Alumni Spotlight: Dr Najette Ayadi O’Donnell, MSc Paediatrics and Child Health

Please tell us a bit about the work you are doing now.

I am a Consultant Paediatrician at UCLH with a special interest in adolescents and Safeguarding 

Why did you choose to study your programme?

Being able to undertake an MSc in Child Health (Community), with the award of the Michelle Zalkin Scholarship, gave me the thinking space in my professional career to delve deeper into aspects of child health I remain passionate about today, as a Consultant Paediatrician, such as child and young person safeguarding and adolescent medicine. 

By studying for a master's, I was able to nurture my thirst for developing skills in the critical appraisal of current thought, literature and scientific study in the field of child health, which in turn fed into my passion for child health advocacy. Medical training gives very little head space for this type of nurturing and the Institute of Child Health, with its experienced faculty, is well placed to build on this level of development for those in healthcare.