Appreciating our colleagues

I am a GP who immigrated 17 years ago to the UK for learning, a new work experience, and a better quality of life.¹ What is different for me is that I am a woman.

Being an Asian woman who is working as a medic in the UK, running a household, half-British, half-Indian, and raising children in a new environment, can be very challenging at times to say the least.

I try to blend in; I am not sure if I ever can! If it is so hard, why not go back where I came from?

Well, I love living in the UK. It has provided me with the opportunities that I did not have in India, especially for a woman. I have security and respect. I feel my daughters are safer in the UK.

I really, truly appreciate all the support I have had from my colleagues, my trainer, and wider community. It is nice that the contributions of Asian doctors are being appreciated, I would like to add that women deserve a special mention and applause. We are a different cohort; our challenges are different.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2020