Don’t treat junior doctors the way you wished you had been treated

My first consultant was a charming white haired Irish man who was one of those doctors that seemed to make patients better with his very presence. When people talk of a “good bedside manner” I think he was the kind of doctor they refer to. He was not shy in praising us, his junior doctors, usually in front of the patients. I was also terrified of him, and in retrospect he had a profound influence on my style as a doctor, although it has been difficult for me to match his charm and Irish accent (sadly, I used to have one, but try being the only Asian kid in a school in Aberdeen who said “tirty tree and a turd.”)

Over the years, magpie-like, I have observed the best and worst of consultants, registrars and other junior doctors, and borrowed the behaviours of those I liked, whilst trying to avoid…