Polly Duncan

WHAT WiseGP WORK DO YOU DO?

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I am on a journey to becoming a WiseGP. My life is a juggling act, working one day a week as a GP, three days doing research, being a mum with three young kids and getting my exercise and outdoor fix when I can. For the moment it seems to be working and I like the variety. 

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My GP day is long but passes in the blink of an eye. I enjoy immersing myself in the mental challenge of making best guess decisions and not knowing who will step through my door next or what their opening gambit will be. I’m always looking things up - part and parcel of being a very part time GP. The best bit by far for me is the human-to-human connection with patients. Moments where the conversation steers slightly away from the reason they’ve come in.

I love all the learning that goes on in GP – looking up what to do, teaching and learning from students and trainees, sharing near misses with WiseGP colleagues. Everyone else is making their best guess too.

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The pace of my research job is slower than GP but certainly no less taxing.  The work is varied with time split between team and one-on-one meetings, working up ideas for projects, getting them off the ground, analysing data and writing, lots of writing. 

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HOW HAVE YOU DEVELOPED YOUR (KNOWLEDGE WORK*) SKILLS FOR THESE ROLES?

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A short research project was compulsory at my University and I wonder whether I would have chosen the academic route had it not been. Would I have intercalated? I’m not sure I would. By a stroke of luck, I arranged a three-month project in rural Ethiopia. The week I enquired about going overseas, a very WISE academic, Gail Davey (at the time working in Ethiopia, now Professor of Global Health in Brighton) happened to be in Nottingham for a work trip. 

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I applied for an academic foundation job but didn’t get it. This was a setback. I parked the idea of a research career for now and headed to Devon for my foundation jobs (not a bad plan B). An Academic Clinical Fellowship post (combining GP and research training) was advertised in Bristol and I applied. I got it through the skin of my teeth and, as part of it, completed a Masters in Public Health. I am now teeing myself up for a PhD fellowship.

One thing I love about my research job is the apprenticeship feel to it. I will make a best stab at writing a paper and my experienced academic colleagues will skilfully critique it, removing details that don’t need to be there and adding details which do. With every project, I make mistakes and learn from them, building my skillset for the next project.

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WHY DOES BEING A WiseGP MATTER TO YOU?

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The whole point of research for me is to find something that is not being done well and to try to change it. My PhD (if I get it) will focus on the characteristics and unmet care needs of housebound patients - an under-researched group.  The current system of squeezing home visits into the middle of an already over-packed GP day is flawed. There is just about time to sort out the urgent problem (e.g. prescribe antibiotics for a urine infection) but no time to think about the bigger picture (e.g. discussions about the future or whether they want to keep taking all their medicines). Could research help change this? I hope so.

I’m in the early stages of becoming a WiseGP, but it’s important for me to be a good role model for those behind me, especially women. It is possible to be a mum, a GP and an aspiring academic. I have set up a new initiative called PACT (the Primary care Academic CollaboraTive). The idea is to give trainees and clinicians more opportunities to get involved in research. Data for grass routes projects will be collected by clinicians from the PACT network and combined to answer important research questions. 

WHAT TIPS DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER WiseGPS?

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Write - If you’re thinking about getting involved in research, put pen to paper.  Write something - a blog or a topic review for a journal. When I started my research training, I had barely written an essay and writing assignments for a teaching certificate was a good first step.

Work life balance. This is work in progress for me - it can be difficult to stop research spilling into evenings and weekends. One of the best bits of advice I’ve had is to think about how things are balanced in your life right now. If the balance is not right, what can you do to change it?

Be kind to yourself. One thing I am good at is prioritising sport. I need my running fix and, however busy life is, I make sure I get it. Looking after myself makes me a better mum and puts me in a positive mindset for being a WiseGP.