By writing this blog I hope you will see that being a scientist is not about being the smartest person in the room, and that you can be a scientist and still love TV, gin and cake.
I hope that we can journey together and collaborate. Science is made not just by scientists but by all of us working together to make the world a better place.
As posts disappear from the ‘Recent Blog Page’ over time, here is a list of (and links to) all of my posts so far:
Posts from March 2023
Posts from February 2023
Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Why decision-making linked to projects and roles requires us to flex as we grow 27th February
Developing the Courage to Stand Tall: Time to ignore the fear and realise it’s OK to stand out 17th February
Pinching Myself Again: Switching out Dr for Professor 13th February
Guest Blog by Lilian Chiwera: Surgical site infection prevention day initiatives – making change now to help tomorrow 3rd February
Posts from January 2023
I Keep Running Up That Hill: Why is it that the email mountain never gets any smaller? 27th January
The Sound of Deadlines Rushing Past: Surviving in a world where deadlines are constant and there’s never enough time 13th January
Welcome to 2023: Here’s a toast to being open to the unexpected in the 12 months ahead 4th January
Posts from December 2022
Farewell 2022: Looking back and reflecting on how we can be our own most unreliable witness 31st December
Merry Christmas, One and All 25th December
It’s Not All Bad in the World of Infection Prevention and Control: The most wonderful time of the year is approaching! 22nd December
Guest Blog by Phillipa Burns: Part 2, the view from the finish line 19th December
Mouth Open Should Be Shut: My challenges with openly contributing to meetings and the fear of oversharing 16th December
IPC on Tour: Reflections from the big apple 12th December
Guest Blog by Karen Barclay-Elliott: Life, the universe and surviving FRCPath part 1 2nd December
Posts from November 2022
Your Wish is My Demand: Here are some of my tips for sitting MRCPath in Micro/Viro 29th November
The Trials and Tribulations of High Stakes Assessments: How I still remember everything about FRCPath 25th November
Am I a Writer Yet? Two years in, over 100 posts and finally finding my feet 17th November
Guest Blog from Daniel Nash: Placements make the world go round – why placements are so important for HCS students 4th November
Posts from October 2022
Changing of the Guard: When your mentor leaves and you have very large shoes to fill 28th October
You Can’t Be Liked by Everyone: Embracing the inevitability of not being everyone’s cup of tea 17th October
Speaking Truth to Power: Learning the hard truth of when science and politics collide 10th October
Clothes Maketh the Man or Do They? Why I want my clothes to show me, not some version of who I should be 4th October
Posts from September 2022
Clarity is Key: The role of learning agreements in supporting learner success 28th September
Happy but Struggling: Welcome to my third year of the SARS CoV2 pandemic 23rd September
Surviving Your Viva: My top 10 tips for oral exams 16th September
Guest Blog: Claire and Sam take over the Environment Network 9th September
More Than the Sum of Our Grades: Why academic success only tells part of the story 2nd September
Posts from August 2022
Stepping Up and Stepping Out: Making the shift into a senior role 19th August
Keeping Up With the Joneses: The dangers of benchmarking success against social media 15th August
The Power of Winning: Why I think the reason you are playing the game is as important as the outcome 10th August
Posts from July 2022
Delving Into Risk Assessment: Thoughts on how to develop tools that may guide your thinking 25th July
Environmental Matters: Why are environmental risk assessments so tricky? 18th July
The Second Year Slump: understanding the ups and downs of doing a PhD 4th July
Posts from June 2022
You Can’t Please Everyone: Why I try to remember the rule of thirds 28th June
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a Trust Lead Healthcare Scientist? 26th June
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical microbiologist? 25th June
Guest Blog from Anthony De Souza: From lab to educator, finding a new direction 24th June
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical academic? 22nd June
