What is it really like to become a doctor — and what happens when life takes your career in a completely different direction?

In this episode of Unblur the Path, Lakshmi speaks with Dr Gauri, a medical doctor with nearly three decades of experience in health and wellness, including 15 years in psychiatry in the UK.

Dr Gauri shares her journey from studying medicine in Bombay to taking a career break to raise her family, moving countries, requalifying as a doctor in the UK through PLAB, and eventually building a career in psychiatry.

This conversation is especially useful for students considering medicine, parents supporting career decisions, overseas doctors thinking about requalifying in the UK, and anyone questioning whether it is too late to restart after a break.

We discuss the reality of MBBS, medical college, cadaver labs, hospital exposure, psychiatry, burnout, work-life balance, motherhood, identity, and the courage to change direction.

This is Part 1 of Dr Gauri’s journey. In Part 2, we explore how her psychiatry background led her towards Ayurveda, diet, lifestyle and preventive health.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview: Doctor, Psychiatry & Ayurveda

01:33 Introduction to Dr Gauri’s Journey

02:29 From Doctor to Ayurvedic Practitioner

03:57 Why a Doctor Looked Beyond Allopathy

06:20 How Asthma Led Her Towards Ayurveda

10:04 Why Gauri Chose Medicine

13:24 Is MBBS Really Difficult?

16:47 First Day in the Anatomy Lab

21:21 Challenges of Medical Training

26:49 A Career That Did Not Follow a Straight Path

30:16 Choosing Family and Taking a Career Break

33:27 Returning to Medicine in the UK

36:00 Why Gauri Chose Psychiatry

39:10 What Psychiatry Taught Her

46:43 Burnout, Vulnerability and Changing Paths

50:15 What’s Coming in Part 2

[doctor career journey, psychiatrist career, psychiatry career, medicine career, MBBS journey, medical college experience, career break, returning to medicine, PLAB UK, overseas doctor UK, doctor requalifying in UK, women in medicine, motherhood and career, burnout in medicine, work life balance for doctors, mental health career, Ayurveda practitioner, doctor to Ayurveda, healthcare careers, career guidance for students, careers for teenagers, Unblur the Path, Lakshmi Seth]