Hello, I’m Dr Derek
My Role: Lead GP, Clinical Lead for Workforce and Education (Wigan)
Where I work: NHS, Beefold Medical centre, Atherton
What do I do in my role?
I look after the health of a practice population of around 4000 patients. No two days are there same and there are a wide variety of things I need to be able to manage. I also supervise the junior doctors and other allied healthcare professionals at my practice.
On my non-clinical days as Workforce and Education lead, I put initiatives in place to improve the recruitment and retention of clinical staff in the Borough.
What’s my career journey?
I went to Medical school at Bristol University for a period of 6 years.
During my medical degree I did an additional degree in Bioethics. Following this I did my 2 years of foundation training at Oldham hospital and an additional 3 years of GP training at Bolton hospital. During my GP training, I did two postgraduate diplomas. One in medical education and another in medical leadership.
What’s the best thing about my job?
The ability to impact the health across different generations of a family. I also enjoy understanding the needs of patients and delivering personalised care.
My top skills
- Communication is key
- It is important to listen
- Always strive to learn more and improve yourself.
Good personal qualities to have
- Hardworking
- Integrity
- Honesty.
What do I want to do next?
I have created a patient information YouTube channel called AduMed. This has gone well and led to opportunities to work with the BBC and World Health Organisation. I plan to continue to make content that has a wide scale positive impact on the health of others.
My advice if you want to do what I do
Believe in yourself and really go for it. There are no limits to what you can achieve. Put a plan in place to allow you to achieve it.