When you’re an IMG, it’s easy to feel like a guest — someone always watching from the sidelines, grateful just to be included.
But somewhere during my ASPH attachment, that feeling started to shift.
By the time I reached SDEC, I wasn’t just observing. I was reviewing patients independently, documenting, communicating, making clinical decisions — and getting feedback not just on what I did, but how I made people feel.
The nurses called me “efficient and kind.” A patient thanked me for how I explained things. A consultant said I “worked like one of us.” Those words stayed with me longer than I expected.
Now, for the first time, I don’t just feel ready to work in the NHS — I feel like I belong here.