Worcester Warriors star set to join NHS frontline

Monday, 30 March 2020 at 18:43

bySteven Smith

Warriors Women’s Elisha Whelan is set to join the frontline of the NHS to help with the developing Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

The 24-year-old is in her final year of a Medicine and Surgery MBChB at the University of Birmingham and will be one of more than 5,000 medical students dispatched to hospitals and surgeries across the country.

Becoming a doctor has always been the wing’s dream, but she never imagined the final stages of her course would be in these circumstances.

“I was supposed to be sitting my final exams at the end of April prior to registering with the General Medical Council with a view to working as a junior doctor from August onwards,” she said.

“Because of everything that has happened, our placement has been cancelled and our exams have been brought forward. I’m sitting my finals remotely in about a week and the whole idea behind that is so that we can be drafted into work earlier.

“We are unsure of what this means for our medical school, but final year students who have graduated will be offered the opportunity to volunteer to take up an early junior doctor post.

“This will be with additional support and supervision and will involve working in hospitals during the crisis.

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“If we are needed, will be a unique opportunity to contribute to healthcare during the crisis, whilst developing our skills and experience professionally.”

On hearing Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s announcement that she would be drafted in to help during the global pandemic, Whelan said: “It’s overwhelming and scary to know that you will be thrown in at the deep end, but I think we will learn really quickly on the job and I’m excited to get to work and help instead of sitting at home reading books.

“It’s what we’ve been preparing for in the last five years and we all want to get out there and help – we’ll be the first cohort of junior doctors that have been drafted in for something like this.

“I first applied for medicine because I was always good at biology at school and I had the grades to pursue a medical career. I never saw myself working behind a desk as I’m a people person and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

LIST | A look at the day jobs of Women’s Six Nations stars

Behind the glitz and glamour of the Women's Six Nations, many world-class players must work around the clock to fund their rugby dream.

1. Elinor Snowsill (Wales) - Healthy food company

The Wales international fly-half set up healthy food company Onest Food in 2014, continuing in her rugby career while running the business.

Snowsill started Onest by operating food vans outside gyms, but expanded to delivery following a conversation with a friend who was looking for a healthy eating plan and wanted the food delivered.

She specifically sought out those business models in order to ensure that she did not have to work on weekends so as to leave time to play rugby.Her signature dish uses an omelette style egg as a wrap.

2. Chloe Rollie (Scotland) - Dump truck driver

Before turning professional, she worked as a labourer and a dump truck driver for an excavation company. In her teens, she also played football for Hearts.

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3. Claire Molloy (Ireland) - Doctor

The Ireland back-rower is qualified as a doctor. She studied medicine at Cardiff University, where her classmates included Jamie Roberts. She now works as an A&E doctor in Abergavenny.

4. Vickii Cornborough (England) - IT Business Development Manager

Cornborough has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Reading and she is an IT Business Development Manager at Cloud Direct.

5. Sene Naoupu (Ireland) - Lifestyle coach

The centre/fly-half is a lifestyle coach and fitness trainer and operates her own business, Senshaper. In 2016, Naoupu was listed by as one of the thirty most influential women in Ireland

The Irish Times

6. Alecs Donovan (Wales) - Yoga business

The Wales star is a co-founder of The Yoga Hub, which was created to be a central place within Cardiff to offer a high standard of yoga and mobility to all levels and abilities.

7. Shaunagh Brown (England) - Firefighter

Brown represented England in the hammer throw event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and has also worked as a gas engineer, firefighter, and commercial diver.

8. Claire McLaughlin (Ireland) - Doctor

After studying medicine, she spent her foundation year as a junior doctor at Mater Infirmorum Hospital, Belfast. At the hospital, her work colleagues gave her the nickname of "McSwaplin", since she often swapped shifts at the hospital to accommodate her rugby schedule.