Since 2007 we’ve been working together - in your surgery, at conferences, MDMs, hospitals, operating theatres and in med schools (I still remember buying forty pork bellies for teaching students suturing techniques and my butcher wondering what on earth I was doing with all that pork!)

Being part of your everyday has given me an insight, empathy and deep appreciation for the incredible hard work you do and the sacrifices behind the scenes to get to where you’re at in your career. I’ve seen the exhaustion and burnout that often comes with the relentless study followed by huge responsibility, appointments to the brim and the juggling of family and career.

And the hardest part of being in the medical field? Knowing what help is available for your patients but not feeling like you can access it for yourself. I understand why you are reluctant to see a psychologist or chat to colleagues about your mental health. So who do you turn to for support? Who will be there for you in the most confidential way when you don’t want to talk to your family?

I promise I will not fix you because you are not broken. I am here to hold space for you as you hold space for your patients, you community day after day. You deserve to be well, too.