Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to this episode of our podcast series aimed at supporting the international medical graduates in GP training across the Thames Valley region. In this episode, I'll be speaking with Dr. Tisha Patel about how IMG trainees can strengthen their confidence, resilience and relationships during GP training and how these skills can support both their personal on growth and professional journey.
Speaker: Dr. Tisha Patel is a part-time GP director and educator at a Buckingham Chair General Practice. She is an accredited career and executive coach with the NHS Leadership Academy and also serves as a mentor for the NHS GP Fellowship Scheme.
Speaker: Additionally, she works independently as a coach, wellness and confidence trainer.
Speaker: Tisha is a founder of the Arena of Success Digital Course, which equips individuals with the tools to catapult their careers and lives by elevating self-belief and confidence and transforming their mindset.
Speaker: She also manages ah monthly GEM Club, which is a growth elevator membership club.
Speaker: Tisha is passionate about assisting individuals, executives, managers, and GPs ah both within the public sector and externally, to develop their personal and professional growth by facilitating transformative change.
Speaker: I'm so pleased to welcome you, Tisha. Thank you so much for joining us today. oh Thank you, Nishida. Thank you very much for having me here to share what I'm passionate about as well.
Speaker: So thank you.
Speaker: So Tisha, confidence and resilience are often the two qualities IMG trainees say they struggle with during their training journey, especially when adapting to a new system and culture and also trying to manage the stress and the workload.
Speaker: From your experience, what advice would you give to IMGs on how to build and maintain confidence and resilience throughout their GP training? Yeah.
Speaker: Great question, thank you. um There are numerous ways, but the things that come to mind are, it's a difficult three years, but... During the three years, you've got to learn to celebrate each win, no matter how small. So that's the first thing to building your own confidence.
Speaker: Each exam success, each time you get through and a review, an annual review, then celebrate it. Set a goal for it, celebrate it with something that you've set for yourself.
Speaker: Put it in, calendarize it and make sure it happens. If you struggle with your level of confidence and need a boost, then consider joining a hashtag I am remarkable workshop.
Speaker: These are completely free and occur around the globe, but I'm a facilitator and you can always request one for your group or your VTS. and So watch this space. They're coming to the NHS as well.
Speaker: Also, confidence and resilience ah are things that come with experience. So don't be hard on yourself. You know, give yourself time. We're not born to be confident.
Speaker: Some of us are extroverts and lead or appear as confident individuals, but that doesn't make us confident within. So give yourself, take that pressure off, give yourself time and be kind to yourself.
Speaker: um And that brings me on to self-compassion. Being kind to yourself is very important. It's a struggle to get through any sort of um training, whether it's in general practice or a hospital career.
Speaker: So you need to take small steps. But there are different things to take you on this journey even faster. And I'm going to mention a few here. Seek a mentor.
Speaker: You have a educational supervisor. They are senior to you. They can act as a mentor, but seek a mentor who is just qualified or who you know. Meet with them for half an hour.
Speaker: Learn from them. um Ask them specific questions. Observe them and seek feedback from them. That's the important thing. Seek feedback, but also be willing to listen to the feedback that comes back to you.
Speaker: Okay. The other thing that you could do if you struggle to find a mentor is um look at the NHS Leadership Academy. The leadershipacademy.nhs.uk um ah has a coaching and mentoring programme. It's called the Coaching and Mentoring Hub and you can get a GP mentor, a GP coach um for completely um um free free of charge.
Speaker: they These coaches and mentors devote their time to the NHS and help you excel. So if you're struggling, then that's your port of call. Make sure you've got boundaries in place.
Speaker: Boundary setting is very important to make sure you maintain um your area of of growth. But together with boundary setting comes...
Speaker: Wellness, make sure that's in place. I don't need to teach you as um training GPs the importance of exercise, etc. But those are the things that you need to have in have in place.
Speaker: um A few quick things, cute quick wins are journaling for growth. You reflect at the moment. and Reflection is important in general practice and the portfolio, but reflect on your personal and professional growth.
Speaker: Use a journaling for growth approach within your writing. And, um you know, that can't be taught easily. And you can, you can you know, seek um further information on this.
Speaker: But a journaling for growth approach tackles your self-talk or rather your negative self-talk or your self-beliefs and questions what's happening, why is it so negative?
Speaker: And the main thing I can give you if I was giving you a tip was to catch that negative thought cancel it and then correct it. Okay. And that's my quick win for you today.
