Dr Margaret Phillips (MD MRCP)

Name : Dr Margaret Phillips (MD MRCP)
Employer : Derby Hospitals Foundation Trust and University of Nottingham
University : University of Wales (Cardiff)
Subject : MBBCh
Graduated : 1989

I’ve always been curious about how things work and research so a career in academic medicine was a natural step that allows me to combine practising medicine with, I hope, contributing to the development of medical knowledge. Part of my medical degree included an intercalated year during which I completed a BSc in physiology – this really helped me in pursuing a career in academic medicine. I studied for an MD after my SHO years before training in rehabilitation medicine.

Working in academic medicine

I split my time between clinical work and management, teaching medical students and conducting research. It’s the norm to have a clinical role as well as an academic position so good time management skills are a must. In my teaching role I teach and mentor medical students, work on developing the curriculum, manage and co-ordinate clinical educators and other medical teachers, and set and conduct examinations. On the research side, I make funding applications, review papers, supervise and work on projects, write up and analyse results, and try to get the findings published.

Best and worst

Analysing the data from a project and communicating it to others is one of the greatest rewards of my job. It is always fulfilling if I can help medical students to enjoy the subject, although it can be difficult for rehabilitation medicine to compete with some of the more ‘exciting’ subjects. The bureaucracy involved with obtaining funding and making ethics applications can be frustrating and time consuming.