BIO
Dr Amna Rehan is a portfolio GP based in London, UK. She qualified from King’s College London and also attained an Honours Degree in Psychology from there. Following this she did most of her postgraduate training, including GP Training, in the Oxford Deanery, gaining experiencing in a wide variety of rotations including Acute and Emergency Medicine, Trauma & Orthopaedics and Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
She enjoys various work including working as an urgent care doctor, a digital health GP, roles in medical education, podcasting and is a certified Mindset Transformation Life Coach. She is passionate about helping colleagues find a career that suits them and will bring them joy & purpose in their life.
Her podcast “Paving Your Own Practice” is available on all major platforms and aims to help and inspire healthcare professionals find happiness and fulfilment in their career, whether this be choosing the specialty they love or pursuing passions outside of medicine alongside their clinical work.
She enjoys various work including working as an urgent care doctor, a digital health GP, roles in medical education, podcasting and is a certified Mindset Transformation Life Coach. She is passionate about helping colleagues find a career that suits them and will bring them joy & purpose in their life.
Her podcast “Paving Your Own Practice” is available on all major platforms and aims to help and inspire healthcare professionals find happiness and fulfilment in their career, whether this be choosing the specialty they love or pursuing passions outside of medicine alongside their clinical work.
What made you consider being a doctor?
I was about 14 when I started considering it and didn’t know any better. No just joking haha. It was probably an accumulation of multiple things. But in all seriousness, one of the big motivators was that I sadly lost all my grandparents at an early age during my childhood. I felt I was robbed of many years with them due to certain health conditions shortening their life and was adamant that I wanted to help others in this way through preventing and treating illnesses, ultimately helping people live longer healthier lives and minimising the impact of detrimental health outcomes on peoples’ lives, particularly where they are avoidable.
During medical school, did you have any thought of what type of doctor you wanted to be?
I thought I would probably end up in GP, but to be honest I didn’t put too much pressure on myself to overthink it. I hoped as I progressed through medical school and rotate through different placements, I would feel an affinity towards a certain specialty.
Did this change? Why?
Yes! As it turns out, after graduating from medical school, I still wasn’t completely sure. I thought about medicine, radiology, GP and microbiology. I think it kept changing because when I started working as a doctor, I was gaining new experiences and advice by my seniors which gave me a variety of new perspectives on things.
What has been your most favourite moment of being a doctor?
It’s hard to pick out one particular moment but when a patient is truly grateful for the care you try to provide for them and they see you as a human being doing your best to help them, their gratitude and kindness is always a moment that is really appreciated. It is these kind of moments that remind us what a privileged position we are in.
What has been the hardest?
Missing important life events of family, friends and loved ones in the past has been tough but I know this isn’t unique to medicine. Luckily, having reached a senior level, I am grateful to have a bit more flexibility now for a better work-life balance.
Why have you chosen this path you’re on?
Most of my clinical work right now is in GP urgent care. The variety of cases and flexibility, as well as the fast paced environment and real team feel to the job, is a big reason I do most of my clinical work in this environment. There are also lots of opportunities to develop particular skills depending on where you work/support provided by the department. In addition to this I enjoy doing other work in digital health, medical writing, running an urgent care GP education programme and podcasting. Choosing GP as my path has allowed me the flexibility to be able to do such variety of work which I enjoy.
Would you recommend it to others? What are the upsides and downsides?
Definitely. It’s not the ‘easy option’ that some may think and you have to be able to deal with uncertainty, but I really enjoy it, particularly as I work with a really great supportive team of doctors and other healthcare professionals. It’s stimulating, interesting, challenges you and is a great area to work in if you enjoy a fast paced environment. The downside can be athat it can be quite a pressurised and stressful environment to work in when it is very busy, but if you have a supportive team around you, the effects of this can be lessened.
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