Joanna
Joanna is originally from Stockport but moved to Birmingham to go to University. She loves to travel and see the world.
Published: 18 October 2017
Joanna spends a lot of her free time doing sports. She joined a running club in Birmingham where she met loads of people and likes to socialise and hang out with them.
Joanna is very sociable and tries to go out more with people who are not medics. She likes to go out for brunch and going to the pub with her friends. She is the middle child of three and is very close to her younger sister - they are constantly texting each other.
As a person, in work and in her personal life, Joanna says she is very “black and white”. She is stubborn and straight forward, there are no grey areas!
Joanna always wanted to be a medic. There were many doctors in her family – her father and both of her grandfathers. Initially she wanted to be a vet when she was young, but then she changed her mind and decided that humans are more interesting.
She says that she “would love to be a badass surgeon”, and wants to move abroad and get some trauma experience in Australia.
Q&A with Joanna
What was it about being a doctor that attracted you to the role?
I’ve always wanted to be a doctor - ever since I was a child. Originally I wanted to do veterinary, but that then moved on to people. There’s nothing else that interests me - I like working with people, I like problem solving, I like that it’s varied, I like that it’s very rewarding; I just love it.
Is it something you’ve always wanted to?
Ever since junior school, I can remember that it’s always been something I wanted to do. There was nothing else that ever sparked my interest in the way it did. I want to go in to trauma and orthopaedic surgery.
What are the most rewarding parts about being a doctor?
I really enjoy the relationships that you make with your patients. I find that really rewarding and satisfying when you have a really sick patient and you do things and you suddenly see them get better, and you relieve pain, and if they can’t breathe you help them. I just find that really rewarding. I especially find the acute stuff rewarding - when you can see an improvement in their quality of life quickly.
And the most frustrating part about being a doctor?
I find it really frustrating when you can’t help the patients. If there are things that I can’t cure I feel that really frustrating as my job is to help them. I try to leave my work at work but sometimes you have cases and patients that just really hit a nerve and they stay with you a bit longer, but I try to draw a line under it. I’ll acknowledge it if it’s made me sad but will try not to keep it with me too long.
How has it been having the cameras follow you?
It did take a while to get used to it but you do just kind of forget that they are there. And I just tried to get on with my normal life and my job. At first I was on my best behaviour but then you just relax in to it and just saw it as my day-to-day job. I was always aware they were there.
Why did you want to get involved?
A lot of my friends egged me on and said it would be really good. I’m a very normal junior doctor and I thought it would be nice to show the public what we’re like and what we do - especially when there’s a lot of press going on, the politics with the contract. It is a hard job and people get frustrated with the NHS and hospitals and it would be nice to show them why. Sometimes we are really busy and we can’t do everything.
What do you think viewers will take away from having watched the show?
I’m hoping they will take away positive things. We’re trying our best, we work hard and they will be able to see that the NHS is actually a fantastic thing but unfortunately with the way it is at the moment - there are lots of problems that need addressing. I’m hoping that they’ll see that the doctors of the future are good.
