Why Medics Matter

42 Episodes

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Dr Shashi Madhapura: SAS Doctors Are Already Doing the Work. So Why Aren’t They Recognised?

2026-10-1938:31

Most of us were told that moving from specialty doctor to specialist is about putting in the years, building a solid appraisal portfolio and waiting for someone to notice. But what if the work that proves you’re ready is already happening, and it’s invisible to your trust? What if the “business need” you’re asked to prove has existed for years, in the autonomous work you’re doing now? And what if a system that relies on that work without recognising it isn’t just slow, but exploitative? Recor...

Steve Peters: The Chimp Paradox for Doctors

2026-10-0501:00:46

Most of us have been told that a good doctor stays calm, keeps control, and doesn't let emotion get in the way. But what if control isn't something your brain can actually do? What if the anxiety, frustration and self-criticism you've spent years trying to suppress were never "you" in the first place? And what if the harder you push logic at them, the more they push back? In this conversation with Professor Steve Peters, consultant psychiatrist and author of The Chimp Paradox, we go dee...

We've Regulated the Joy Out of Medicine. Here's How We Get It Back

2026-09-2134:25

Most of us have been told that the way to protect standards and patient safety is more structure: tighter curricula, exact numbers, rigid pathways, committing to a specialty by 24 and staying on that line to the end. But what if that's the very thing draining the joy out of being a doctor? What if the rules built to protect standards are quietly lowering them, by burning out capable people and straitjacketing the most able? And what if only a quarter of the recommendations that come out of re...

The Strengths That Get You Into Medicine Can Break You Once You're In

2026-09-0730:54

Most of us have been told that if a doctor is struggling with organisation, communication or exams, the problem is effort, attitude or resilience. But what if the very traits that got them into medical school, the hyper focus, the attention to detail, the sheer persistence, are the same ones that leave them exhausted once the job demands teamwork, small talk and juggling ten things on a ward round? What if the anxiety, the time off and the failed exams you're seeing are the symptom, not the c...

Everything Medicine Taught You About High Performance Is Backwards

2026-08-1730:30

Most of us picture high performance as a Formula One pit stop: elite talent, huge resources, everyone flat out. In medicine we've quietly absorbed a version of that, the doctor as superhuman, no lunch, no sleep, just keep going. But what if that model is the very thing burning you out? What if the "high-pressure" environment we're so proud of surviving is actually what stops you performing at all? And what if real high performance starts not with pushing harder, but with admitting you're huma...

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