Dr Louise Baker, Junior Doctor

Dr Louise Baker, Junior Doctor

As a child 24-year-old Dr Louise Baker, from Clavering, near Cambridge, had wanted to be a vet. But the experience of working with children with special needs changed her mind and made her realise she would prefer to work with people.

Louise said: “There is no way you can fully prepare for something so unexpected and unprecedented, but I had a good support system in place. In our little F1 community, we listened to each other and cheered each other on. I remember having a particularly bad day once and one of the other F1s noticed. Without needing saying anything they just showed up with a bar of chocolate and a cup of tea. It’s really important to have people who just ‘get it’ and don’t need explanations. On the bad days when you haven’t managed to sit down or eat and all you’re seeing is really sick Covid patients, it can be exhausting and demoralising. Luckily, the good days usually make up for the bad days.

“Everyone I’ve worked with has been kind, supportive and encouraging. I have been taught by many people and over the past 10 months I have learned more than I ever imagined I could.

“It has been a sacrifice to spend months without seeing my family, but I feel that everyone has a duty to help out in a crisis.”

Over the next few weeks junior doctors across the trust - now fully qualified FY1s - will begin to move on to different placements as part of their rotation.

Dr Poulson said: “FY1s represent the next generation of care and we couldn’t be more proud of what they have achieved here. We are confident they will have learned a great deal both as clinicians and about themselves. The experience has undoubtedly been very hard for them, but the fact that they entered into it wholeheartedly and have succeeded is a marker of their dedication, determination and resilience – all things needed to be a good doctor.”