Having gone to medical school at the University of East Anglia I joined the Royal Navy as a junior doctor based in Plymouth before officer training at Dartmouth.
Deploying as the doctor on HMS RICHMOND I enjoyed combining medicine and adventure. During training to become a GP I had my two children and undertook some research around postnatal depression amongst servicewomen which led to Defence wide policy change including the introduction of self referral into mental health services for pregnant and postnatal servicewomen in the UK. Alongside my first job as a military GP I followed my interest around women’s health and medical education gathering further qualifications in these areas, training junior military doctors and running women’s health clinics before moving to be a lecturer in general practice. A career highlight this current job involves research and education and has enabled me to follow my passion of combining these to benefit women in Defence. An MSc in Health Research Methods and a PG Diploma in Community Gynaecology has allowed for research around female hygiene in austere environments, international collaborations, access to abortions in the UK Armed Forces and provision of bespoke women’s health clinics as well as training our future medical professionals, leaders and anyone else who will listen around women’s health.
