Bio
Daniel is a portfolio GP based in South Wales. He holds both the International Diploma in Expedition and Wilderness Medicine, from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
He has worked with Threshold Sports, Across the Divide, Exile Medics and Trailmed to provide medical cover at events such as Race to the Stones, the UK’s largest ultra-marathon, the 2018 Kenya Impact Marathon and the Deloite 2019 Ride Across Britain, a Land’s End to John O Groats endurance cycling event. In 2019, he worked with British Exploring, as their Chief Medic, in the Canadian Yukon, managing a group of 50 young people as they trekked and wild camped in the wilderness.
He was due to be joining a team working out in Fiji for 3 months this year, and also accompanying trips to Sri Lanka and the Scottish Highlands, however these are temporally on hold due to COVID-19.
As well as working as a GP, he is also the medical director of the Virtual Doctors, a UK-based charity that offers remote medical advice to healthcare workers and doctors in rural Zambia and Malawi. He also hosts “The Wilderness Medic podcast” which is available on all major platforms.
He has worked with Threshold Sports, Across the Divide, Exile Medics and Trailmed to provide medical cover at events such as Race to the Stones, the UK’s largest ultra-marathon, the 2018 Kenya Impact Marathon and the Deloite 2019 Ride Across Britain, a Land’s End to John O Groats endurance cycling event. In 2019, he worked with British Exploring, as their Chief Medic, in the Canadian Yukon, managing a group of 50 young people as they trekked and wild camped in the wilderness.
He was due to be joining a team working out in Fiji for 3 months this year, and also accompanying trips to Sri Lanka and the Scottish Highlands, however these are temporally on hold due to COVID-19.
As well as working as a GP, he is also the medical director of the Virtual Doctors, a UK-based charity that offers remote medical advice to healthcare workers and doctors in rural Zambia and Malawi. He also hosts “The Wilderness Medic podcast” which is available on all major platforms.
What made you consider being a doctor?
Good question. I think a combination of being ok at science, not wanting to work in an office environment and not really knowing what else to do. I was not one of those people who grew up wanting to do medicine, I sort of fell into it- and here I am 15 years later!
During medical school, did you have any thoughts of what type of doctor you wanted to be?
I remember sitting in a lecture towards the start of medical school, and there was a talk on careers. The lecturer said, “half of you will be GPs,” and I remember thinking, “well yeah- half of them will be… but not me.” So, speaking three years after completing GP training, it’s funny how things turn out.
I enjoyed most things in medical school and at one point thought I wanted to be an anaesthetist. During the foundation program I flirted briefly with the idea of acute medicine and also ENT but in the end, I felt that I wanted to train in something that was fairly generalist, and more importantly, it needed to be flexible with a short training pathway! GP training, whilst perhaps wrongly perceived as an easy option by some, seemed like the best fit, and it has allowed me to take up other roles since getting my CCT.
I enjoyed most things in medical school and at one point thought I wanted to be an anaesthetist. During the foundation program I flirted briefly with the idea of acute medicine and also ENT but in the end, I felt that I wanted to train in something that was fairly generalist, and more importantly, it needed to be flexible with a short training pathway! GP training, whilst perhaps wrongly perceived as an easy option by some, seemed like the best fit, and it has allowed me to take up other roles since getting my CCT.
What has been your most favourite moment of being a doctor so far?
When a patient or relative thanks you for something you have done, you realise that you occupy a really privileged position within their lives and it reminds you of why you do your job and gives you a new surge of energy and enthusiasm. This probably sounds a bit corny, but it is true.
Within event and expedition medicine, it is definitely meeting a hugely diverse group of people and helping them achieve their dreams and goals and empowering them to be able to complete whatever challenge they are trying to accomplish.
Within event and expedition medicine, it is definitely meeting a hugely diverse group of people and helping them achieve their dreams and goals and empowering them to be able to complete whatever challenge they are trying to accomplish.
What has been the hardest thing about being a doctor so far?
I think that this is probably a theme shared by many, particularly given the current situation. It is those lump in the throat conversations with a patient or their relatives which never get easier.
Why have you chosen this path you are on?
In a word: variety. I very much wanted to blend different aspects of what interested me within medicine and develop a portfolio career.
Currently I work as a GP for NHS 111, teach undergraduate medical students at Kings College London, write content for an online in expedition medicine MSc and am also the medical director for a small NGO.
Prior to COVID I was working on events and expeditions both in the UK and abroad and aiming to work in travel medicine. Obviously, this is all on hold at the moment, but I am confident that the events and travel industries will bounce back eventually and personally I think that travel and expedition medicine will become more, rather than less, relevant.
Currently I work as a GP for NHS 111, teach undergraduate medical students at Kings College London, write content for an online in expedition medicine MSc and am also the medical director for a small NGO.
Prior to COVID I was working on events and expeditions both in the UK and abroad and aiming to work in travel medicine. Obviously, this is all on hold at the moment, but I am confident that the events and travel industries will bounce back eventually and personally I think that travel and expedition medicine will become more, rather than less, relevant.
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