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In this episode of Wents and Friends, host Alex Ashman is joined by ENT trainee Mairead Kelly to discuss the practicalities, benefits, and challenges of Less Than Full-Time (LTFT) training in the NHS. Drawing on their personal experiences, the conversation explores how LTFT supports workforce diversity, well-being, and retention, enabling doctors with varying responsibilities, from childcare to personal health, to continue training effectively.

Mairead reflects on the administrative process of going LTFT, including the importance of proactive communication and meticulous planning. The discussion also addresses the often-overlooked challenges, including reduced continuity, slower procedural repetition, and blurred boundaries between work and personal life. Together, Alex and Mairead provide practical tips, such as securing remote access, being deliberate with training opportunities, and negotiating rosters strategically, to help others maximise their LTFT experience without compromising career progression.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
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Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.

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This episode of WENTS and Friends explores and discusses the lived realities of surgical fellowships, featuring open conversations with Ms Summy Bola and Ms Elinor Warner. Together, they share personal stories, practical advice, and honest perspectives on what it truly means to navigate a high-level fellowship balancing intense clinical learning, career ambitions, and the complexities of life outside the hospital.

Ms Summy Bola recounts her experience at the Royal Marsden Head and Neck Surgical Fellowship, offering a window into both the clinical breadth (including high-volume operating, complex neck dissections, and multidisciplinary teamwork) and the non-clinical realities of childcare, family planning, and household logistics. She emphasises that success in a fellowship depends on proactive communication, strong support systems at home, and the willingness to negotiate both professionally and personally. Summy's insights highlight the importance of arriving well-prepared, taking responsibility for self-development, and embracing the privilege of advanced surgical training. She also addresses the practicalities of managing on-call duties, integrating into new teams, and sustaining family life through flexibility and gratitude.

Ms Elinor Warner shares her perspective from an overseas fellowship in Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand. Her day-to-day schedule is a blend of ward rounds, specialist clinics, and a notably high number of complex theatre cases, including rare trans-labyrinthine and skull base procedures. Elinor explains how the healthcare setting in New Zealand, with less reliance on radiotherapy, provides greater operative exposure for trainees and expands the clinical experience well beyond what might be expected in the UK. She emphasises the importance of seeking out unique learning environments and reflects on the personal and professional growth that results from managing complex cases and adapting to a new system.

Both guests offer concrete, actionable advice: choose a fellowship that aligns with your goals, visit units in advance, speak with previous fellows, and embrace the mindset of a day-one consultant. The combined stories illuminate the dedication, resilience, and self-awareness required to thrive during this pivotal stage of a surgical career.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X

Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.

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This episode features a thoughtful conversation with Professor Sadie Khwaja, a consultant ENT surgeon in Manchester, exploring imposter syndrome, confidence, and psychological safety in surgical careers. Sadie shares her personal experiences and research, highlighting that imposter syndrome is extremely common, even among accomplished surgeons and discusses how persistent self-doubt can impact mental health, performance, and career progression. She emphasises the need for a supportive environment, mentorship, and open discussion about vulnerability, especially for women and minority groups in surgery.

The discussion moves to strategies for building confidence and resilience, including the importance of a growth mindset, feedback, and tailored mentorship at every career stage. Sadie also highlights the importance of psychological safety in the operating theatre, emphasising the need for clear communication, pre-operative team planning, and leadership that fosters participation from all staff. She offers practical advice for creating inclusive, supportive work environments and stresses the ongoing responsibility of trainers and leaders to invest time in nurturing the next generation of surgeons.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X

Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.

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In this inspiring episode of WENT & Friends, host Alex Ashman speaks with Miss Elizabeth (Lizzie) Maughan, an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric ENT Surgery, about her unconventional journey into research and how she integrates clinical and academic work. Initially set against pursuing research, Lizzie shares how a series of serendipitous events. From switching degrees at Cambridge to a chance research project, she was led into a career blending surgery and science. The episode explores her pathway through academic clinical fellowships, a PhD, and her current role, as well as the challenges and strategies involved in balancing clinical training, research commitments, and family life.

Lizzie offers honest reflections on juggling multiple professional roles, the headspace required for research versus clinical work, and how a pragmatic mindset helped her carve out a unique niche. Her story emphasises the importance of strong mentorship, the transferable skills gained from academic work, and the broader value of research in enhancing patient care. This episode is rich in insight for trainees and consultants alike, especially those considering a portfolio career or taking a break from the programme for research.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X

Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.