Speaker: Catch it, cancel it and correct it. um Create positive affirmations for growth. If you set these, and statements showing where you want to be in the future, it can bring you huge rewards.
Speaker: For example, something, I am a excellent or progressive leader within the NHS. That's positive affirmations. You're not there yet, but one day you will.
Speaker: If you repeatedly say it, stop believing in it, then you will get there. So those are just a few quick win and tips of how to maintain confidence together with your resilience.
Speaker: But remember, it takes time. So don't lose heart. Small steps um on a daily or weekly basis.
Speaker: Thank you, Tisha. That's some very practical advice there. And and you know I'm sure I'm going to start using some of them as well. um Thank you very much for that.
Speaker: And it's also interesting, I think, that you reaffirmed that people are not born with confidence and resilience because that's often a feeling that, oh, I'm not generally confident. But I think it's it's useful to hear from from someone like you that these are skills that can be develop developed. um Thank you for that.
Speaker: um Moving on to the ah next question I had was about relationships. and building strong positive relationships both within the workplace and outside ah can make a huge difference in a trainee's experience and and overall well-being.
Speaker: So what would you tell our IMG trainees on how they can build ah meaningful connections with colleagues, supervisors and their wider community? what What small but effective steps can they take ah to feel more connected and included? And I think especially in the early stages of their training.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. It's it's vital. and Once again, it's small steps, but use the resources that you've got available. You're in a GP training practice.
Speaker: You've got your educational supervisor, and that's the biggest relationship, the most positive relationship you will have. However, you have a huge number of individuals at your disposal or your use that you can learn from, observe and help build relationships.
Speaker: You've got the clinical team, you've got fellow doctors, Sit in with them and you do that during induction, but at at any point during extra leave or study leave, take an opportunity to go learn from them, see what they do and don't stop there.
Speaker: Spend some time with the PST, the the patient services team, the workflow team, the wider workforce. Learn what they do, not only what they do, but how they approach their team, how they interact with each other.
Speaker: and start learning from them. Many, i mean, as IMGs, relationships are different and wherever you know you've you've come from, wherever you've settled, but you can learn about different relationships and different um things that go on.
Speaker: For example, instead of sending an email to a workflow member and or a team member, go and speak to them in person. Build that relationship.
Speaker: You can always send messages two or three years down the line, but if you haven't built that initial connection, then they're not going to know who you are. And why stop there? You've got this induction period, which may be a week, two weeks in practices when you join the general practice surgery.
Speaker: And don't let that be the only time you meet the staff that make up the practice. As a GP leader, I've just returned from leave after two weeks and I made it a point yesterday morning to go and visit my entire team and say hi, just reconnect, ask how their few weeks were and say hi.
Speaker: That goes a long way um in in building connections and learning from other other people. So try and do this at least once a week. But ah you know if you can't do that, then at least monthly.
Speaker: Go and have that personal meetup. and and make the effort. And when you're when you're doing this, you're learning how they communicate, how they lead meetings, how they interact with each other.
Speaker: You'll pick up good habits and you'll pick up bad habits. So, you know, make your mind up about what you want to take away from them. it's ah It's a learning experience.
Speaker: I've already said, seek a mentor within the practice. Who resonates with you? Who do you like? Who do you want to mimic? um I remember as a GP trainee, I had a brilliant trainer and they became my mentor for the next few years.
Speaker: I almost did what they what what they were doing. I became a trainer. I became a partner. and i I did. I did. I had a portfolio career only because I was so inspired by that individual.
Speaker: So find your mentor and learn from them. Now, these are things that you can do within the workplace. But remember, there's a whole community outside. If you're not part of a local community, then go and be part of the local community.
Speaker: If you settle within the Thames Valley area and you live within a local community, what clubs, what events can you be part of? So learning can happen on multiple levels. You can learn from differences in communities, in their languages, in how they communicate, how they interact, but also your kids, your children, if you do have them, will learn from these interactions as well as you become part of a community.
Speaker: So observe, act and participate. Don't be isolated. We're not just GPs. It's very easy to just be, know, be tired within the NHS system or with and, you know, have the 10 hour, 10 to 12 hour days, but make sure that you're not isolated.
Speaker: and Do other things. um The other thing that I say is if you for enjoyment and resilience purposes, consider a portfolio career.
Speaker: I certainly, as you've seen, have a portfolio career. There's no reason why you just need to do general practice. You can do general practice as well as be a leader, as well as do PCN work or be a obs and gynae specialist, a dermatology, a person with dermatology specialisms.
