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Interview with Dr Polly Swann

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Summary

This on-demand teaching session is relevant to medical professionals and is designed to discuss the Olympic journey of Victoria Pulley, a former world and European rowing champion. Victoria is also a university of Edinburgh graduate and a doctor by profession. During today's session, Victoria will share her story of mastering both her sporting and medical career, balancing a demanding and intensive rowing schedule with her medical studies. Learn from Victoria's personal experience of blood, sweat and tears and discover how to succeed in your own endeavors by having the right support network and being mindful of your own physical and mental well-being.

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Learning objectives

Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify key elements of Police One Pulley's Olympic journey and successful medical career

  2. Analyze ways in which rowing and medical training can be effectively balanced.

  3. Analyze how effective communication and teamwork play a role managing difficult/time-intensive careers.

  4. Explain the importance of mindfulness and self-care to manage anxiety and stress.

  5. Recognize the importance of time management, communication, teamwork, and self-care to achieving goals in both medicine and sports.

Generated by MedBot

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Computer generated transcript

Warning!
The following transcript was generated automatically from the content and has not been checked or corrected manually.

we're gonna hear from former Limpy in Doctor Police one Pulley is a university off Edinburgh graduate. She is finding in your to doctor on. She is on Olympic medalist. Unfortunately, poorly couldn't join us live for the event today due to her current hospital shift powder. However, last week Victoria had the opportunity to chapter polio by her career under Olympic journey. Pulley really is a leader on. We're really excited to hear a little bit more from her night. I'm just gonna hand over two. Holy on do Victoria. We just pull it up in a little second. Today I am joined by the Amazing Police. A one pulley is a former world on European growing champion of all of the Olympics over med lists. I'm sure polio is familiar to you. Many of us here as he was turned down, Glover compete for medals all the most recent Olympics and took you as if that wasn't enough. Police, also a doctor on monitors, developed for medical training alongside her successful ruin career and pulling. Thank you so much for making the time to be here. I'd love to start at the beginning and here for me, about your story. Um, So where did you get into ruling? And why did you decide to study medicine? Well, firstly, thank you so much for having me. It's it's honestly an honor. Um, Andi. Yeah, but some of you find my little story interesting. Um, so, in terms of growing, I actually started at school, so I was. Must have been about 12, 13 years old. Um, I remember it was like an option in terms of games. You do hockey. Robbie could do tennis, Whatever. Um, jobs, rowing, um, on. To be honest, I kind of got forced into her. Buy more fear than anything else. I had the physics on growing teacher caught up to me in the middle of the ground. Must be in about 11. And he said, you're a tall, um on, uh, on You should road. So I did. I didn't do diddly did What was the hold on? But, you know, I just haven't looked back. I think for me when I was a kid growing was this amazing a team sport, and you could travel the whole of the country on my make Really great friends on D. I just fell in love with it on yet started four years old now, And I haven't, you know, would, uh, trade off the world. I just love the sport on been terms of meds, and that was kind of a different thing that it might. So my dad's doctor, I guess I'd kind of always, like, as a kid always played, um, you know, with my little doctor's bag and all that kind of stuff on, but just was a natural thing. I think I went through one year of thinking, Oh, I'm going to go off cartilage on then not It's insensitive myself. I just I can't imagine doing any other career spirits, and even now, you know, after a big long growing career, exposed those options to step away and do something else on. I just can't imagine they're don't want to be in an office. And I know we work in offices loads, but I like the practical side of breath, and I like that you're with people a lot. You know, being a team is a huge thing for me, and I thought all those things can take the boxes. So not particularly exciting medicine, Medicine story for people It's just the right fit, isn't it? On a smooth one thing, people may not know about ruining, is it? It's really time intensive. You training twice a day, every day, the sessions A really long and it's quite a relentless training program and harder to balance, like about time intensive schedule alongside your studies on your medical career, I took a lot of time out. I did my medical degree in 2006 on. I finished medical degree in 2019. So I had this huge chunk of time where I was actually able to just focus completely on my writing career. Obviously, you have to build up to that point. You can't just, you know, on a whim, decide to go on base. You're sporting dream. I suppose you've gotta have a background