My first degree was in Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacology at the University of Aberdeen, which I completed in 2001. I then did a second degree in Medicine at the University of Aberdeen graduating in 2005. During the medical degree, my knowledge of physiology and pharmacology led me to become interested in a career in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. I commenced anaesthesia training in Inverness in 2007, moving to Dundee to continue training in 2008, and have now completed my professional examinations. I am particularly interested in the mechanism of action of general anaesthetics agents and ways of reducing their side effects. I applied for a clinical PhD as I was interested in how scientific developments and research are applied to clinical practice. I am currently completing a PhD supervised by Professor Hales this is titled; Targeting opioid receptor signal transduction to produce sustained analgesia. I am funded by the Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD programme.