Speaker: Over the years, I've been a coil fitter. I've been a sexual health doctor. You know, experience them, build them. your um i suppose build what you want in your career by experiencing different things yeah you that's the only way you're going to whether you what you're enjoy in life but remember you can learn by building positive relations both within the gp practice and externally
Speaker: absolutely that's so true um and i think you were talking about um meeting people within the practice and i think There's so much value in it. It's easy for people to assume, oh, everyone's busy. They don't have the time, but even spending a few minutes at the beginning of the day, i think it's it's so, so valuable.
Speaker: um and And again, what you were talking about, that does lead us on nicely to my last questions, what you mentioned about the portfolio career. So I was going to ask you, for for trainees approaching the end of their GP training and thinking about what's next in their careers,
Speaker: and What kind of opportunities, including leadership or development opportunities, ah should should they be aware of? Especially those interested in roles beyond clinical practice.
Speaker: Absolutely. Great question. So.
Speaker: Leadership is is important. Whether you want to be a GP partner or director or a leader within the PCN or not, it's vital to have those skills.
Speaker: But also, these skills add resilience to your working life as a GP. So the sites that I'm going to mention can be valuable. in getting um small bite-sized courses as well as learning material.
Speaker: So the first one is theleadershipacademy.nhs.uk. If you have a look on this website, you will have bite-sized learning, you'll have podcast podcasts, you'll have exercises and and also and leadership training available there.
Speaker: The next, but on ah on the same site, let me signpost you to a few longer term courses, and starting off with the Edward Jenner course. Now, some of you may have heard about the Edward Jenner. It's the...
Speaker: It's the first course that's available completely free on the NHS. It's open at the moment if you're interested, but it can be easily done within ah three months.
Speaker: um And it's an online learning course to help enhance your leadership journey. I did it. or maybe 15 years ago, and I was really interested in it, got it done within a week, and went on to the next level.
Speaker: So the next level is passed to the master's or half a month, half a master's. At the time, mine was called the Mary Seacole course. Now that there is some payment for that, but sometimes you have bursaries available um ah within house um or externally. So look out for those.
Speaker: And that Completing those modules can lead to a full NHS leadership master's degree. So watch that. Have a look at that site. and I mentioned the coaching and mentoring.
Speaker: During all these journeys, seek out a coach and a mentor. And the site is the coachingandmentoringhub.nhs.uk. Completely free coaching and mentoring.
Speaker: Consider training. You know, you've all been through um training um as a on the BTS, but which one of you has been inspired by it? Who wants to consider that as a as a career opportunity in the in the future?
Speaker: You need to wait two years, but within the second year after qualification, do start thinking about this and applying to the training program. And once again, the these are available and completely free.
Speaker: And then gradually later on, you might have opportunity to do a PG cert in medical and health care education if you are a trainer. And that's offered to trainers um that have done the initial training.
Speaker: and at the ah but We've mentioned, she just mentioned that I'm a mentor on the GP fellowship program. So this is also available and ah for newly qualified GP. So watch out for these new programs um that are available once you step out.
Speaker: And then consider self-development programs. What I mentioned to you are things that the NHS provides, but that doesn't need to step stop there. Consider programs to help you develop.
Speaker: I've mentioned... and ah programs that I've set ah ah set about, such as the Arena of Success self-coaching program. and So those are a few things, but within um your GP careers, you'll have opportunities within the area, especially Thames Valley, to consider demoscopy training or um implant training or further diabetes training, different things like that. So watch the space, but also keep an eye out on the circulars that come out, signposting you to various and ah opportunities.
Speaker: Brilliant. That's full of practical, valuable advice. That's great. Thank you, Tisha. um I think now, finally, to close, um what final questions?
Speaker: message or piece of advice would you like to share with our IMG trainees as they continue their journey through GP training and beyond? Yes, I mean there's one that I just want to say again i suppose, we all feel negative at times and um feel low and start practicing that negative self-talk but when you do see it happen, feel it happening take the time to catch that thought, cancel it, and then put something correct in its place.
Speaker: So cancel, sorry, catch it, cancel it, and correct it. So that's that would be my advice. Don't just stay in that negative spiral. Instead, aim to rise higher.
Speaker: Perfect. Thank you very much, Tisha. you so much for sharing your insights and experiences today. I'm sure our listeners will find them incredibly valuable.
Speaker: And to all our IMG trainees tuning in, we hope this episode leaves you feeling more informed, inspired, and supported as you continue your journey in GP training.
Speaker: And until next time, take care and keep going.