and a bit pedigree behind you. So I suppose in those years and certainly when I went back to meds and after 2016 after the Olympics, um, I decided in the 2017 2018 on that, I want to try for Tokyo. Um, on honestly, it's just a lot off blood, sweat and tears. I had Teo cut down both my training, but also kind of marry it with my my medical stuff. So I probably try to do both. Well, um, but neither perfectly if that. If that makes sense. So I would want today during the week when I had medical duties, um, on then on the weekend or a train twice a day, and I pretty much had one day off, probably every six weeks or the whole of my finals year. Um, my coach, my physiologists were huge sports to me at that time cause I was just kind of running on gas. Really? Um, and then I would try and do a bit more training in times where, you know, I had a bit of time, for example, it it was a more relaxed rotation. And then I would train more on if it was a bit more intense or before final finals than the the rowing training would take over here. And we would manipulate my training program to do that. Um, that I was very lucky in that I had one picture of a medal before doing all this, So I think my coach was a bit Mawr had a bit more faith that We're trying to do something a bit different on trying to get in for games, but not trading the twice a day, three times a day, every single, you know? Yeah, but it's kind of what I need is to to do my finals. Remember the worst day? I think in my final year was when I had a morning exam. And then in the afternoon I had to do a five kilometer a good test on the Brooklyn. You'll know I broke that Brenda's That was like a little while, or it is thick. Um, get on to this room machine. I'm just the insides of two years, so it's not pretty. But I suppose me the end goal was always insight. I want to go to another limpet games, and I desperately wanted to have a career medicine. Uh, on sir, it was just a lot of shared determination on day, to be honest, having a really, really good support network around me. You know, my family, my friends on on. But I coaches were just on. My teammates were invaluable during that year, Um, so yeah, it's not. It's not something that's pretty, but I think it's definitely manageable. You have the right to go around, you know, sometime it. I also is the best time ever. And then you've got a touchdown It a little bit, but and you're probably in the best, like physical shape, bigger life during this time. But in terms of your like mental and emotional well being, my cottagey look after that side and it mentioned little bit about your sport networks. But was there any other kind of mechanisms that you had? Yeah, you know, it is actually really important. And I think something that I've noticed throughout my wearing career is that when your mental health is that it's best, um, you tend to form in your best. So I think I tried. I try to make sure that was burning out with my training, which was the most important thing. So I did scale back on training. I know that to most people, training once a day every single day sounds horrendous on way too much. But for fulltime athletes, actually, not very much on the ice could see that, you know, Actually, I had the time to do two sessions a day, but I probably wouldn't get that much sleep. I probably feel really stressed about not doing that much studying in and also at some point in time, you got a factor in the fact that you've got to be a normal person and you know, friends and go out to dinner on do all the things you actually joy doing. So I think just having that time and and making sure that I scheduled my time well meant that I felt more relaxed. Which men probably was in a better mental place. And, of course, that's always gonna have fluctuations when that's when you rely on people like your friends, your family and just support network going to get you through. Um um also quite a big believer in mindfulness. I know it's very, you know, kind of you and talked about a lot and people really, uh, got a bit of a crazy, but, um, it really helped me through. So I would just do some of the, um and I was always asleep because, you know, everyone was time for my ms Shouldn't really would go, but I use those mindfulness APs on. But I found that really helpful just so that you know the worries of the day were done. I could focus on myself or all of 345 minutes, maybe 20 on down at the end of my day. That was like my space my time on Then it would really help with with getting some really good wrestle sleep. And, um, you know, I still do it now. I'm not training for Olympics games, but I find I find that really benefits be and it's nice. Have a little bit of you time. Just, uh, yeah, when I saw a big, crazy manic You're running from hospital to the German, All that kind of iffy Not not to take those couple of minutes just to relax. Think I supposed to feel it, but question on the other side, like I did both of your passions and interest complement each other and work together in a in a positive way. I think, you know, lows of different lows of things have come out of the woodwork with medicine and growing that I don't think I'd ever realize I is it. People talk a lot about transferrable skills, Um, and I think as British woman and probably not very good at selling myself, and it kind of sign myself. Sure, Actually, it's like, Oh, well, you know, I'm not so good at this. Oh, oh, I don't feel so