SHORT REPORT |
Why I became an occupational physician ...
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
e-mail: peter.verow{at}swbh.nhs.uk
My medical career could be described as unorthodox and the academics at St Mary's Hospital in London did not understand my desire to have a break from medicine to play full-time squash. ‘You may not be able to get back into medicine again,’ they said, ‘and if you do it is likely that you will only have the option to become a GP!’ I followed my own instincts and after house jobs became a ‘full-time squash player’. I have never regretted the career break, travelling around the world and learning the need to win to survive.
Eventually all good things come to an end, and having recognized that a sports career is short and not very lucrative, I had to return to medicine after a few years. My re-entry was provided through contacts and a shortage of anaesthetists and after a phone call from somewhere deep in Mexico I became an anaesthetic senior house officer (SHO) in Birmingham. A series of other SHO posts enabled me to complete my general practitioner vocational training programme and I began somewhat half-heartedly looking for a full-time partnership. By chance, I noticed an advertisement for a trainee occupational physician with the Rover Car group in Birmingham and, by coincidence, Nick Trethowan who was working at the Institute of Occupational Medicine and living quite close was able to tell me more about the speciality and convinced me that it was worth a try.
Longbridge was an ideal place to gain one's first experience of occupational medicine. There was plenty of on-site medical emergencies as well as experience of confrontation during the era of union power and ‘Red Robbo’. Ian Picton-Robinson, my trainer, encouraged me to visit other sites to learn more about the different aspects of the speciality. Having completed 2 years of Membership of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (MFOM) training, Ian helped me to persuade the powers to be that I could undertake my final 2 years MFOM training within a new National Health Service (NHS) post at Sandwell, where I have remained ever since. Ironically, despite all the advice of those St Mary's academics, I have now ended up an NHS hospital consultant. While it has taken some time to educate them about what occupational physicians actually do, the opportunity to work closely with other consultants has led to a greater respect for each others' roles and needs.
NHS occupational medicine has enabled me to work regular hours, participate in teaching and research and provide a better working environment for NHS employees. My study leave even allowed me to attend an ‘Olympic Games’ as the medical officer to the Great Britain gold medal-winning hockey team to complete my MFOM dissertation. I do not think that would be allowed today!
I have no regrets that by chance I found occupational medicine. Perhaps the new F1/F2 training years for junior doctors will provide more opportunities to raise the awareness of our speciality and thereby leave less to chance in the future.
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