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12 July 2024

Porter Ali now a Doctor

A New Cross Hospital Porter is set to start his new career as a Doctor – after being inspired following his diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease.

Ali Sidat with his stethoscope and his medical colleagues

Ali Sidat with his stethoscope and his medical colleagues

Ali Sidat, 23, graduated this month after five years at the University of Birmingham Medical School. He will now spend two years on rotation, looking to specialise in gastroenterology.

Since April 2020, Ali, from Palfrey, Walsall, has also been working as a Porter at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT).

“I have enjoyed New Cross Hospital – there is a great Clinical Fellowship Team there, the best I have come across – and the facilities, teaching, culture and people are superb. It’s a very supportive environment.

“So I’m hoping to work at New Cross for my next year and Walsall Manor the year after.

“Being from Walsall, I want to give back to my own community to help the people there.”

Ali has always worked alongside his studies. Starting at IKEA at 16, he became unwell with his Crohn’s but completed his A levels and became a home tutor, helping GCSE pupils and mentoring medical students.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, Ali found himself out of work due to the introduction of predicted grades for students.

But the university asked him to help out at hospital so he went to New Cross and was asked to work a Porter, specialising in the CT (Radiology) department.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the people I work with,” said Ali. “I would call them more friends than colleagues.

Ali Sidat with his stethoscope and his Porter colleagues

Ali Sidat with his stethoscope and his Porter colleagues

“Porters have humility. A lot of people who do it have a smile on their faces and that tells me they’re content. This means more than money.”

Ali added: “I genuinely enjoy my job and I wake up with a smile on my face knowing I’m going to work. I will miss it.

“I know being a Doctor will come with more pressure but I hope, because of some of the skills I’ve picked up, I can translate that into my practice.”

Portering has already helped Ali in his development as a Doctor.

“I tend to perform better in my practical exams – a lot of the feedback around my rapport and communication with patients is really good. I feel that’s directly related to my job as a Porter,” he said.

And fellow Porters are delighted to see Ali become a Doctor.

He said: “They are chuffed for me. When I passed, I posted on social media and my mum was in tears reading the comments because they were so heartwarming and touching.”

Being diagnosed with Crohn’s at 14 gave Ali a focus he wasn’t expecting.

“When I was speaking to the Doctor and he told me the steps I’d got to take, I followed through with it,” he said.

“It make me think that I wanted to help people who had got what I had, hence my ambitions to get into gastroenterology.”

ENDS