Describe your best day at work?
Every child who came in sick went home alive. That's it. That's the best day. The team just clicked. Nobody needed to be told twice. A critically ill child would arrive and we'd move calm, fast, together. And when that child started crying again, when the colour came back, when the monitors settled there's nothing quite like that feeling. By the end of the shift I was exhausted, but it was the good kind - the kind that means something happened today that mattered. Zero mortality, every parent walked out with their child. That's all I ever want from a day at work.
What would you like the child health sector to look like in 30 years?
I want every child, regardless of where they were born or what their parents earn, to have the same fighting chance, because right now, that isn't true. And it should be. I want mental health to sit alongside physical health without hierarchy - a child's mind matters as much as their body, and we've been slow to act like it. I want the next generation of paediatricians to be well, not burned out by forty and not leaving the profession they loved because the system ground them down. Good doctors stay when they feel supported.
I want children to have a voice in their own care, to be spoken to, not just treated and to leave a hospital visit feeling seen, not just fixed. Thirty years is enough time to get this right. We know what children need.
What is one thing you will do, or advise new child health professionals, to get there?
Listen to the child, not just the parent or the notes, the child. Even the ones too young to use words are telling you something about how they hold themselves, in their cry, in their eyes. Learning to read that, to slow down enough to notice it, will make you a better clinician than any textbook ever could. And when they are old enough to speak you let them, ask them how they feel, explain what you're doing and make them feel safe, not just treated. Everything else the skills, the protocols, the leadership you will learn, but this you have to choose, every single day. Listen to the child and everything follows from there.
What have you done to improve your wellness at work?
As I'm managing Paediatric Emergency I have realized Paediatric emergency medicine is intense. Over time, I realized that to keep showing up well for my patients, I had to show up well for myself first.
The biggest shift for me was normalizing conversation after hard cases. Losing a child, or even a near-miss, doesn't just disappear when the shift ends. I started checking in with my team after difficult moments not formally, just humanly. That changed the culture in our department more than anything else I've done.
I also got honest about my own limits. Eating during a shift, sleeping between nights, asking for help - things I used to treat as optional which are not. As the person in charge, how I treat those basics sets the tone for everyone around me.
Earlier this year, we asked members of the paediatric community to share their stories as part of our 30th anniversary, celebrating millions of moments that mattered. Stories like these remind us of the impact you can have on children and families when you choose paediatrics.
If you'd like to share your story, we'd love to hear from you!