Doctor helps reduce the stigma towards neurodiverse conditions

A junior doctor based in Merseyside is supporting efforts to increase accessibility and raise awareness for neurodivergent staff after her own experiences during her time in training. 

Tessa Dick, a final year trainee from London, currently on placement at Whiston Hospital in St Helens was diagnosed with dyslexia in her childhood. Here, she walks us through her extensive training journey, her trip to New Zealand that cemented her passion for emergency medicine, becoming a mum and her recent involvement with NHS England and Lead Employer to ensure services improve inclusivity for neurodiverse trainees. 

After graduating in 2010 from the University of Manchester, Tess (as she prefers to be called) completed her foundation training years under the Oxford Deanery. With ambitions to work abroad, Tess flew to New Zealand for the opportunity to gain more experience in a range of specialties including emergency medicine. 

She says: “It’s fair to say I took some time to decide on my specialism but it was  important to me to experience the different areas before  I had enough insight on what it’s like to be a doctor in a particular specialty and commit to higher training . I quickly realised that I enjoyed the unpredictability and variation of emergency medicine the most. You can’t control what comes in and I just had to deal with what landed in front of me. I found this really interesting and engaging and knew that I wanted to continue to pursue this area when returning to England.”

After some time out of training and achieving a diploma at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Tess fell in love with the city and decided to settle here in 2015 as she sought out her next placement. 

She says: “I threw myself into emergency medicine training , working across different specialities every 6 months including intensive care, anaesthetics and in acute medical units. During these years, I was incredibly supported by my supervisors and training programme directors when faced with some health issues, including  managing my diabetes alongside a rota that involved regular lates and nights . They encouraged me to take further time out of training to take care of myself, which I was very grateful for and impacted my confidence to work less than full-time when I returned to the programme.”

Having met her now husband in 2016 , Tess became pregnant in 2020, welcoming her daughter Hazel in 2021. Adjusting to life back in training and as a new mum, Tess praises the support she received when returning from maternity leave.

She says: “I actually considered leaving medicine during mat leave because managing my diabetes had been so impacted by regular night shifts. Once off nights it was clear my control was better and   I was concerned when returning to work I wouldn’t cope with the night shifts, which is a more difficult time of day to control my sugars. But with the help of my diabetes team I was able to go onto the insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor which made my control better with the changing shift patterns. Whiston Emergency Department is the busiest ED I’ve ever experienced, down to the sheer volume of patients, especially during the weekends but we all support and look out for each other to ensure staff and patient safety.  For any parent returning to work after having a baby, it was of course tough coming back but I received fantastic support and reassurance that they continued to have confidence in me."

Along with all her personal and training responsibilities, Tess actively got involved with NHS England Education ED&I network to help improve awareness of neurodiverse conditions. Having been diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age and being in contact with other neurodivergent trainees, she has worked closely with the network and Lead Employer to improve content accessibility and champion access to support and resources. 

She says: “I’m fortunate that my dyslexia hasn’t hugely impacted my training journey. However, during my various exams, I realised quickly that I was slower at reading than my colleagues and how the use of screens in exams can hinder a person’s ability to read and absorb the content.  In the future, if I needed to do further exams I may request for extra time or use of highlighters or coloured overlays in certain colours to make words more clear to read and digest.

“There is definitely more work to be done on perceptions of dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions as naturally some people will have a better understanding of them than others and that can determine the level of adjustments you are offered. You do also see a level of resentment towards the additional equipment and support a person with dyslexia is offered, in the belief that we are receiving more support to help us achieve when in actual fact it is bridging the gap between a neurotypical and neurodivergent person.” 

More recently, Tess has worked with Lead Employer to improve accessibility tools on its website as well as dig deeper into the information and support available on the different neurodiverse conditions. 

She continued: “It’s important for those who think they could be neurodiverse to have access to tools and support to determine a possible diagnosis as well, especially if it impacts their training.  Neurodivergent people may need to use extra mental load to carry out work duties if the environment they are in or the tasks that they are required to do are not in keeping with their strengths. This increases the risk of burnout/sick days or leaving medicine. By re-thinking the way in which we handle processes and reasonable adjustments we can move forward and allow trainees to thrive and  supervisors to have more support and knowledge to confidently support neurodivergent trainees. .” 

Tess shared her story as part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week (neurodiversityweek.com) 18th-24th March 2024.