Originally Posted July 11th, 2012
Trumpington, Cambridge – December 2009. I sat anxiously at my computer, awaiting the news that would determine where I would be spending the first two years of my medical career once I graduated from KCL the following Summer. After what felt like endless hours of waiting, the allocations were finally posted online. This was it – my fate was sealed; there was no going back. But as I clicked the refresh button on my browser for the umpteenth and final time that morning, my reaction was not one I had been expecting. I didn’t feel elated, or even disappointed … I was simply confused: “Keele? Just where the hell is that?!”
Fast forward to April 2011, and I found myself experiencing a very unnerving sense of deja-vu as I sat anxiously at a computer, waiting to discover where I would be for the 2nd year of my foundation medical training. And then, much to my dismay, it happened again. Feeling like weatherman Phil Connors in some unfunny medical remake of “Groundhog Day”, the very first thing I was forced to do upon learning where I would be heading from August 2011 was, once again, to Google the name of a place that – though I’d never even visited it once before – was now destined to be my home for a whole year. Whether I liked it or not …
As you’ve probably gathered, spending my first two years as a Doctor in the West Midlands – a part of the country to which I had absolutely no ties, and which is quite a distance from home – was not exactly what I’d had in mind.
But life can be a funny thing.
I wouldn’t exactly class myself as an especially positive or optimistic person, and so when my family or friends would tell me that I should enter into this new chapter in my life with an open mind, and that I might actually – gasp – *enjoy* it, I didn’t really believe them. But I’m happy to admit that each and every one of them was absolutely spot-on. Though I would never claim it’s all been plain sailing, the two years I’ve spent in Stoke and Burton have taken me on an incredible journey, and have given me more than I ever thought possible. And if someone were to now give me the opportunity to go back in time and spend those years elsewhere, I have no doubt that my answer would be a resounding no. Chalk that up on a list of phrases I never thought I’d hear myself say …
Fast forward to July 2012, and in a matter of weeks I’ll be leaving the Midlands, most likely for good. You see, I finally got what I was hoping for all those years ago – I’m moving back to Cambridge. Whilst a part of me is excited to be returning home, and to take on the new set of challenges that GP training will undoubtedly bring, another part will be genuinely sad to leave this place behind, and I know that I’m gonna miss it more than I can say.
I think it’s fair to say that a guy like me, who spent most of his childhood in Cambridge, can sometimes stick out a little bit in a place like the Midlands. Stoke-on-Trent, for example, isn’t exactly the most ethnically diverse city in the UK – a fact that was quite starkly brought to my attention when a nurse during my first job said to me, in all seriousness: “I hope you don’t mind me asking this Ramy, but … you’re not black, are you?”. You also very quickly have to get used to the fact that, with everyone calling you names like ‘duck’ and ‘chick’ every 2 minutes, you’re bound to end up feeling at times like you’re living in a modern day version of “Old MacDonald Had A Farm”.
I joke about this stuff, but to be fair it’s never really ever bothered me. Over the course of the last couple of years, I’ve met so many incredible people, and am fortunate to have made some truly awesome friends; what’s ironic is that so many of those guys were just like me – forced to work somewhere they didn’t want to be, yet somehow managed to make the most of it. I never realised just how sociable the experience of being a Junior Doctor can be in a place like this, and for that I’ll always be grateful. Ultimately, I guess I just wanna say a big thank you to everyone who helped to make my time in Stoke and Burton such a great and positive experience; I really hope we’ll all be able to keep in touch in the months and years ahead, and I mean that with every sincerity.
So farewell West Mid; thanks for being good to me.
Ramy’s World 