Joanna Higgins

I would like the opportunity to be a BOA Culture and Diversity Champion, representing Wessex. Having trained in Wessex, and recently been appointed as a locum consultant in Dorset, I can see huge benefits to improving the culture and diversity within our workforce. I have been chatting with many of our junior doctors, both in training and non-training posts, and there are many areas where we could improve the support and education that they receive. Many of the team feel that they don’t have support outside of their department and I strongly feel that the BOA can help in creating a network for them. BOTA is a group which I belonged to as a trainee and is great for trainees, and I feel that a similar group for non-training grade and non-UK trained doctors would be of massive benefit to T&O. Many of our departments rely upon this diverse group of doctors and we should support them in their career and training as best we can. I would hope to be able to influence the culture as BOA champion to enable inclusivity and equal opportunity for all those interested in, or already embarked on, a career in T&O.