I passed! I’m now a doctor

After 8 years at Keele & Warwick universities, I am now a doctor. How did I get here? It’s a long story.

After 8 years at Keele & Warwick universities, I am now a doctor.

Dr Matthew Thompson MBChB MA BSc

What a wild journey, echoed in all those letters after my name.

From BSc Forensic Science & Human Biology, to MA International Business, to transport innovation foresight, to starting Aerios Media, to creative content manager of Aerial Motion Pictures, to media & innovation consultant, to Warwick Medical School, and finally(?) to the NHS.

This accelerated 4 year course has seen me absorb(ish) hundreds of lectures, learn dozens of clinical skills & exams, talk to who-knows how many patients, complete 7000+ Passmedicine questions, and sit 10 assessments - with 7 in just the last 4 months.

Alongside studying medicine, I’ve photographed Kirsty, Emily, Faces of Medicine, two Revue shows, GMICE 2019, PHEMTEC 2019 & 2022 events, Warwick University staff, and many more.

I continued studying through the COVID pandemic, assisting the respiratory ward & photographing 67 NHS staff at George Eliot Hospital for “Humans of the Pandemic”. Some of these portraits hang on hospital walls “for years to come”.

I embraced prehospital & emergency medicine, training dozens of other students, running scenarios, sitting on society committees, competing (and helping win) Wild Trials 2019, and helping organise two national conferences & mass casualty simulations (PHEMTEC).

I contended with COVID infections, difficult sharps injuries, subacute thyroiditis, and mental health troubles. I got in the best shape with climbing, and in the worst thanks to the pandemic.

I dramatically shifted my aspirations (yet again), from GP/A&E to paediatrics, effectively doubling my training time (10yrs) and requiring me to put sharp things in tiny veins. But right now, I think it’ll be worth it to help make sick children better.

I made some amazing friends and have had the joy of the greatest clinical partnership ever with Emily - now Dr Kidner. I’m not looking forward to seeing her go home to Stoke, minutes away from where I was at Keele, as she has certainly helped me survive the hundreds-if-not-thousands of hours at hospital & GP placements.

Today I received my second commendation from the head of the medical school, for PHEMTEC 2022.

I’ve not written this to brag, only to summarise what I’ve accomplished since September 2018. There’s plenty I’ve forgotten. None of this would have been possible without the endless love, support and understanding from my family. Now to wait for my 3rd graduation in July.

I must admit, I’m rather proud.