Talk us through your job. What kind of things do you do?
There are many facets to my role. Every day is different and it is the variety that keeps things interesting. I have regular commitments such as outpatient clinics, cath lab lists (angiograms and stent implantation), multi-disciplinary team meetings and working on the wards.
I also perform primary percutaneous coronary intervention which involves stent implantation in patients who are having a heart attack, which we know saves lives. We are on call 24/7 responding to paramedics who take patients directly to the Heart Centre at the Cumberland Infirmary.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy that you don’t know always what the day will bring within cardiology. It is nice to see patients get better after being extremely unwell and returning home independently. We also get to know patients in clinic who have more long-standing problems which we can help with.
I'm never bored, alongside my role as a cardiologist, I teach the next generation of doctors through my role as an Associate Foundation Tutor for year 1 and 2 junior doctors and more recently I became Clinical Director for Elderly Care.
I'm also currently co-chair of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Intervention (EAPCI) Women Committee which is important to encourage more females to join this profession as we are in a significant minority of interventional cardiologists.
What inspired you to go down this career route?
From childhood I can’t ever remember wanting to do anything else other than medicine and was always interested in how things worked. I have had great role models along the way and had the opportunity to work with two very strong female cardiologists who encouraged me to keep going.
What’s the best thing about living and working in Cumbria?
I am originally from west Cumbria, leaving for university in Dundee, and have worked in other areas including Europe before coming back to Carlisle in 2013. I also did my work experience here in Carlisle many years ago.
Living in Carlisle and being close to work provides me with a nice pace of life as I can be home from work in 10 minutes to walk the dog!
The hospital is a good size, with a wide range of specialities and everyone is friendly. There are good opportunities for junior doctors to train, develop skills and progress their career.