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In this episode, ENT registrar Michaella Cameron discusses her personal experiences of taking leave and returning to training, navigating both planned and unexpected breaks, including maternity leave and shielding. Michaella opens up about the challenges and anxieties of stepping away from surgical training, the vulnerability of returning, and the crucial role of mentorship, supportive supervisors, and dedicated return-to-training programmes. She shares practical advice on the power of building networks, using resources like SuppoRTT, and proactively managing both the psychological and technical aspects of coming back to work.

The conversation highlights the need to normalise time out of training, celebrate transferable skills gained during leave, and encourage a culture of kindness and support. Michaella’s passion for improving the system is clear, with her “Back to the Scalpel” initiative aiming to provide more holistic, confidence-building support for returners. The episode is a must-listen for anyone considering or preparing for a break from clinical training.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X

Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.

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Podcast host Alex Ashman introduces our second season of podcast episodes.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X

Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.

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In our next episode, three surgeon parents discuss the difficulties around getting pregnant and staying pregnant as a surgeon.

Miss Annabel Kemp, an Obstetrics and Gynaecology consultant with a special interest in fertility and recurrent miscarriage, gives us medical advice while our hosts, Miss Victoria Sinclair and Miss Paula Coyle share anonymous stories, practical solutions and their own experiences.

We are grateful to the surgeons that shared their stories anonymously with us. Thank you to @UKWENTs who supported our request to address this emotive and difficult subject on the WENTS & Friends, podcast series. We hope we do so empathetically allowing listeners to feel heard and supported, with advice if you or your colleagues are affected by these issues in any way.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK (entuk.org/wents-uk).
Follow us on Twitter @UKWENTs.

Email: wents@entuk.org with any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Ekpemi Irune, Emma Stapleton, Nina Mistry, Ravina Tanna and Tanya Ta, Paula Coyle and Victoria Sinclair.
Produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X

Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.

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In the second part of our focus on training, it’s time for the trainees to have their say! Ravina Tanna and Tanya Ta are joined by three enthusiastic ENT trainees. TalisaRoss is an ENT ST3 registrar in North Thames Deanery and an academic clinical fellow. Stefan Lindon recently obtained his ST3 number in ENT and started working in Edinburgh. He was formerly an educational fellow at Salford Royal Foundation Trust. Sam Dewhurst is an ST8 trainee in the east of England, currently working at Peterborough City Hospital.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and get some really honest opinions on the contentious issues in ENT training.

We start with an insight into the trainee experience of Covid-19, and the impact this has had on training. There have been positives, such as opportunities to develop a level of expertise and to take on additional responsibilities outside the usual remit of trainees. But inevitably, these are outweighed by the negative effect on the breadth of specialty and operative exposure. The impact of the pandemic is ongoing for trainees in terms of the pressure to balance service provision with training requirements in the face of a huge backlog of work.

We have a frank discussion about the national selection process, core surgical versus run-through training and less-than-full-time training. While some of our panel think the last-minute changes to the national selection process caused stress and anxiety, others point out that elements of an interview should be unknown and challenging to test the core skills for a surgeon of adaptability and dynamic problem-solving. All, however, agree that more structure in the process should be established. The panel also agree that core surgical training is in some ways less fit for purpose than when it was originally introduced. With this in mind, we discuss the pros and cons of run-through training and the potential problems around having two tiers of trainees.

The panel’s heartfelt tips and advice for those who have not been successful in obtaining their ST3 number is essential listening for all trainees. They advise being honest with yourself, planning for different outcomes, and learning from experience and feedback.

We close with our guests’ views on how the training process could be improved. Supportive training is the ideal, with a focus on individual strengths. We also discuss the importance of holding teaching centres accountable for high-quality training provision. Last on the wish list is giving trainees more opportunity to pursue interests in other areas which will ultimately make them more rounded and capable clinicians, educators, and managers.

The final consensus of the panel is that over time the system is realizing what works and things are slowly but surely going in t

WENTS & Friends is the official podcast for Women in ENT Surgery UK.
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X

Email: wents@entuk.org any questions or suggestions on topics you may have for future episodes.

Thank you to all of our guests for this season and to Karl Storz UK and the ENT UK Foundation for sponsoring season two of Went and Friends, the podcast of Women in ENT Surgery.

This season’s episodes are hosted by Alex Ashman. Produced and directed by Heather Pownall @heathershub of Heather's Media Hub Ltd. The podcast was created by Ekpemi Irune. The rest of the team includes Anna Slovick, Katherine Conroy, Marie Lyons, Tanya Ta, and Alex Ashman.