Dr Sophie MacDougall is a Consultant Trauma Anaesthetist at Southmead. She joined GWAAC’s Critical Care Team on 1 Feb 2024. Sophie said, “I never imagined I’d be lucky enough to get my dream job.“ But here she is, a GWAAC Critical Care Doctor, bringing her expertise and skillset to the team.

Originally from Oxford, Sophie gained her first degree in Preclinical Sciences and Anthropology at Cambridge, returning to Oxford to complete her degree in Clinical Medicine. Her career has been anything but dull; an Anaesthetist by trade, she has spent extra years training in surgery and Emergency Medicine and has joined over twenty expeditions to remote environments as the expedition doctor. She has worked across six continents in extreme environments including altitude, polar, jungle, dive and deserts. Sophie said, “It's an amazing way to explore remote parts of the world and work alongside some incredible people.” She even met her husband whilst working in the jungle in Belize.

Sophie was able to fit her expedition trips around training to be a Doctor: “In each year out, I would do back-to-back expeditions and I’d fit shorter trips into my annual leave when I was doing hospital work.” She has also worked in humanitarian settings in Brazil, India, and East Timor.

Sophie had her first child in 2016 during her registrar training and she started to think about what she could do that was similar to the out-of-hospital work she enjoyed on expeditions but that was based in the UK. This is when her journey into Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) began. She completed six months of training with London's Air Ambulance and six months with the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (EMRS) in Scotland, followed by advanced anaesthetic training in Trauma and Neuroanaesthesia. To say that Sophie is a multi-tasker is a bit of an understatement; while doing her PHEM and anaesthetics training, she had two more children!

Sophie joined GWAAC at what will probably be the busiest time of her life, but she is surrounded by a team who understand the pressures and commitments of family life and who pull together to support one another. “This has only been possible because GWAAC have been so supportive and welcoming to me, helping me fit this in alongside my hospital work and my family commitments. My husband has also been incredibly supportive - I could never have done this without him.”

When asked why she wanted to work for GWAAC, Sophie said: “GWAAC was always on my dream list. When I was doing my Emergency Medicine training at Frenchay Hospital, back in 2008, I saw the GWAAC team as they came in with their patients. I remember looking at them and being completely in awe of them. Doing that job was something that felt so far removed from anything I felt I could ever be capable of. I looked at them like some people look at astronauts! Seeing their work inspired me to work outside the hospital – it’s what led me to expedition medicine”

Sophie says her desire to work for GWAAC was also a “Hearts and minds thing.” She said, “I know that if, god forbid, one of my children is critically injured, it’s GWAAC that will be there to help them. Also, when I’m working in my Anaesthesia role in the Trauma theatres at Southmead Hospital, we look after many of the patients brought in by GWAAC, so it feels like a continuation of that pathway. GWAAC represents the first part of this patient journey, from the moment the patients need us - in their darkest hour. It feels so special to be a part of this amazing team.”

The biggest challenge so far? “When a call comes in, it could be anything for anyone; I find the breadth of possibilities of what we might encounter a huge challenge, but as a combined team of doctors and paramedics we can draw on all of our experiences from our careers and have the knowledge and skills to care for the patient.” She said, “The thing I love the most is the Paramedic and Doctor relationship. I’ve learnt more from paramedics than I have from anyone else in my career. There’s no arrogance. Just complete capability. They can work out how to get a heavy patient out of a block of flats 15 stories up. They always find a solution — they just get on with it and make the best of what they’ve got.”

Sophie is most looking forward to working with the team, being involved with training and sharing ideas. “At the heart of it, I feel part of a family – it’s the bit I look forward to most. We get called to some very challenging situations. If we’ve been to something emotionally difficult it’s the solidarity and sharing with the team that is the most protective environment.”

A skilled clinician and humble in equal measures, Sophie sees herself as a product of the people who trained her: “I am the result of all their time and effort. When I’m able to make a difference to someone in a time-critical situation at the side of the road, I will often think back to all my mentors across the years who have taught me everything I know and I feel so grateful. This kind of medicine really is an apprenticeship, in the truest sense of the word. You can’t learn this from a book!”

So, what would Sophie do if she wasn’t a GWAAC Critical Care Doctor and a Consultant in Anaesthetics? “I would write and illustrate children’s stories about magical, faraway places.” When not hard at work, Sophie likes to make things and paint with her children, get out on her road bike, climb to high places, and explore wild beaches with her family. Godrevy beach in Cornwall is a new favourite.

Sophie’s three favourite things in life are her family (a no-brainer), running on huge empty beaches under big skies with her children, climbing to mountain tops, watching sunsets with her husband, bluebell woods in the Spring and carrot cake… “Oops, that’s a few more than three!” Her three most hated things are Brussels sprouts, weak coffee and drizzle.

Sophie thinks others would describe her as enthusiastic (“and sometimes noisy!”). When asked if she had any interesting or random facts about herself, she said she had once been stung by a scorpion (“I am 99.9% sure it was a scorpion, but my husband still maintains it was an ant!”) and she collects stones from faraway places – a hobby not so enthusiastically embraced by her husband.

Sophie’s mum was a nurse practitioner and was a source of great inspiration - juggling caring for Sophie and her brother whilst also excelling in her nursing career. “It was doing work experience with my mum that consolidated my decision to do medicine”. Also, her Great Grandpa was a Doctor in the Scottish Highlands; and her Grandpa introduced the child diphtheria vaccination programme. He also started the UK’s first health care centre – his vision that it would be a place for doctors, physios, dentists, and nurses all under one roof. He received an OBE for his efforts. It seems that medicine and bringing together teams is in the blood of Doctor Sophie MacDougall.