My name is Mike, and I’d like to tell you a little more about why I enjoy my job as a Pulmonary/Sleep Physiologist, and how I got here!
I originally had keen interest in animal care and spent six-months doing voluntary work in South Africa to gain experience. Upon my return, I started working for the NHS part-time in the evenings and weekends in the Emergency Department as an X-ray Assistant Technical Officer. I loved working there; the atmosphere and people I worked with.
I then applied for a Respiratory Physiology student post (the first for Derriford) which I was accepted on (at my surprise!). Take all this into account, I have now been working for the NHS for almost 13 years, and will happily continue to do so for as long as I enjoy the work. I can be a bit laid back for some people perhaps, but I find it puts patients and their families at ease, a smile and a joke goes a long way.
The role…
As a Respiratory Physiologist, I find my role allows me to do some very rewarding work, although it can be very stressful at times, but there is always one thing that transcends throughout all that I see as a Physiologist – will.
The will for something I see all the time, in patients and staff alike, the will to live I see in those who are at their worst, and the will to help those in need even when they find it too hard to accept.
Will and hope is universal and spawns all religions and races. Those in healthcare have the will to help others in times of need, even in a society of strife and struggle in a world with recession and money problems and those who wish to break society with acts of terrorism in recent times.
Why I do, what I do
Simply, I do the job to help others and put their needs in front of mine. As I’ve mentioned, the job is stressful but rewarding, and although it is hard and I must admit to occasionally thinking ‘why am I doing this’, I always come back to the patients, and the service we deliver. And that, above all, is why I am very proud to be a part of what we have.
Mike Thynne
Pulmonary/Sleep Physiologist
Chest Clinic
Mike is writing as part of the #WeCare2 campaign that will be running across our Trust communications. Look out for more from Physiology, and their AHP and HCS colleagues, on our social media pages, Trust screensavers, Daily Email, Vital Signs and much more.