As Lead NCHD at St James’s Hospital, Dublin, I chaired the junior doctors committee and represented non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs or junior doctors) to the medical director and to the medical board. During this time, I led the work on a new digital handbook for junior doctors.

New doctors — either first year interns, or those who had just rotated to St James’s Hospital — often struggle to find their feet in new hospitals. Existing handbooks and support guidance focused on clinical guidance and emergency protocols, but had little information on more practical issues. Instead, information on how to get scrubs or use the canteen, or access the bike sheds was left as tacit knowledge and handed over orally from one doctor to another.

I wanted to codify this information, and make this tacit knowledge explicit. I led a team of doctors and other health-care providers, exploring different problems that junior doctors faced. We asked doctors what information they wished they had access to on their first day, and what information they found useful when someone gave it to them. We also asked other hospital staff (such as nurses, allied health, and ward clerks, among others) what information they wished junior doctors were aware of.

I built a digital handbook that could be accessed by any staff member on the hospital intranet or on their phones. This was well received by the junior doctors, the medical director and the medical board.

This project ultimately won a national award, as the best project undertaken by a lead NCHD in an Irish hospital.