Cordon bleu chef turned occupational health physician

Mary Sherry came into medicine late, after a stint of secretarial work and a successful career in cordon bleu cookery. She has catered for the likes of Edward Heath and Michael Heseltine, among others. So why cordon bleu cooking?

“I disliked school and found no inspiration to work while I was there. So I left early and wanted nothing more to do with academia.” However, she loved cooking and had thought about doing a cordon bleu course at some stage in her life.

During the course, four of her year were asked to cater for a large government function, and similar opportunities meant that her career in catering took off easily. During this time, she catered for a large range of clients including politicians, artists and businessmen, and the ceremony for the Young Businessman of the Year.

It was only when she was offered a lucrative position in the catering industry that she realised she did not want to continue along this path but wanted to study medicine …