Hey,

There’s this expectation that once you finally “get in” – into training, whatever flavour – you’ll suddenly feel like a competent professional. Spoiler: you don’t. You get the badge, the lanyard, maybe even a title that sounds impressive -and yet you’re still standing there, bleary-eyed on your first day, Googling “how to prescribe laxatives safely” while trying to look like someone who has definitely prescribed loads of laxatives before.

And everyone around you looks… fine? Calm. Settled. They laugh confidently at ward banter. They say things like “I’ll just chase the CRP” without needing to check what CRP actually measures. Meanwhile you can’t make heads or tails of the EPR system. Weeks, months maybe even years go by and you still feel that low-level buzz of uncertainty and doubt. Will it ever go away?

Here’s the messed-up truth no one advertises:The people who worry they’re not good enough are rarely the problem. It’s the ones who never question themselves you should be scared of.

You’re not an imposter. Maybe you’re just new, and being new is awkward and slow and requires Googling things you’re embarrassed to admit you don’t know. And… maybe you’re 10 years into your job still questioning things. That’s ok too! We signed up to life long learning, and no matter how far up the mountain you are, there’s always more room to climb and probably someone higher than you letting you know how much more they know compared to you. It happens. So take a breath. Ask the “stupid” question. Write things down. Pretend confidence where you must. You’re not failing. You’re becoming. And honestly? That counts.