Real Life Stories

Mrs Greensmith is a Retired Social Worker who worked with the Elderly in the UK.

Question 1: How did you become a medical professional? (We’re you inspired by a family member? Childhood dream? Etc)

I was previously working as a civil servant and decided that I wanted a more personally fulfilling role. I wanted to work with people rather than doing paperwork in an office!

Question 2: What element of your role do you most enjoy?

Feeling that I was able to really improve the quality of someone’s life with provision of the best available services to meet their individual needs. The knowledge that my intervention had prevented an elderly or disabled person from suffering abuse or neglect. The day-to-day contact with clients, many of whom were lovely people with interesting tales to tell.

Question 3: What element of your role do you least enjoy /or what element was a surprise to you?

Seeing how badly some people treat those they should love and respect. The abject poverty in which too many people still live.  The very real risk of verbal abuse or physical attack from clients or their relatives.

Question 4: Knowing what you do now, if you could go back and start again would you still choose to work in the medical profession?

Yes because I would always want to feel I was doing something to help others rather than just earn a living.

Question 5: If you could give your past self some words of wisdom, what would you say?

To stand up for what you believe to be right. Always put yourself in the place of the client and ask how you would feel in their circumstances. Treat clients as you would hope to be treated yourself, with dignity and respect.

 Mr M Payne is a Social Worker working in the UK.

Question 1: How did you become a medical professional? (We’re you inspired by a family member? Childhood dream? Etc)

I became a social worker because I was helped in my personal development so much by youth workers in my teens that I could see helping people make personal progress in their lives would give me a real sense of personal achievement.

Question 3: What element of your role do you least enjoy /or what element was a surprise to you?

I was surprised how often social work required exercising legal responsibilities, but found that doing so often helped people deal with immediate problems and move on beyond them.

Question 4: Knowing what you do now, if you could go back and start again would you still choose to work in the medical profession? (Please give a reason for your answer)

I’d still become a social worker, because it is always interesting working with people in their own worlds and has great variety; including the chance to be involved with a wide range of social science knowledge, in social policy and sociology, the law, biomedicine, psychology: social work is the great non-specialist discipline and draws on so many different and interesting ideas.

Question 5: If you could give your past self some words of wisdom, what would you say?

Don’t be in such a hurry, savour the things you learn about the world.