"Don't apologise for your time out" with Sarah McKelvie

Sarah McKelvie enjoyed a fulfilling career as a doctor, and her work in hospital medicine and general practice took her all over the world. When her 1st child was born in 2007, she thought she’d be back at work in 6 months, but 2 more children later and her 6 month career break turned into 12 years. During her career break, Sarah became immersed in various charity projects from fundraising to setting up football teams for children with cerebral palsy, for which she won a FA Grassroots Volunteers Award.Contemplating returning to medicine for a number of years, Sarah set up a Facebook Group to help build a community of support for doctors in a similar position. And then, galvanised by the call for doctors to return to work during the pandemic, Sarah found her way back, and now works full-time as a clinical fellow in geriatric medicine at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.Hear how Sarah found the courage to return to medicine in one of the most challenging public health times of our generation and the journey she’s been on since, updating her skills, rebuilding her professional confidence and helping others navigate their way back too."I was really under confident about working and as I even thought about going back to being a doctor, I just had this knot of anxiety in my stomach, thinking, 'Oh.. it's too big. I can't, I've forgotten everything'. I just couldn't see myself in that role. I couldn't see myself how I used to be. But very quickly by doing something, I felt more confident. Only by trying it did that confidence come back."Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3v9INYzFollow on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/30rZZL6For advice, support, opportunities and connection, see our Women Returners website: https://bit.ly/3eAhKQH   

Om Podcasten

Is it possible to return to a fulfilling, challenging, successful career after a long career break? After listening to these stories we want your answer to be a resounding yes! On our Career Returners podcast, you’ll hear from a diverse range of people who are successfully back at work after taking long career breaks for childcare, eldercare, health or other reasons. They’re sharing the ups-and-downs of their return-to-work journeys – the challenges, the rewards and the learnings. After each story, we’ll chat over some of the key themes that emerged and share some of our top return to work tips. The Career Returners podcast is brought to you by Women Returners, the return to work specialists. We work with employers and career returners to enable professionals to return to satisfying and fulfilling work after career breaks of 2, 5 or 15+ years. Over the years we’ve coached hundreds of career returners, and we’re excited now to share some of their inspirational stories with you. After listening to this episode, do head along to womenreturners.com where you’ll find lots of advice, over 100 success stories, and a range of return to work opportunities for people on career break wanting to get back to work. While you're there, do sign up to our free Network and also our Facebook group for extra support and connection. Website: https://womenreturners.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRPNetwork/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-returners/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/womenreturners