10 Feb 2023
International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an annual observance adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to promote equal access and participation of females in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields.
To mark this important day (11 February 2023), we spoke to two inspiring females who work in London’s Air Ambulance Charity’s Physician Response Unit (PRU).
The PRU is a pioneering service in community emergency medicine, aiming to deliver safe, effective and patient-centred emergency care in North East London. It brings the emergency department to the patient – often in their own home – and sees patients of all ages with a variety of emergency presentations, from cardiac arrests, major trauma and sepsis, to severe headaches, chest pain and palliative care.
We spoke to Jessica and Shal, two of our PRU doctors, to hear about their experiences as females in the STEM industry.
How did you become a doctor for London’s Air Ambulance’s PRU?
Dr. Jess: I have worked in all the Barts Health emergency departments over the last few years as part of my Emergency Medicine training, so I came into contact with PRU staff on multiple occasions. I then worked closely with some of them last year and they encouraged me to apply. It’s the best decision I ever made. I am currently six months into my fellowship year and working 50/50 between PRU and the Emergency Department.
Dr. Shal: I went straight from school to study Medicine at King’s College London. I then completed my Medical Foundation Training in North London, in which you spend two years rotating around different specialities. During these rotations, I really enjoyed the practical and problem-solving nature of emergency medicine, so I applied to specialise in this. I am now in my fifth year of training to become an emergency medicine consultant. I decided to apply for the PRU to develop my skills in emergency care in the pre-hospital environment, whilst exposing me to some of the system challenges that patients face.
What is most rewarding about being a doctor for London’s Air Ambulance’s PRU?
Dr. Jess: It’s the first service I’ve worked in where I truly feel valued and an important member of the team. The support both from seniors and peers is incredible and we are a really tight knit community with common passions for the vulnerable within our local communities. I feel like my ideas and concerns are not only taken seriously but encouraged and the open culture allows for valuable learning experiences.
Dr. Shal: I’m not sure I can really do justice to how rewarding working for the PRU has been. It has completely transformed how I view my role as a doctor, how I collaborate with other healthcare professionals and how I provide emergency care to patients - both in the pre-hospital environment but also in the more traditional setting of an emergency department.
The team of doctors, nurses and ambulance clinicians I work with are committed to reimagining the landscape of emergency care and the culture of excellence and continuous learning regularly pushes me outside of my comfort zone. Most importantly, the opportunity to see patients - often in their own home and on some of their hardest days - and provide care that is meaningful and individual to them is a real privilege.
Why should people consider working in science when they’re picking a career?
Dr. Jess: Science is always evolving and therefore you can never know everything. I find that fascinating. There are always new topics to learn, new research to analyse and the possibilities for both short- and long-term career goals are exponential. You just need to find your people; your niche.
Dr. Shal: Science is such a broad and interesting field to work within. My day-to-day job is just as much about being curious, compassionate, listening and reassuring as it is about deciding which medicine to give. Often the latter is the easiest part of my day.
How can the medical industry help inspire females?
Dr. Jess: Representation is the biggest thing. If females can see other females from a range of backgrounds and diversity in the positions they dream about, they will believe it’s achievable for themselves.
Dr. Shal: The medical industry can help inspire women and girls to enter through improved representation and visible diversity. I worked in emergency medicine for a good few years before I saw an emergency medicine consultant who was also Asian and female. Addressing the barriers underpinning this - whether they be related to inequalities in education, pay, career flexibility or leadership roles - is crucial so that those coming into the profession already see themselves represented.
That’s not to say that we should focus solely and superficially on metrics like gender for representation in the field of medicine - there needs to be a commitment to true diversity of excellence.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a female in science?
Dr. Jess: There are still prejudices and sexism within the medical field. Pushing back against those and not accepting being told “no” or being advised to pick a different speciality because it’s “hard for women” takes courage and practice.
To what extent have you witnessed the science industry change during your time within it? (In terms of diversity and inclusion)
Dr. Jess: It has definitely changed for the better. Diversity is being used much less as a throw away “hot topic” and being taken more seriously now when writing up strategic plans and in future planning. There is still a long way to go, but we’re heading in the right direction.
Is there a female in the science industry that specifically inspired you?
Dr. Jess: There are so many. I think any female who has battled through the world of emergency medicine and carved out a place for themselves amongst the leadership positions deserves respect for that, it’s no easy task.
Dr. Shal: The people who inspire me the most are the patients. Whether it’s a partner caring for their wife who is bed-bound from a stroke 10 years earlier and knows exactly what music makes her smile or the young woman on her first round of chemotherapy who is determined to bake cupcakes for her child’s birthday - our patients and their families can all teach us something.
What words of advice would you give someone who wants to work within the science (medical) industry?
Dr. Jess: There are thousands of different job roles within medical science, far more than I ever knew existed when I was choosing a career during my school years. Spend some time on NHS job websites and read up on some of the jobs you’ve never heard of as something will inevitably jump out at you as being your perfect fit.
Dr. Shal: There is an assumption that you need to be obsessed with anatomy and pharmacology to be a doctor. You don’t. I certainly am not. You do need a reasonable understanding of basic sciences to get you through the exams and to build your clinical knowledge, but medicine is just as much an art as it is science.
If you are interested in a career in medicine, try and get some work experience. But remember that medicine offers a lot of variety in terms of both clinical and non-clinical practice so rather than seeing what an average day looks like during your experience - look at the values underpinning it and see if they align with what you would want from a career. In my experience of emergency medicine these are values of kindness, empathy, integrity and continued improvement.
