I shall always be grateful that I applied to Caius to study medicine. From having a room in Tree Court overlooking the statue of Dr William Harvey to all the support and encouragement from my supervisors, my whole experience of being at College was inspiring. I was fortunate enough to return to Caius in 2005 on a Wellcome Trust clinical research PhD fellowship to study pulmonary vascular biology and it was this that lead to my current role as a respiratory consultant in the National Pulmonary Hypertension Service, Hammersmith Hospital, and as an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London.

Looking after patients with this rare disease is rewarding on many levels and I am reminded on a daily basis of the importance of the clinical application of the physiology that I learnt at Caius. One of the pleasures of a career in medicine is that it provides an opportunity for a variety of roles. I combine my clinical work with that of Programme Director for Specialist Respiratory Training in the North West Thames Deanery. This enables me to influence medical education at a national level but I also strive to encourage future generations of doctors in the way I have been inspired by my mentors. My husband and I have a four-year old son, Harry, who is due to start school this September. I hope that he is as fortunate as I have been in his education and that he too will be able to learn in an environment as encouraging as Caius.