Ashley Simpson

A group of doctors speak to each other around a small table. White text at the bottom of the image reads "Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Training: A National Model for Peer Support for Medical and Dental Students."

This peer-led training for first-year medical and dental students from @harvardmed.bsky.social teaches skills & resources to help students support themselves & peers experiencing mental health distress & burnout. #Medsky #MedEd
www.mededportal.org/doi/10.15766...

Ohhhh lovely. We had a baby courgette today, finely sliced in a salad for dinner. I expect we'll be eating courgette daily for the next few months! 😂

Thanks, Stefan! I now have a few weeks to write a paper or two (and have a holiday!) before my return to clinical work at the start of next month (🫠). I'm hopeful for an early viva (🤞🏻 mid-August) so that I can shift my focus to finding myself a consultant job..... it never ends!

Thesis submitted! 🙌🏻

What exactly am I supposed to do with myself now?!

Oh yes.... breathe ! 😌

#MedSky #MedicalEducation #QualitativeResearch #MedEdResearch #WideningParticipation #ProfessionalIdentityFormation #Doctorate #Thesis

We just don't know what's going on in each other's lives, what we're each carrying. At best we can seek to listen & try to understand. But it's far from easy & it's important to remember this when we're feeling judgy, or like something doesnt make sense. We just don't know.

The rest of the summer will be spent pulling together manuscripts for publication, some annual leave, and some freaking out about the future...!

Great advice, Hazel. All I currently have is a return to clinical work to look forward to! 🤦🏻‍♀️ and I can't say I feel great about that.

I have annual leave scheduled for September. Perhaps I should focus on holiday planning!

Have you got a viva date? Good luck 🍀

Thanks, Sarah. That's a very level-headed and pragmatic way to look at it. I just wish I could internalise that belief.

Filled in my 'Notice of Intention to Submit' form for my thesis.

The hardest part of my research journey has been believing that I am capable. I'm almost at the finish line, and I'm still not convinced.

The impostor syndrome is severe.

#QualitativeResearch
#MedEdResearch
#WideningParticipation

A female doctor in purple scrubs gives a talk to a lecture theatre full of young people who are aspiring to a career in medicine.

Thank you, Sara. The programme wouldn't have been possible had it not been for people like you sharing your time & career insights.

Indeed, I'm grateful to all @nhslothian.bsky.social staff - Doctors & AHPs alike - who joined us to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Two trees with very bendy trunks and exposed roots standing in the foreground against a backdrop of a large cluster of trees with many wiggly branches and a vibrant green canopy of leaves.

Learning happens in all sorts of places, sometimes unexpected, and development rarely follows a straightforward path.

Especially for the puppies. I do find it bizarre that for a few months of the year you can buy explosives at your local supermarket.

Thanks, Neil. See you at ASME? Would be great to catch up! 😊

I done it! First draft finished and sent to supervisors! 🥳 (G&T poured and celebratory cake eaten 😂)

I'm sure I'll have revisions and improvements to make based upon their feedback, but feels good to start my annual leave with the first draft done.

Annnnddd relax! 😌

Oh, it is! It's by no means the most ergonomic of setups, but it's worth it for the Vitamin D! 😂

I'm just writing my conclusion now, and then I think I'll write a reflection on my research journey, and then that's it; the first draft ready to be sent to supervisors... 😬

Albeit without a title! 🤦🏻‍♀️

A garden scene with trees and blue skies in the distance, a vegetal patch in the middle with onions and garlic growing, and a laptop in the foreground.

There are definitely worse places to be writing a thesis. Fresh air, the beautiful sound of the birds in the trees, and an ample supply of sunshine to keep spirits up! ☀️

#OneLastPush
#Thesis
#MedEd
#MedSky
#QualitativeResearch
#WideningParticipation
#ProfessionalIdentityFormation

A coffee machine with an orange cup

My new favourite way to start the day! ☕️

In the final fulong of thesis writing, relying heavily on the bible that is 'Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide' by @ginnybraun.bsky.social & @vicclarke.bsky.social

Hoping to finish by Friday so I can enjoy some annual leave...🤞🏻

#FinalPush #MedSky #MD

Haha! I'm definitely not clever enough for that 😂

Maybe not as exciting as @drlindadykes.bsky.social's new foal, but here are our little bluetit hatchlings! Fresh out of their shells today 😊♥️

Head of Research & Policy - The Sutton Trust Do you have a deep interest in issues of educational equity, social mobility and increasing opportunity? Apply to be our Head of Research & Policy!

🚨 We're looking for a Head of Research & Policy!

This is a key role in our integrated Communications, Research and Policy team, and it's a great opportunity to play a meaningful part in effecting change for disadvantaged young people.

Apply by 21st May ⤵️
recruitment.suttontrust.com/jobs/5909323...

My biggest challenge with my research right now?

Not being able to use all of the data.

I am so fortunate to have so many rich, insightful narratives from my participants, I want to write about EVERYTHING!

Alas, the 60k word limit is getting in the way 😒

#QualitativeResearch #MedSky #MD

A view of raised beds in a garden, with sprouts of onion and garlic in the foreground. In the background, there are three trees, and blue skies.

A day of annual leave well spent.

Garlic & onions underway, now joined by leeks, potatoes, peas, various squash & courgettes, and a variety of salad leaves, radish & beetroot. Here's hoping we get a good harvest this year 🤞🏻🌱

Now, it's time to relax in the evening sunshine with book #12 of 2025 📚😌

Really important work from #NHSLothianMED

Congratulations!! 🥳

@trishaelliott.bsky.social How did you get it to appear like this? 🤔

As the UK government plans to double places at medical school by 2031,' The Sutton Trust's Unequal Treatment? report offers a timely analysis of how this expansion could either mitigate or entrench existing disparities.? The report shows that, despite increasing efforts to widen participation, only 5% of entrants in 2021 came from the lowest socioeconomic groups. This reflects a longstanding trend: students from less affluent backgrounds are less likely to apply and less likely to receive offers to study medicine. While the Sutton Trust urges greater collaboration between medical schools and more consistency across admissions processes, it stops short of prescribing nationally agreed widening participation criteria. Standardised approaches would improve transparency, support accountability, and ensure that efforts are better targeted towards those facing the greatest barriers.

On widening access to medical school, for people from a range of backgrounds.

An editorial from @avsimpson.bsky.social and colleagues in this week’s @bmj.com suggests that efforts do this are having very limited success.

#MedSky
#EduSky
#Inequalities

She was very beautiful, and clearly very loved too. Gentle hugs to you all, Poppy too 💖

Delighted to have been commissioned to write this editorial for the BMJ.

"Only by firmly embedding widening participation in both policy and practice can we build a more inclusive profession, where opportunity is driven by potential, not privilege."

#WideningAccess
#WideningParticipation
#MedSky

Thank you. I feel much better than I did this morning. I can type fluently, but speaking fluently requires effort.

I've had migraines for 20 years. My only triggers are lack of sleep and certain lighting. Usually, the medication helps me quickly.

Like you, I feel for people who suffer regularly.

Every time you post, Charlie, I feel like you're speaking directly to me. Not in an egotistical way, I hope you understand, but in a way that makes me feel seen, like you've put words to thoughts I hadn't quite formed yet. It's grounding somehow, a reminder that someone else gets it. Thank you.