One year ago I left my chosen hospital speciality and emigrated. My colleagues could not agree whether I was brave or foolish, but in retrospect I now see that I had no option. My career was not progressing and my general quality of life was deteriorating. Now I live in a country where the sun shines for most of the year and I get great satisfaction from treating my patients, but I do not return home at the end of the day frustrated and chronically fatigued.

I left a post as a registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology in July 1992, having spent six years in the specialty. Obstetrics and gynaecology has a reputation for being a tough specialty because of the workload, on call commitment, and the unseen pressure of litigation. But my reasons for leaving were different and were largely to do with the …