Dr Laura McArthur, Class of 2007, took time out of her busy schedule to share her wisdom with our MedSoc students via video call. She shared knowledge not only from her work as a GP trainee in Cornwall but her expedition and local population medicine in rural Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, and Australia. Some amazing stories and heart wrenching truths from a doctor who likes to work, and play, at the extreme.
Laura is completing her GP training in Cornwall but with a bug for adventure you're likely to find her running or doing triathlons in challenging locations, sailing or skiing.
She has training in orthopaedics, emergency medicine and obs & gynae, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Remote Healthcare and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She has also studied Health in Humanitarian Emergencies in Liverpool, the first tropical institution in the world. Alongside her medical training she is an RYA Dinghy Instructor and Day-skipper.
Laura has worked with expedition groups and local populations in a variety of locations including; rural Tanzania; on a medical ship in Western province, Papua New Guinea; in Costa Rica, designing and delivering an expedition medicine course for Gapforce UK; and was the event medic for the BBC The One Show’s Sports Relief ‘Mother of All Challenges’ (
read more).
She is also passionate about enabling those who are less able to get into the wilderness, having a younger sister with disabilities, (who has sailed the English Channel more times than she has!)
She has worked in a variety of locations in Australia, including tropical Darwin and rural base hospitals in New South Wales. Despite getting altitude and sea-sickness, she enjoys high altitude climbs in beautiful places such as Borneo and Ecuador, and navigating the seas.
As well as her tales of extreme medicine Laura gave our prospective medics advice about applying to medical school, career paths in the NHS, and shared her medical viewpoint on the Covid-19 pandemic. Thanks Laura for supporting current students in this way.
