Alumni Stories: Life lessons and one-liners
Ilyas Khattak has retained fond memories and close links with the University of Liverpool, even organising a 20-year reunion for his classmates in 2019. After graduating, he completed general surgical training in the North West before focusing on the management of benign and malignant breast conditions and is now a Consultant onco-plastic breast surgeon. Here, he looks back on his time at the School and how it, and the city of Liverpool, shaped him and his path through medicine.
On my first day, I remember being herded into the Henry Cohen lecture theatre, wooden clad with green leather chairs brandishing the University emblem and motto ‘Fait Lux’ in gilded font, it was really grand.
Unknown to me, the staff members officially signing me on to the MBChB programme would become key figures in our undergraduate future and look after us for years to come, as they did for cohorts well before and after mine.
I remember meeting, for the first time, the 176 peers I would share the next five years of my life, studies and day to day activities with.
I remember the feeling of excitement and anticipation and of trepidation for the fantastic unknown. This was the foundation that formed a much wider network of professional and interpersonal interactions that would last a career. You will always have a shared bond with the people that you train with, no matter how much time passes, and I am still dear friends with the individuals I met on that very day.
I remember the warmth and vibrancy and noise of the Big City of Life and the ever-welcoming humour of its wonderful and fabulously positive people. There was a one-liner for just about everything!
I remember feeling on top of the world. I remember feeling unstoppable. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Being a Liverpool medic carries a strong sense of belonging and pride that becomes evident at induction, and this was engrained in us very early on.
There is an open and colourful community at Liverpool, and the School has a diverse and active society, one that I am proud to represent today wherever I may be.
The first two years gave us an excellent grounding and basis from which to appreciate most, if not all, the disciplines. The following three years allowed us to rotate through the main specialties where we were expected to act and perform as part of the team, which helped us get a proper feel for the specialty.
I really enjoyed General Medicine, especially with the characters that delivered old school bedside teaching, and particularly ‘The Circus’, a weekly round in the main lecture theatre of cases presented and defended by students to senior consultants for all to enjoy.
In the end, I opted for a career in Surgery. I suppose you cannot predict what you end up doing just by imagining what it might be like; you have to get out and have a go to see how it fits with your abilities and skill set. If you enjoy what you do, the day job is less of a chore and instead becomes something to look forward to.
I developed skills in areas such as communication, diplomacy and humility, often through learning how not to do things. And, of course, drawing form the culture and vibrancy of Liverpool; the ability to relate to anyone in any circumstance through social interaction, basically the importance of being ‘down to earth’.
Ilyas Khattak and the class of 1999 at their 20 year reunion
My pre-registration house year was spent at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. It was a steep learning curve and the ward nurses were paramount at directing us to how we could get though the day in one piece, often ‘suggesting’ what might be the best way forward from their previous experience, which was gratefully received.
There were 42 of us, all from the same class. We were all in it together and there was a strong sense of camaraderie. We all lived in in a tower block called ‘Lynden House’, which has now sadly been levelled to the ground.
It was the hardest, yet most rewarding year of my practice, filled with learning opportunities, life experiences, and emotional times; it was testing, and helped shape us into the practitioners that we all are today.
From there, I had various jobs that were recognised by the Royal College for surgical training and undertook Postgraduate Research in Cancer Studies. Once I was accepted onto the Higher Surgical Training programme, I was eager to learn new skillsets and rotated through the specialties, gaining transferable skills along the way.
Nowadays, I deal with diseases of the breast, both benign and malignant. I really enjoy the aspect of combining surgical skill with an element of art. It is really challenging to deliver difficult news in a way which can be understood and received in a positive way that allows individuals to visualise their uncharted journey ahead of them.
Managing life as a medic, every day brings its own challenges, big or small. They are all seemingly important at the time, though as long as things are taken calmly and methodically, I find everything can be worked through.
It is always helpful to have friends or access to a kind ear, and certainly the voice of experience offered by mentors.
It is important to have time and space that you can feel relaxed and away from work, whatever that may be. Our profession is all consuming, and it will do just that if you let it. There will always be more to do than time you have to do it in, and accepting that is the first step to enabling you look after yourself properly, and will ensure that you can do your job effectively and efficiently.
Ilyas enjoys the outdoors and cycles to work every day.
We enjoy the outdoors and get out for a walk as a family whenever possible, preferably with picnic in tow! Every week we get a babysitter and my wife (also a medic) and I do something for ourselves, even if it’s just a walk in the countryside. It is easy to not bother, and fall into a mundane routine but achieving an evenly weighted work life balance is essential for long term happiness.
We are lucky enough to have a getaway in Anglesey which is really remote and all about getting back to nature. We enjoy spending time in our allotment, which is tremendously therapeutic. Everyone can get involved and growing your own produce is extremely rewarding.
The last year has taught me, humans are adaptable and resilient; no one would have thought such infringements on our freedom would be acceptable or tolerated before this. It is helped us re-evaluate what is important, and discover what “important” is.
The pandemic has demonstrated that life is finite, and delicate. We should make the most of every opportunity and not take anything for granted.
If I could give myself advice, as a first year student doctor, I’d say it’s a long road ahead. Pace yourself; it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Enjoy yourself. Try everything, but with moderation. There is always a positive in every challenge we face, and a learning opportunity to be had in even the most routine undertaking.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. (Winston Churchill)
Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans. (John Lennon)
Discover more
- Has Ilyas got you thinking about your future career path? Liverpool Student Doctors have exclusive access to careers videos, via Panopto.
- Are you one of our School alumni and have a story to share? Or do you know someone you would like us to spotlight? Drop us a line at mednews@liverpool.ac.uk.
- Get insights and advice from School Alumni as they reminisce on their days at Liverpool and the careers they went on to create on our Alumni Stories webpage (link).