STORM LONSDALE, 27,
is a Junior Doctor currently working in A&E at Queen’s Hospital, London. Volunteering at an HIV orphanage in Kenya inspired her to study medicine at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. This year she’ll begin anaesthetic training in intensive care and her ambition is to work in conflict zones. I encounter death on a regular basis and speaking to patients’ relatives is one of the hardest parts of the job. Often your best isn’t good enough and as a doctor you see how unfair life is. It’s a small downside and is balanced with the special moments I experience every day. I was part of a team looking after a very sick boy with meningitis who was in intensive care for a long time. We didn’t think he was going to survive so watching him walk out of hospital was amazing. You realise that without our intervention that person would be lost. I love that I never clock-watch at work and am constantly challenged. I hate feeling bored.
When the blue phone in A&E rings with a five-minute warning of a cardiac arrest coming in, the team of doctors and nurses immediately snaps into action. I have to be extremely focused to cope with the pace of such a busy ward and, as a junior doctor, I know it’s my responsibility to speak up if I’m feeling overwhelmed. The team support makes it easier and we have a debrief after any cardiac arrest so we can voice our emotions. There are few jobs where you have such intimacy with a complete stranger; it’s a huge responsibility and privilege.
Doctors aren’t great at work-life balance because if something goes wrong it’s more important to stay. When I work regular hours, I might go climbing or for a drink after work. I have good financial security as a doctor, though mine isn’t the highest paid profession: I’m on around £30K because I live in London. My family work in creative fields; my mum and dad met when she was a model and he was importing Levi’s, and my sisters are artists and designers. They are proud of me, though my dad thinks the NHS works its staff too hard. But the way I see it, everyone who loves their job works hard at it.
WORK IT
Storm’s secrets to success
Don’t take work home.
The time you’re away from work is your own and you don’t help anyone by ruminating. Switch off by going for a drink or doing some exercise.
Think long-term.
It can be soul-sucking when friends are establishing careers and you’re still a student, but doctors have to play the long game and know the rewards will come eventually.
Make your career work for you.
My aspirations to travel and do humanitarian
work have driven the choices I’ve made.