Dr Zoe Williams, the resident GP on ITV’s This Morning, has been made an Honorary Fellow of the doctors’ organisation MDDUS.
Her fellowship was conferred by the Chief Executive of MDDUS, Chris Kenny, and its Chair, Professor Iain Cameron.
Dr Williams is the first member of MDDUS to become an Honorary Fellow of the mutual organisation without having first served as a member of its Board.
Mr Kenny said: “The fellowship recognises Zoe’s enormous contribution to preventative health and public health information.
“We have been proud to have her as a member for more than a decade and delighted she accepted our offer of this Honorary Fellowship.”
Prof Cameron said: “Zoe’s work on ITV and other media outlets has helped to demystify complex medical issues for patients including during the pandemic and now, as many students and parents worried about the spread of meningitis in Kent.
“We have also been particularly impressed by her commitment to charitable work that promotes physical activity and wellbeing among children and young people.”
Dr Williams said: “I was genuinely surprised and delighted when MDDUS approached me to say they wanted to award me this fellowship.
“Being part of a mutual organisation such as MDDUS is personally important because I know it’s run by people just like me, clinicians who’ve experienced the practice of medicine at the cutting edge.
“I am also honoured to become the first person to be given a fellowship of MDDUS without having first served on its Board.”
To mark her fellowship, Dr Williams has recorded an hour-long podcast with two Foundation Year doctors – Dr Mel Azate and Dr Vinci Pabellan, who are both MDDUS members and part of the organisation’s social media campaign on Instagram.
Dr Azate, who is a hospital doctor in the West Midlands, said: “Meeting Zoe has been something of a ‘pinch me’ moment having watched her on television before. What was so interesting has been finding out that, while my experience as a foundation year doctor has many differences to Zoe’s experience, there’s also other challenges that remain the same.”
Dr Pabellan added: “Hearing from Zoe how she understands what it’s like to be a foundation year doctor has helped me remember that other more senior doctors I work with have walked the same path as me – and when times get tough, they understand.”
ENDS
The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) is a mutual organisation that protects the professional interests 70,000 doctors and dentists across the United Kingdom, offering access to indemnity, support and legal advice.
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