Meet the team - March

Meet the team bringing you the latest south west bulletin for postgraduate doctors and dentists in training

We’ve worked with colleagues across training and education to bring you this bulletin. Introducing this issue’s contributors Rebecca Calvert and Sarah Taylor from the career planning support team and Hiu Lam and Pete Tayler-Hunt from the secondary care team.  

You can contact members of the team via educationdoctorsintraining.southwest@hee.nhs.uk 

Rebecca Calvert

Careers Adviser, HEE south west

I am new to Health Education England and look forward to providing careers services to postgraduate doctors and dentists in training. I am registered as an accredited careers professional through the Career Development Institute (CDI) and am currently writing my master's thesis in career development. 

I have a background in education, having taught in both higher and further education as well as creating and validating degree courses and short programmes for industry. In recent years, I have specialised in working with students with specific learning difficulties. A career change has resulted in moving into careers guidance and employability, and prior to working at HEE, I was at Exeter University in the careers team. 

Outside of work, I enjoy playing badminton, travelling extensively, and spending time with my family. 

Sarah Taylor

Career Planning Manager, HEE south west 

I have worked as the career planning manager in the Peninsula region for the past 12 years, providing supportive careers advice and guidance to doctors in training and medical students. As a result of this experience, I can guide doctors through various key transition points using a client centered approach. 

Prior to joining HEE, I worked for over 20 years as the careers manager for Careers South West providing careers education and guidance to schools and colleges across Devon. 

As a highly qualified and experienced careers consultant, I have a master's degree in careers guidance and aim to help doctors ensure they maximise their potential and achieve their career goals. I am also able to help with CV production, personal portfolio development, and individual interview coaching for the full range of medical posts. 

Outside of work I enjoy walking in the east Devon countryside near where I live, swimming and keeping fit by regularly attending yoga and Pilates classes. 

Hiu Lam

Deputy Postgraduate Dean, HEE south west 

I am Hiu Lam, a consultant in neuroanesthesia at University Hospital Plymouth and the south west Deputy Postgraduate Dean.  

After graduating from Nottingham University Medical School in 1989, I carried out my medical and anaesthetic training in Nottingham, Derby, and Oxford where I was also appointed Research Fellow at the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, University of Oxford. I took on the role of deputy postgraduate dean at HEE in 2021.

In 1999, I moved to the USA to take on the role of attending anaesthesiologist at University of Michigan Medical Centre, returning a year later to take up a consultant post at Birmingham Children's Hospital, where I worked from 2000 to 2004. I was appointed as consultant in neuroanaesthesia at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust in December 2004 where I remain working clinically to date. While at Birmingham and Plymouth, I worked as the specialty college tutor and was also the director of medical education at Plymouth from 2010 to 2014.  

I was a Royal College of Anaesthetists primary examiner until 2020 and an editor of BJA Education from 2010 to 2021. I have also undertaken a master's degree in medical leadership and organisation psychology at the University of London. 

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family and making good our garden and house which sustains repetitive injuries from Chester Odi - our highly intelligent and energetic Hungarian Vizsla. In any remaining spare time, you will find me maintaining and riding my Kawasaki Ninja.

Pete Tayler-Hunt

Business and Education Manager, HEE south west 

I have worked at HEE since February 2020 and as Business and Education manager in the south west I look after the secondary care programme teams. 

Having grown up in Cornwall, I graduated from Durham University in 2007 and, following a brief stint working in finance, joined the Royal Navy as a warfare officer. Quickly establishing that a life afloat wasn’t to my tastes, I jumped ship and commissioned into the British Army as an officer in the Educational and Training services. After a varied and interesting few years serving in the UK and overseas, I left the army to work within the educational directorate of the Royal College of Physicians. I was able to apply my experience delivering leadership, management, and communications training to the development of the RCP’s offering of workshops and postgraduate qualifications. 

Later, I moved to the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine at King’s College London, developing, and delivering undergraduate teaching for medical students, before moving to Bristol in 2019. 

I am married to Katie, a consultant in neonatal medicine, and spend most of my time wrangling with our twin toddlers, dog, and chickens.