Imagine this: you’re a junior doctor, getting to grips with life on the ward in the early stages of your medical career, working long shifts under a stretched system. You’ve got a chronic illness to manage while you care for patients, and you’ve been training for this your whole life. Then, a few months in… a global virus strikes and you find yourself on the front line of the NHS as a pandemic shuts down the entire world.

That is the experience of this week’s guest, Dr Temi Olonisakin.

Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on the floor of a train station in 2012 at the age of 17, Temi’s sights had been set on medical school since she was a child. And while her diagnosis didn’t stop her getting there (although others advised her to reconsider), she found herself struggling to accept her diagnosis for a long time.

Despite dealing with daily darkness at work while she tirelessly cared for COVID patients, it was the pandemic that gave Temi the space at home to finally extend that same compassion to herself when it came to her type 1 diabetes. She turned the anger she’d been carrying into a sense of power, leading her to create her Instagram account, @temidiabeticdoctor.

We discuss all of this, plus the aspects of diabetes that Temi believes have made her a better doctor, going from a huge fear of needles to a massive advocate of diabetes technology, representation in the diabetes space, and her advice for fighting for your needs as a patient to get the tools to improve your quality of life.

“It’s not because I’m a doctor, it’s because I decided not to give up.”

Say hi to Temi on Instagram.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Thanks to my episode sponsors Insulet, the founders of Pod Therapy - only found with Omnipod.

Pod therapy uses a tubeless, wearable and waterproof Pod that continuously delivers insulin for up to three days. Controlled wirelessly by its handheld companion, the personal diabetes manager, it allows you to personalise your insulin doses according to your own daily needs - no multiple daily injections and no tubes.

Head to https://www.omnipod.com/ to find out more.