In pictures: What being a doctor in Wales means to me
- Published
BMA Cymru said it wanted to stimulate debate, discussion and "ultimately understanding" about what the job is like in 2017. "What being a doctor means to me" was the theme and it inspired GPs and hospital registrars to look beyond the confines of their surgeries and wards. Dr Medwyn Williams, a GP locum from Bodorgan on Anglesey, submitted "an evening in Conwy". He said: "After a stressful day in surgery, what better than a stroll through a deserted Conwy?"
Dr Bethan Roberts, a newly qualified GP, was a junior doctor until January. "I took this photograph on a night shift when we were one person down, taking their bleep in addition to the usual on-call and cardiac arrest bleeps. The photograph represents the responsibility that comes with being a doctor, but also the burden of having to cover absent colleagues and rota gaps."
Cardiff junior doctor Dr Holly Evans, with The List, looked at the mundane but important aspects of work. She said: "I wanted to show that, while so much of TV medical dramas show running around and action, it is the hidden side of medicine that is more important for patient safety. The characters and tasks shown in this photo must be familiar to every junior doctor!"
Life outside medicine was taken by Dr Antony Sarno, a GP with Aneurin Bevan health board. "This photograph in the Rhymney Valley was taken after doing a home visit to see an elderly lady in her eighties, during a busy day on call. So what does being a doctor mean to me? Every time I look at this photograph, it reminds me that being a doctor is a part of me, not the whole me. Because in Wales, there is life outside of medicine. The picturesque scenery blew me away to a different place, for a split second, before I jumped back into my car to see another patient."
Patient care is an entry from Joseph Merola, a registrar at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales, and it goes to the heart of challenges facing doctors. "The photo depicts the number of ways patient care is directly and indirectly influenced in today’s NHS. Whilst intending to have a positive influence, paradoxically this sometimes means patient care takes a back seat."
The reality of rural decline was taken by Dr Carl Iwan Clowes, a retired NHS medical director. "The quarries had closed. The population had fallen from 1,500 to 1,000. Significantly, it was here in this primitive surgery held twice a week in Llithfaen on the Llyn Peninsula that I learnt first hand of the significance of the relationship between a community in decline, and its impact on health. Addressing the challenge led to the establishment of the UK’s first community cooperative and the now iconic centre at the formerly deserted village of Nant Gwrtheyrn, so facilitating much-needed employment, a revival in confidence and morale and a renewed well-being for this most deprived of rural communities."
"Weekend wind down" is another photo by Dr Medwyn Williams. "Living and working in magnificent north Wales. What better way to prepare for Monday surgery than an early morning walk in Snowdonia. Looking for a new GP post?"
Dr Mary Fok, a community paediatrician at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, was runner-up in the competition with "the joy of ASD assessment". She said: "Assessing children for Autistic Spectrum Disorder forms a major part of my clinical work. The challenges bring special moments like this. I simply gave a little boy some toys and observed him. This photo shows the result of a few moments of 'non-pretend play', typical of an autistic child. The outcome has a beauty of its own, captured in the symmetry of the layout and colours."
The winner is Dr Dylan Parry, a GP at Cadwgan surgery in Colwyn Bay. "Life's meaning in the face of mortality" is a stack of philosophical books, with a "thank you" card in the background. "Being a GP for me has meant many different things but most of all it's been about a fascinating journey of learning," he said. During that journey "it has become increasingly clear that my patients and I are ultimately trying to achieve a shared understanding of life's meaning and how to square its preservation with a sense of being mortal".
- Published16 June 2017
