Author: Dr Srishti Tiwari, Senior Clinical Fellow at Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust

I still remember the day I got my GMC licence. For the first time, becoming a doctor in the UK felt real. Though I had no idea how difficult the journey ahead would be.

Even before starting work, there was endless paperwork, visas, exams, proof of English, documents to verify. I was coming alone with no family to a place where everything was unfamiliar.

While this was difficult, the hardest part was not being able to express myself the way I could in my own language. That feeling of being smart in one country but unsure in another was humbling.

At work, everything was different – cultural differences, protocols, referrals, patient autonomy, team communication, non-clinical work, appraisals – with lots of things you never had to do back home. I often felt lost and afraid of making mistakes, not because I didn’t know, but because I didn’t know this system. Every hesitation felt like I was being judged.