OW Spotlight Rachel Parish

Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m an emergency medicine and paediatric emergency medicine consultant at Frimley Park Hospital. I spend half my time working in the paediatric emergency department and half in the adult ED. Outside of work, I shoot clay targets! This has taken me all round the world to 3 Commonwealth Games and several World & European championships. I’ve won 11 international medals including Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

 

What inspired you to work in medicine?

I didn’t originally want to be a doctor. When I was at Wellington, I enjoyed Biology and Chemistry, so I did a degree in Biochemistry & Genetics as that was what I was interested in. During my degree, I found working in a lab felt lonely and decided that I wanted to work with people. Naturally, I thought of medicine, and I went onto to study medicine after completing my degree.

 

What is your speciality and how has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your normal working routine?

The pandemic has meant a change in working pattern, so I’m working in the adult department a lot more than usual. Adults also seem to be more severely affected by COVID19 so there is more staffing required in this department, so we’ve reconfigured the department so children are seen directly by the paediatricians. I also have some colleagues who are shielding at home, so this has meant those of us still working are filling in the gaps left by them too. I’m working a lot more than I normally would and working most weekends to ensure there is enough senior cover for the department.

 

How did you get where you are today?

I did my medical degree in Southampton, foundation programme in Salisbury and emergency medicine training in the East Midlands. I worked as a consultant in Derby and then decided that I wanted to move back to the South to be near family, so I moved back last summer. Often as you go through training in medicine there is very little choice of location which is how I ended up doing emergency medicine training in the East Midlands. There’s more choice when you become a consultant and I’m very happy where I am now.

 

What advice would you give to students and young OWs who would like to join the medical profession?

It’s hard! I think you really must want to be a doctor in order to do it. Things have improved over the last few years, but you still work a lot including weekends, nights and evenings. There’s a lot of assessments to get through and you’ll be doing exams well into your late 20s and 30s as most specialties have exams just before becoming a consultant.

Once you’ve decided you want to be a doctor, you have to pick a specialty. I’m biased, but emergency medicine is great! I would recommend looking at what the consultants do on a day-to-day basis. You’re a trainee for approximately 10 years but then a consultant for the rest of your career, perhaps 30-35 years, and the life of a consultant is very different to that of a trainee in any specialty.

You also need to be determined and driven to get through it all and have a good support network outside of work.

 

What is it like working within healthcare at the moment?

It’s pretty unpleasant but there are some good points. The camaraderie amongst my colleagues is great and we’re supporting each other. Looking after COVID19 patients is scary and emotionally draining. We aren’t allowing relatives to come into hospitals with patients so they’re mostly on their own. People of all ages are getting this disease and are very unwell and even dying with it. Several of my colleagues have also been unwell and one of my friends, a mentor and colleague, in Derby died a few weeks ago from COVID19. It is very real and very confronting working in emergency medicine at the moment.

 

What are your career highlights?

I’m pretty proud of passing all my Royal College final exams first time – it often takes more than one go. I enjoy teaching junior doctors and I always feel very proud of them when, for example, they’ve successfully resuscitated someone or completed a procedure well. It’s great to have supported someone to learn and improve; knowing I’ve played a part in that is a wonderful feeling.

 

Do you have a fond memory from your time at Wellington that you would like to share or perhaps a particular teacher that really stood out?

I was always amazed that I got to go to school somewhere where the surroundings were so awesome! I enjoyed singing in the chapel choir, and Simon Williamson was supportive from a music point of view. At the time, Wellington didn’t shoot clays, but I used to get a lift with the boys who were going to shoot rifles at Bisley.  It was a bit frowned upon that I didn’t want to shoot rifles – but they still gave me a lift so that was just fine!

Featured in the 2019 – 2020 Yearbook.