Born in the UK, we emigrated to the Middle East in 1979, and were suddenly displaced at the start of the Gulf War (1990). Through the turmoil, we moved to the far-east, and eventually, returned to the UK where I attended secondary school. I travelled after my ‘A-levels’ and found a medical school in Budapest, and decided to take a chance on something wild, new & life-changing. Although the teaching was in English, I learned a new language, culture and truly loved my time there! I got married in Oslo in my 5th year, and we returned to the UK.

After training as a GP in Kent, I felt that my learning journey was ‘incomplete’. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I was looking for something more. After MRCGP, I enrolled as a Psychiatric Core Trainee, achieved Section 12 status, and was asked to join what I fondly and somewhat euphemistically call ‘the medical civil service’ as a Clinical Lead in Mental Health for NHS Thanet Clinical Commissioning Group, and entered the brave new world of commissioning.  

Five years later, I was voted in as CCG Clinical Chair. This was truly a baptism of fire, the heat shield was off! I was exposed to new level of medical politics, policy and responsibility. Through that period, I helped reconfigure stroke services in the South East, I was Clinical Director for Hospital/Community Transformation (budget £450m), and led on many clinical areas, as diverse as ‘Children & Adolescents, Dementia, Learning Disabilities, Maternity, Mental Health’ and others. I received media training, worked with MPs, think tanks and even got invited to the House of Lords! 

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Sensing the ‘changing of the guard’ again, with another NHS reconfiguration, I returned to university and won 2 fully - funded NHS scholarships to study health economics & policy, followed by global healthcare leadership. The trigger was the inaugural Kent and Medway Medical School lecture by Prof. Chris Whitty. I had the privilege of meeting him as Thanet Clinical Chair in 2020, literally on the cusp of the pandemic. The thesis in a nutshell, was that life expectancy has risen consistently and inexorably in almost all disease domains. That is clearly not down to medicine alone, but is a function of public policy, legal advances, engineering and multi-disciplinary action.  I am by nature an outward thinker, and have always been fascinated by the interface between medicine, the humanities, law and other disciplines. The vision was so appealing and enticing, I was sold and applied for funding.​ My journey has taken me to Rome, Pavia, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Bangkok, New Haven, Mae Sot, Kathmandu, Butwal, Pokhara & more.

Through life experience, work and academia, I can share stories of resilience, motivation and in retrospect, moments of pure madness! If you are after clarity, purposeful and intentional guidance, then I can help. ​​