• Question: Who was your inspiration to get into healthcare?

    Asked by what11nag on 15 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Yuen Say Toh

      Yuen Say Toh answered on 15 Mar 2023:


      I enjoyed helping others, wanted to get in healthcare related work and I was inspired when I was doing my internship

    • Photo: Amy Yeoman

      Amy Yeoman answered on 15 Mar 2023:


      My Inspiration to get into Healthcare would be the nurses who cared for my grandad when he was in hospital and also a very good family friend who is a practice nurse specialising in Diabetes and it inspired me how knowledgeable she is.

    • Photo: Karen Innes

      Karen Innes answered on 15 Mar 2023:


      Helping others makes me feel good, so when my children left home, I decided to completely change my career and do something that made me happy. To do something that would make me want to go to work every day. I decided to start working with the homeless community and I was really inspired by some of their stories and the lack of support that was available to them. It was so rewarding and such a privilege to be able to help and support them and that was when I decided to focus on mental health.

    • Photo: Pauline Mardle

      Pauline Mardle answered on 15 Mar 2023:


      I am in a non-clinical role. Started as Receptionist but soon realised there is a huge workforce behind the scenes that keep the service going – safe and financially supported. I got fascinated and wanting to know more about how it all ticks hence working my way up through ranks to a Manager Post which is really varied, and you need to know about a lot of different area’s.

    • Photo: James Waldron

      James Waldron answered on 15 Mar 2023:


      When I was young I had leukaemia (blood cancer) and I remember being really impressed with the knowledge and the care of all the doctors around me so at that age (7) I think I knew. But I also loved teaching and being around people so doing a job where I interact with people every day was what I wanted to do!

    • Photo: Maria Gilbert

      Maria Gilbert answered on 15 Mar 2023:


      A pharmacist/pharmacy owner who I worked with when I was still at school. I worked with him in the pharmacy on a Sunday for the Sunday opening hours which were between 11&12 every Sunday. The town had no other pharmacy open on a Sunday and very limited services on a Saturday so when we arrived there was always a queue of patients at the door. Despite this Mr. Burr gave each and every one of them the time and attention that they required. I really enjoyed these short shifts and learnt a lot from a pharmacist with many years of experience.

    • Photo: Thomas Buxton

      Thomas Buxton answered on 16 Mar 2023:


      I attended an RTC many years ago and seeing how everyone worked together, from several different services, as a team to maximise the chances of a successful outcome for the patient was remarkable. I knew that once i had the opportunity of been a Paramedic i was going to do it.

    • Photo: Amy Hadfield

      Amy Hadfield answered on 16 Mar 2023:


      I really wanted to be in a profession that I would be able to care for people and help people when they are in need. I also really enjoyed science and so that helped me make my decision.

    • Photo: Clare Goss

      Clare Goss answered on 16 Mar 2023: last edited 16 Mar 2023 8:49 am


      I was inspired to help people and try and make a difference to their lives by doing something positive and caring. No one had been in healthcare in my family so I thought I would be the first one and yet 20 years later, I still am the only one in the family in this field.

    • Photo: Angela Musson

      Angela Musson answered on 16 Mar 2023:


      I have always been interested in health and wellbeing and worked as a Beauty and Holistic Therapist for several years, this led me to becoming a volunteer at the local hospice.
      During the pandemic I was going to work on the cruise ships in a similar role and unfortunately this was one of the careers that was grounded during that time. As an alternative I found a role working as a Community Health support worker and looked after people receiving palliative (end of life care) at home, I also worked to support elderly people at home during this time and it was the experience of the social care system which these people found themselves in that led me to look for a business role within the NHS after lockdown ended. I was inspired by the experiences of those patients, it made me want to work in the system combining all my skills to make things better for people.

    • Photo: Samantha Garside

      Samantha Garside answered on 16 Mar 2023:


      I suppose you could say my sister to some point because when I was a little girl I used to visit her place of work which was a community pharmacy and I used to get to stack the shelves.
      The point in my life though where I decided I wanted to go into healthcare was when I was at work one day and from my office desk I saw a member of the public fall outside their house and couldn’t get help, passers by was ignoring her. I went to help that lady and from then I looked for apprenticeships and saw the pharmacy technician one and went for it and I’ve not looked back since.

    • Photo: Caroline Boshell

      Caroline Boshell answered on 17 Mar 2023:


      My mum. She was a nurse and I loved hearing about her job and as I got older I decided that rather than a nurse I wanted to apply to be a doctor.

    • Photo: Rachel Drury

      Rachel Drury answered on 19 Mar 2023:


      I was in a car accident when I was 15 years old and spent a long time in hospital (2 months !). The nurses who looked after me were fantastic, not only did they make me feel better they made me smile everyday. I still remember them to this day. They inspired me to go into a career that looks after people and makes them feel better when they are poorly.

    • Photo: Jane Thorpe

      Jane Thorpe answered on 20 Mar 2023:


      I have always wanted to help people and enjoyed science so I was drawn to Healthcare but didn’t really want to be a nurse. Being a Pharmacy Technician is the perfect job for me. I didn’t have any inspiration to become a Pharmacy Technician, it was just meant to be!

    • Photo: Laurence Quirk

      Laurence Quirk answered on 20 Mar 2023:


      Probably the nurses who treated me when I was a child with asthma when I spent many days in hospital either for treatment or routine check-up. I’ve worked alongside many nurses and occupational therapists in previous jobs over the years and they always made me want to work in health care.

    • Photo: Lisa Blake

      Lisa Blake answered on 20 Mar 2023:


      When I saw the nurses looking after a friend in hospital, I remember thinking I want to do that.
      I love making a difference to my patients.

    • Photo: Callum Hunting-Young

      Callum Hunting-Young answered on 20 Mar 2023:


      My grandfather was a doctor in the Army. He was a great inspiration.

    • Photo: Sarah Chalmers-Page

      Sarah Chalmers-Page answered on 21 Mar 2023:


      I’ve had lots of inspirational bosses that have kept me in healthcare. But to be honest, I didn’t know anyone who worked in health before I started. My psychology teacher at A level inspired me to want to do psychology rather than law. She was so different from any of the other teachers, very thoughtful and treated us with a lot more respect than most, like our opinions were actually interesting new information and not something she had to teach us to think the way she did about. Then I had several inspiring lecturers in university. But it quickly became obvious that psychology wasn’t the right road for me and that my skills were more management orientated, and I considered health, social care, local government and charity as places where I might be a good manager but also help other people out. The NHS was the graduate scheme that offered me a place. There’s nothing wrong with choosing a career out of more practical reasons, and I have met several amazing nurses, doctors and managers since who have helped me make the most of my talents.

    • Photo: Simone Clarke

      Simone Clarke answered on 21 Mar 2023:


      My dad, when I was in year 8 he was diagnosed with cancer. I didn’t know what it meant and nobody really talked to us as children about it, so I started reading about the causes, diagnosis, the treatments etc.

    • Photo: Kate Knowles

      Kate Knowles answered on 21 Mar 2023:


      My nextdoor neighbour who was a nurse herself

    • Photo: Adam Mulla

      Adam Mulla answered on 21 Mar 2023:


      Seeing healthcare workers in the community and on TV

    • Photo: Krishan Patel

      Krishan Patel answered on 21 Mar 2023:


      Healthcare can be one of the most challenging and rewarding fields of work at the same time. I picked it because I knew it would help me to develop qualities and skills that I could be proud of by the end of my career.

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