Spotlight on Dr Abigail Whiteman

What is your role and what does it involve?

I am a consultant anaesthetist at University College London Hospitals. My clinical role includes pre-operative assessment of the high-risk patient, major case anaesthesia and paediatric anaesthesia. I have a great interest in and enthusiasm for medical education, and I am education lead for the UCL Perioperative Medicine Master's Programme.

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I have been a consultant at UCLH and an honorary senior lecturer at UCL for just over a year. Prior to that, I was an anaesthetic registrar at UCLH.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

Creating the perioperative medicine MOOC. It has been an amazing opportunity to create a resource to reach and educate thousands of healthcare workers on how to make surgery safer and improve outcome for their patients.

Tell us about a project you are working on now that is top of your to-do list.

Top of my to-do list is perfecting this MOOC. We hope to launch a MOOC of the highest quality, that all our learners enjoy and benefit from. This has taken a monumental effort from our extended expert faculty and our small production team. It is available to book now and starts on 3 July, so I'm very excited to see who joins us for it.

What is your favourite album, film and novel?

Album: J.S. Bach - The Two Violin Concertos, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Gidon Kremer.

Film: Life is Beautiful.

Book: Mr Men go on Holiday.

What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?

My six-year-old daughter's current favourite:

Q: Where do cows go at the weekend?
A: To the mooovies.

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

My husband, children and closest friends.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Seize every opportunity and enjoy life. Examinations are not everything. 

What would it surprise people to know about you?

If I wasn't an anaesthetist I'd really like to be a narrator for audiobooks.

What is your favourite place?

The Monsal Dale.