In conversation with our alumni: Dr Matt Morgan (MBBCh 2004, PhD 2015)

Matt works as a doctor in the intensive care unit at the University Hospital of Wales Cardiff.

Matt describes it as: “The most wonderful, the most complex, yet the simplest place in the hospital. I say simple because we use complex technology and cutting edge science to give patients just one thing - time. Time for us to discover what is wrong with them, time for them to get better, and sometimes, sadly, time for them to say goodbye.”

A typical day for Matt combines caring for critically ill people, researching how to do this better and then trying to get this message across to others. “My days normally start early, finish late and involve a lot of coffee!”

Immediately after graduating Matt launched himself into working 56 hours a week, most weekends and most Christmas holidays as a doctor in South Wales. Matt describes his career since graduating as “messy but good messy”.

He continues: “I have worked in some of the biggest hospitals in the UK and Australia, I spent a short time in the military, did a PhD using artificial intelligence in medicine and then settled back in Cardiff working in the University Hospital of Wales.” “The last year has been writing my first book - “Critical”. I want to take readers on a tour around the intensive care unit, one of the most fast-paced, pressurised places in a modern-day hospital. Along the way, they will meet some of my most interesting and memorable cases. Through these stories, they will learn about the wonders of the human body and celebrate the incredible resilience of the human spirit. If you like stories, or science or simply humans, this book is for you!”

On being asked why he chose to study at Cardiff University, Matt describes how he told his careers tutor in school that he wanted to be Fox Mulder from the X-Files. “However, coming from a Welsh comprehensive school this apparently wasn’t an option. After going to one of the first “Science in Health” events organised by Cardiff University, I applied there to do medicine instead.”

This may explain why Matt is such a supporter of engaging the public in research and why he himself has got involved in several engagement initiatives and regularly participates in the School of Medicine’s Science in Health programme, informing and engaging the public in the latest intensive care research and inspiring the future medics and scientists of the future.

This is a shortened version of the full article that features in edition 32 of ReMEDy.

Read the full article