confident This especially in my medical life. But actually having done every one now and I'm starting, if I to you, I've kind of made a bit of a pack of myself to be a bit more confident on D Onda, you know, realize I have learned a lot from rowing that I can bring into the workplace on into my medical career on it's Things like Communication, you know, is I've spent 25 years of my life learning housework and team on droning how to communicate effectively with people. I'm I'm don't get me wrong. I don't get it right away time. But I Do you think that that set me up really well for for my working life on by think also things like time management Andre being competitive. But I'm competitive in a way that I want my teammates to do really, really well, it's not those if they're doing sounds, you know, I think sports teachers, you that that you you want your whole team. Teo build towards something special rather than you know, you push someone down to make yourself look great on, But that's something I really enjoy doing a like, you know, medicines, great for teaching and things like that. I love using my abilities. I I learned a row in to bring people on another aspect of my life. So, yeah, I would say a lot of it's Palatine working on DeVry thing that can surrounds that. That complex actually really well on. I thought I, uh I'm sure you're on your own career. You've come across a bill, that interesting characters. We had a variety of coaches being a part of different school. It's, um, sure, you met some incredible people along the way as well. Is there one person and he threw their leadership and spirt duty Get going or keep pushing on. So many people are honestly, a copy of the list is endless. Uh, but I think you're on this one person who I've kind of used as a bit of a role model, and she's a very dear friend of mine is, um she was in my really eight s o in it. So the Olympic rewrite and we won the Super Med off. So she's called out Bilson, and she's also a doctor on Dysfun because male has done everything essentially, that I have done. But you use okay, uh, on go to see someone else, you know, and have that kind of role model, um, going achieve all their dreams, Not just in the medical degree and and Korea, but also just in her life and her and her own. Korea's well has been a massive inspiration, and males always done it kind of in this really relaxed fashion that she just takes inner strive. I'm a bit more hair brained of a bit more with stress head. So I try and channel my animal with certain words When I think of all the things I want to do that, um, I think it's really important to have these mentors in your life and they can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and it's it's really most. Have somebody who Yeah, you can kind of step into the trees. And she's really helped me a long way in terms of give me advice and, um yeah, like I said before kind of being part my support that work when things hard. So, yeah, you're very lucky to have over as a friend. Um, I'm sure everyone has people like that in their lives that they can kind of pull from. She's great. She's definitely Google Rash. Stop a pill. She's and last question for GM were asking everyone yesterday, but and can you share one piece of advice for people here in a similar position to you what you were in's do? They're bouncing a really busy schedule on their preceding multiple goals and striving for excellent. So that's the one piece of advice that you would get thumb. I think it would be to not try and do too much a once a month. When you try and do many things to a very high level, something is gonna have to give eventually, um, Andi, so you can have a short period of time where you do very intense things, a couple of very intense things very, very well, but some point time you have to break away and and allow one of thumb to flourish in. So for me in 2022 to 21 that was the ruling on now It's the medicine. Um, Andi, uh, I think, you know, to get through medical school on DTA do other exciting, amazing things. Yes, you have that small that time. We have to work really, really hard at those two or three things. But give yourself space and time and medical school or your colleagues or your work will support you if you want to go into this exciting things on on. But I don't regret, you know, I'm so four f Teo, do not regret taking all that time out at all on. But my mantra has always bean in 20 years time. What polyp Back in on regrets or what would be really pleased that she did? Um, I can't tell you how pleased I am not taking that time on. Used it further my sport into group career cause medicine will always be there. And you will be the best medical you want to be And follow that amazing Korea. You can do anything but make sure that you don't like let things pass your bowel. That's a that's a really a the last advice, but it just doesn't make in its time on Give yourself the time to go and achieve those dreams because you use a fence, love it and pull. It has been off the owner to speak to you today. And thank you so much for sharing a little bit Your story with us being so open and honest on. But I know you've responded little people, including that. Help who and Yeah, Thank you for giving up your time on for being a part of the bone. We really appreciate it. Oh, honestly, thank you so much. On do? Yeah. I hope that, uh, the I hope it's been useful on that the rest of the time it goes with well,