Doctor raises 13k for Barts Charity
Dr Josh Michaels, a surgical trainee at The Royal London Hospital has raised more than £13,000 for Barts Charity.
He has also been redeployed from his normal surgical role with the ear, nose, and throat team (ENT), and is now supporting the Intensive Care Unit in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eager to find out more, we sat down with Josh and discussed his background, redeployment, and fundraising venture.
How old are you now and where did you grow up?
I’m 29-years-old and I grew up in Edgware, North-West London, with my parents and younger sister, Georgie.
Where did you study medicine?
I was accepted onto the Graduate Entry scheme at Barts and The London School of Medicine, and managed to obtain an ENT-themed surgical training program in London after 2 years of post-graduate foundation training.
Tell us more about your recent redeployment to critical care.
Outpatient services were quickly being reduced as the COVID-19 pandemic started to take priority. The ENT department asked their Senior Housing Officers who would be willing to volunteer to work in the COVID teams. I volunteered and soon after, the rest of the team were also redeployed.
How are you finding it?
The shifts are arduous, especially since you’re conscribed to wearing PPE for long periods. There has also been a steep learning curve to effectively manage ITU patients. There is a wide variety of outlooks from different team members, some are incredibly confident and determined, whilst others (who perhaps have got to the end of a run of shifts) are more worn down.
In general, we are all aware of the difficulties we face and we each make great efforts to remain positive and work together to create the best outcomes for our patients. There is also a great support network and plenty of experienced staff around to help and provide guidance when needed.
When did you first think about starting the fundraising appeal?
I set up the fundraiser to couple the start of my new role in the ITU COVID team.
It was an initiative where I planned to provide friends, family, and followers of my social media page updates about life as a COVID doctor. I also wanted to spread messages of positivity to help lift the spirits of those that are struggling to cope with the government lockdown measures. The Instagram page has been hugely successful and helped me to raise over £1000 in just a few hours, and over £10,000 in a single week.
Since then, I have expanded the appeal by creating The Quarantine Jukebox – an open forum where viewers can make song requests that I then play on piano for them to encourage more donations. I’m currently in the process of working with a few musicians to help widen our audience reach.
How long did it take to put the fundraising wheels in motion?
I heard about the Barts Charity COVID-19 Emergency Appeal through WeShare, and after visiting their charity website, it was easy to set up the fundraising page through JustGiving.com
How are you feeling about the response you’ve had so far?
The response has been overwhelming and I am fortunate enough to have a number of articles written about me in the Ham & High, Camden New Journal and East London Advertiser newspapers. If you Google ‘Joshua Michaels’, you can find the articles when clicking on the news tab.
I also have to thank Barts Charity and the Barts Health press team in Rachel Hollingshead and Molly Downing, who have both provided fantastic support throughout and even helped me feature on BBC Radio London last week.
The money we’ve raised has already gone to fantastic causes and I hope that readers of this article and others will help continue this fantastic appeal and share my fundraising page (justgiving.com/fundraising/Joshua-michaels).
You can keep up to date with Josh’s progress by visiting his Instagram page here.