Guest Blog Dr Claire Walker: The Clinical Academic Path – From the Lab to the Lectern 20th June
Responding With Grace: The art of learning to take a complement 6th June
Daring to Be Imperfect: Celebrating the joys of imperfection 4th June
Posts from May 2022
Wearing My Quitter Badge With Pride: Why FOMO can damage your health 23rd May
If Not You Then Who? Why seizing the opportunities that come your way is so important 6th May
Conference Season Is Upon Us: Top tips for anyone who struggles with networking 2nd May
FRCPath Notes: Some notes on organism identification and antimicrobials in case useful for others 2nd May
Posts from April 2022
Girlymicro’s 100th Post: What I’ve learnt in my 1st year as a consultant 4th April
Posts from March 2022
Prioritising the Needs of the Many: Great communicators let the message do the talking 31st March
I’m Not Lucky, I’m a Badass: The importance of owning your success 14th March
How Do We Stop, When the Person We Are Competing Against is Ourselves? 6th March
Posts from February 2022
I Rarely ‘Feel’ Well: Let’s talk about health privilege in the time of COVID-19 and why SARS CoV2 solutions are not ‘simple’ 20th February
When Heroes Fall: How the intersection between fandom and public health can change who you root for 13th February
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day: A view from the Girly Side 11th February
Guest Blog by Katy Heaney: Pathology: hidden service or hiding? Lets stop being shy 7th February
Posts from January 2022
Guest Blog by Nicola Baldwin: Where Is Everybody? Patient and public involvement in the time of pandemic 30th January
Guest Blog from Sam Watkin: Starting a PhD in a Pandemic 17th January
50 Shades of Grey: The realities of working in Infection Prevention and Control 10th January
Turning a Day Dream into a Reality: Trying out a technique to make concrete steps towards a secret ambition 3rd January
Girlymicro 2021: A Year in Review 1st January
Posts from December 2021
Time for Some Real Talk: I have the best job in the world & even I don’t know how much more I can take 13th December
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?: My month spent with shingles and the Varicella Zoster virus 11th December
Posts from November 2021
Changing Our Pathways: What are T-Levels and why should I care about them? 23rd November
Guest Book Review by Dr Julie Winnard: How Bad Are Bananas? by Mike Berners Lee 17th November
Guest Book Review by Dr Claire Walker: Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy 12th November
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical microbiologist? 4th November
Posts from October 2021
Saturday Morning Zombies: how infection is portrayed in the genre 30th October
Some Days All We Control Is Ourselves: How to respond when things don’t go to plan 28th October
Lets Talk About Wellness: Is it just me whose struggling to engage with wellness programmes? 22nd October
Laboratory Testing for SARS CoV2 (COVID-19): Is all testing the same and why should I care? 16th October
Happy Birthday Girlymicrobiologist Blog: One year on what I have learnt about writing a blog? 11th October
Healthcare Science Education 2021: Innovation in Education 5th October
Embarking on My 17th Year as a Healthcare Scientist: What have I learnt? 3rd October
Posts from September 2021
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Top tips I’ve learnt over 20 years of event organising 23rd September
Guest Blog Dr Claire Walker: From academia to the bench, and back again. An immunologists journey 16th September
What I Did On My Holidays: Or the benefits of taking some away from it all 10th September
Keeping Things in Perspective: My attempt at seeing the glass as half full with a list of pandemic positives 4th September
Posts from August 2021
Knowing Your Why: Why I’m passionate about how we talk with our paediatric patients 29th August
Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was a Trainee: My top ten tips for making the most of your journey 28th August
Fulfilling A Promise: Why we need to talk about whether we are actually delivering on patient centred care 11th August
Hello Shame Spiral, My Old Friend: The warning signs that I need rest and space to reflect 6th August
Guest Blog by Kip Heath: Awards: Why nominate others? 4th August
