seniors, colleagues or friends who know a bit about your work blend, listening and helping when things feel difficult.
Build up a portfolio gradually and try to be flexible – sometimes things all fall into place at once but try to be realistic and not over-promise how much time and energy you can give each part of your week. Keep this under review and if you find the balance isn’t working for you then discuss it and change it.
Protect time for yourself and your personal relationships – this is usually the first thing to go when we get busy, and I’ve found that every role occasionally demands more time & energy than I’ve allocated for it! Having multiple roles comes with increasing reasons to sacrifice the time for ourselves or our relationships so it’s even more important to be aware of this.
Don’t be afraid to break mould – training programmes can feel very rigid but flexibility is almost always possible and can bring so many benefits, sometimes you just need to find the right person to ask.

In my experience however hard I try to manage my diary the lines between roles will blur and priorities will change week by week. I’ve had to call parents of paediatric clinic patients in the coffee break of my GP clinic, responded to urgent Next Gen emails between in between paediatric clinic patients, and been late joining conference calls booked over my lunch break because an urgent home visit cropped up. Initially I felt guilty that my attention was often split but I’ve realised that it really does all even out over time, and provided my attention is undivided when I have a patient in front of me the flexibility can be really satisfying when you get to the end of a busy day having met several very different goals.

It has been a real (ongoing) learning experience to develop a blended ‘portfolio career’ in training, and there have been several difficult periods along the way, but I still feel that the variety I have in my work has taught me skills I wouldn’t otherwise have learnt and helps keep me fresh and enthusiastic.

NOT ALL LEADERS WEAR SUITS – AND OTHER LESSONS I LEARNT AT NEXT GEN GP

Written by admin on 1 February 2020. Posted in Next Gen +: Blogs.

EMMA GRENNELL

Leaders, in my opinion, have always been easy to spot- even as a child. They shot their hands up in lessons, they were the ones out on the dancefloor first, the team captains, the debate queens…They were loud, confident and always popular. As a child, I was happy, and still am happiest, surrounded by like-minded people, dissecting the world and trying to find our place in it. I read incessantly, have lots of friends, and have always over-filled my days with too much stuff. I’m enthusiastic, passionate, and curious. Fabulous qualities- if I was interviewing for a place as a ‘BFF’. But not worthy of leadership status, surely?

I didn’t fit my pre-conceived mould of a leader. I couldn’t see myself in those roles, so I never went for them. So, what the heck was I doing on a leadership programme? If you, like me, have been left feeling like leadership is a sky rocket dream, BUT still have this unwavering little voice inside of you willing better things into the world, then please read on.What does it mean to be a leader? Who are the great leaders of the world? What do they look like? Is that me? These were the questions I was hoping to answer by joining Next Gen GP. Listening to all shapes and sizes of leaders at Next Gen GP helped me to challenge my own assumptions on what it means to be a leader. One particular session struck a chord with me- the session delivered by Hannah Miller, based on the Clifton StrengthsFinder tool. Developed after 40 years of research, this is a much more in-depth personality quiz that the ones you used to find in the back of Seventeen magazine. Clifton StrengthsFinder provides an assessment to identify your top 5 strengths among 34 common talents.

When I completed my questionnaire, I thought “yeah, yeah… I’ve taken one of these personality tests before, every doctor I know is going to have these top 5 qualities”. How wrong was I? Check these figures out; There’s 1 in 340,000 chance that somebody else has the same top 5 strengths as you. And there’s 1 in 33 million chance that someone has the same top 5 strengths as you in the same order! The theory is not to pigeon hole you into a personality type, but rather to encourage you to own your strengths and recognise them as your special power.

To give you a taster, here are my top 5 strengths and paraphrased definitions of what they mean to me.

1. Input: I love information; books, podcasts, documentaries. I enjoy sharing this info with friends and colleagues who come to me for advice.

2. Connectedness: I believe that we are tied together somehow. I can help people see the bigger picture.

3. Restorative: Give me a problem and I’ll help you fix it. Friends often come to me for advice and my bookshelf is full of self-improvement books.

4. Individualisation: I appreciate the uniqueness of people and how they fit together.

5. Empathy: If you’re happy…I’m happy, if you’re sad…pass me the Kleenex.

We’re in this together. All interesting stuff, but the real work only begins here. Enamoured by the whole experience, I rushed home after the session and signed up to an even more in-depth analysis. It may sound dramatic to declare that this session was life-changing, but that’s exactly how I felt. It completely opened my mind to what my drivers were in life.

I’m now working hard on developing and being proud of my strengths, whilst being aware of my weaknesses.

So, if you’re reading this and still thinking: ‘I’m not sure I’m cut out for this whole leadership malarkey’…. please look in the mirror, and realise that you are completely and utterly unique. No one has thoughts, perceptions, or experiences like you. Your passions and your story are yours, and yours alone. Your story is your strength. And you can use that to make a difference- which is, after all, what leadership is really about.

In the words of Dr. Clifton himself “What will happen when we think about what is right with people, rather than fixating on what is wrong with them?”.

If you don’t believe me, have a look at the Strengthsfinder tool, and dip your toe into Next Gen GP! You’ll never know what it might change for you. I never expected that it would change me like it has.

Being Mortal

Written by admin on 1 November 2019. Posted in Next Gen +: books.

by Atul Gawande

Buy from Amazon

For years when looking for a book to read (or now to listen to) it has always been the epic fantasy and sci-fi novels that I have reached for. This book had been recommended to me so many times however, including by leaders and colleagues in our Next Gen GP programme, that I thought I would give it a try.

In this book Atul Gawande, a world-renowned American author and surgeon, explores what it means to be mortal in the 21st century. We are taken on his journey of facing our mortality, from the difficulties of aging to what it means to care, and finally to facing our ends. Challenging the beliefs we have as professionals and patients about the aims of healthcare.

This book is a sensitive and enlightening exploration of the trials that we face in healthcare in looking after an aging population, challenging many of the thoughts and practices that are commonplace. The reminder that in our attempt to do good and extend life, we can in fact cause harm and distress is a humbling one. Even when we feel that we are aware of these difficulties it is still a fascinatingly complex situation to navigate. Atul Gawande’s touching stories of his own experiences with his father’s illness and end of life expose and explore many of the anxieties and struggles that clinicians go through. The theme of personal experience and narrative runs through every part of this book. There is humour and inspiration from his encounters with the pioneers of elderly community care, and their paradigm breaking approaches to what people want vs what we think that they need – including the surprising success of filling a care home with hundreds of live animals! This humour is contrasted with the sensitive and heartfelt exploration of what the true consequences are of when we get it wrong, and the peace and life (and for that matter death) changing impact that can be had when we get it right.

Reading this book has already changed my practice, encouraging me to have the difficult conversations with families and relatives earlier, so that in their life they can be brought into the discussion of their wishes and their mortality. Moreover, it has changed the way that I have these conversations, considering what really is important to people is a very personal thing. As Gawande puts it “Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end.”

Finally, it has also changed my outlook on relationships with my family and loved ones. It has helped me realise that whilst care for others is at the heart of what we do we need to attend to ourselves and families as well, as – at some point – we all have to confront what it means to be mortal.

James Waldron, GP and Nottingham Next Gen GP Leader