Dr Sarah Fitzgibbon
The path to being a GP can begin as a hospital intern
Thinking back, my first day as an intern could have had career-defining consequences If 1 July 2000 hadn’t fallen on a Saturday, I wonder would I have become a GP? I wonder would I have followed my original plan of being a surgeon, like my grandfather? In the years that followed, I convinced myself that…
Read MoreGetting over the stigma hurdle
One step towards improving our mental wellbeing is learning to admit when we are not feeling well Today I “attended” the IMO AGM, by which I mean it was transmitting from my laptop while I pottered about tidying up after breakfast, reorganising the knives in the dishwasher and putting on the fifth load of laundry.…
Read MoreThrowing those curtains wide open
The recent WiMIN conference might have taken place remotely, but it provided much needed respite and allowed us to travel into each other’s universes for a brief period of time “This time last year” (as many of us have been saying recently) I was getting ready to pack our car with excited children, a supportive…
Read MoreThis much I don’t know
Say something loud and with conviction, over and over, and voilà, you’ve created A Fact There is a weekly column in a posh liberal British newspaper entitled “This Much I Know”. It is brazenly ripped off in a somewhat less-posh Cork-based newspaper, which is of course much more my thing. In it, various celebrities/authors/GAA players…
Read MoreBack to school
Anyone who has ‘followers’, be they students, trainees, administrative staff, or an under-five camogie team, would benefit from guidance on how to lead and support them It has been a pretty dull year with not too much going on and the workload has been very light, so I decided it would be an excellent time…
Read MoreTrials of the pregnancy questionnaire
I’m sleeping like a baby after my portacath was removed, but the questions around pregnancy before the procedure were irritating For six years I haven’t been able to sleep on my right side. I didn’t think it mattered that much. I have a whole left side and a back to lie on, so wanting a…
Read MoreThe burning issue of physician wellbeing
Being able to spot the signs of burnout is easy, or is it? Miles and miles of print have been devoted to discussing doctors’ mental health. Endless studies citing percentage rates of burnout and suicide and addiction and awfulness. We should do something about it. Of course we should. But the difficulty lies in the…
Read MoreBeware of the dark side
Interactions on social media can be a diverting distraction, but they also have the potential to be lethal Many years ago, I was involved in an accident on the road between Killarney and Tralee. It was one of those cartoon-accordion pile-ups, with four or five vehicles scrunching into each other in slow motion after the…
Read MoreLife’s many ports of call
I learned valuable lessons for self-isolation during the trip of a lifetime In recent weeks, a long-distance sailing trip I took with my parents came to mind as a result of the challenges we now face. In 1995, my mum and dad retired. They were 50 and 54 respectively, positively ancient by my reckoning at…
Read MoreWhere dreams don’t come true
Far from a dreamland, Disneyland can be a nightmare for parents I suffer from intrusive thoughts, especially when I am anxious. For years, I have found it difficult to stand on the platform of an underground train station, as the image of suddenly pushing a small child under the oncoming train can be very distressing.…
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