Posts from July 2021
Coming to Terms With Not Being Superwoman: My turbulent journey towards work life balance July 31st
Just One More Sleep: Why ‘Freedom Day’ doesn’t feel like Christmas to those in infection prevention July 18th
It’s Time to Talk About the F Word……. Not that F word. We need to talk about failure July 14th
What’s Your Get Psyched Mix? How I use music to support my work July 9th
Posts from June 2021
Guest Blog by Dr Claire Walker: My top 3 reasons for picking immunology June 18th
Posts from May 2021
What Is Antimicrobial Resistance and What Might It Mean for Me? May 31st
Dealing with Writer’s Block: How I write When it’s the Last Thing I Want to Do May 15th
Posts from April 2021
Guest Book Review by John Dodd: The Science of Storytelling April 17th
Talking About the Taboos: What Its Like to Be Childless in Your 30s and 40s April 8th
Laboratory Testing for SARS CoV2 (COVID-19): Is all testing the same and why should I care? April 3rd
Posts from March 2021
Why I Think You Should Say Yes to New Experiences (and my foray into life drawing) March 27th
Guest Book Review by Dr Claire Walker: Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood March 26th
I Asked Twitter for Interview Tips and These are Some of the Great Responses I Received! March 20th
Celebrating Mothers Day by Talking About How My Mum Has Contributed to the World of Science March 14th
It’s Recruitment Season in Healthcare Science and Academia: What have I learnt which might help March 8th
My Best Science Comes from a Cup of Tea: My top tip for Healthcare Science Week March 7th
Planned Events for Healthcare Science Week 2021: Join us if you’re three or ninety three March 1st
Posts from February 2021
The Fear of Next Steps: Should I stay or should I go now February 19th
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day: A view from the Girly side February 11th
The Things I Love Best About Working in Infection Prevention and Control February 9th
Guest Blog by Dr Steve Cross: The Science of Space February 5th
Posts from January 2021
Call for Lay Members to Support the Healthcare Infection Society – Contact us to find out more! January 28th
We Are All in the Same Storm but are Existing in Very Different Boats January 25th
Guest Blog by Dr Claire Walker: A clinical immunologists thoughts on lateral flow antibody testing for SARS CoV2 January 23rd
Book Review: What I Love About the Science in the Newsflesh Series by Mira Grant January 23rd
Posts from December 2020
Dr Cloutman-Green B.E.M. Who thought things like this could happen to someone as normal as me (hint, not I) December 31st
Dreams in the Time of COVID-19: Science meets art December 30th
My Sunday Afternoon Rage – The mask goes over the nose people! December 29th
I Passed my PhD 6 Years Ago This Week: what tips do I have for those who are in the process December 12th
What Is Antimicrobial Resistance and What Might It Mean for Me December 4th
A Short Post Written for my Facebook Friends on the Welcome News of the Approval of a SARS CoV2 Vaccine December 4th
Musings for my Facebook Friends on SARS CoV2 Testing December 4th
Posts from November 2020
Awards Season is Almost Over – Not Quite the Oscars but Still….. November 27th
The Nosocomial Project November 25th
Why I Think It’s Important to Talk About Failure (and other stories of imposter syndrome) November 20th
Guest Blog: Victoria Heath November 12th
Saturday Morning Zombies: how infection is portrayed in the genre November 6th
Celebrating National Pathology Week: What is a clinical microbiologist? November 4th
Remember, Remember: See the play, read the script and do the activities here! November 2nd
Posts from October 2020
Quality Control in Scientific Publishing – what is it actually like to review papers? October 30th
A Week With Antimicrobial Resistance on My Mind October 30th
Remember Remember. Step back in time to save the King October 27th
A Starter for 10 on Antimicrobials October 16th
Science Communication: Reflections from an Ivory Tower October 15th
Adventures in Science Communication – stand up comedy edition October 12th
Writing and Publishing Scientific Papers – Is it as hard as it seems? October 11th
Why Have I Waited 5 Years? October 11th
Posts from Before October 2020
Hello World April 5th 2015
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