At the end of 2025, we announced Philip Doyle, Olympic bronze-medal rower and doctor, as our Brand Ambassador. Having worked with Direct Medics as a locum doctor for over three years, Philip understands the importance of balancing personal ambitions with professional goals.

In this profile, he shares his experiences and insights on building a career that supports work and life beyond it - without compromise.

Can you tell us about your role as a doctor and what originally inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?

"I started off with a grand plan to become a vet when I was 14. I worked summers in a local vets to get experience for my application, but found the animals to be lacking in a bit of banter, so I got the chance to spend 2 days in the cath labs in the Royal Victoria hospital. It was the missing piece. I then concentrated my efforts on medical school. Ironically, I was unable to get a place in medical school with the reason being that I was playing too much sport and how could I be able to balance it all while doing such a demanding degree. At that point I played field hockey for Ireland, Ulster, my school and at least 2 club teams. I think that led me to emergency medicine in the end because I love the hustle of the department and how time efficient you have to be to work there."

What do you find most rewarding and most challenging about working as a doctor today?

"The most rewarding thing about being a doctor today is catching something and sorting the patient out. Getting them onto the right path for treatment or easing their worries and giving them peace of mind. The ED gets the worst wrap for being disorganised and difficult for patients but of all the places I have worked I find it the place where patients are the most thankful. The ED also has the difficult role in today's society of being the hospital bad guy. With wait times and admissions taking forever. The supply just hasn’t met the demand for the last while and this makes your job as a doctor very challenging as the system slows your workflow the most. Sometimes the most challenging thing in a shift can be finding an appropriate exam room for your patient."

What experiences have shaped your views on work–life balance and flexibility within your medical career?

"My father was sick once and he had his own journey through healthcare. His journey has massively shaped the way I practice medicine. I try to see the patient journey more and make small allowances that can mean so much to the patient and work within the system for them to have the best outcome and experience. My father passed from his illness when I was 23. I look at his life journey and use it as my reason to pack life with as much as I possibly can because we never know what tomorrow brings. I became a yes man after some hesitation to leave work to pursue my rowing. Medicine always pulls me back whenever I get a few spare months, but I am more than happy to come back to it as I enjoy it just as much as rowing and want the ability to pack both in."

How has locum work enabled you to pursue your personal passions alongside your role as a doctor?

"Without locum work I would be completely cut from medicine altogether. Medicine is a rare career where you start and begin only at set times of the year. In the UK it's August to August and in the south of Ireland it’s July to July. The rowing season is from March until September each year. This means I would have to miss an entire rowing season to do a full year contract. I want the freedom to chase both my rowing and stay with medicine, so locuming gives me control and freedom for both."

What does a typical day-in-the-life look like for you when balancing work, interests and other commitments?

"I have many different days which is a blessing for me. I will take you through a 10-6 work shift day first. Usually, I would try and get a rowing session that morning, ideally starting 7:30-8am. I would try and make that my hardest training session of the day. I would eat something small before and try to get something more substantial by way of calories afterwards. I will then get ready and head to work. It will be a typical ED shift where I will try to see and sort as many patients as possible. During the shift I have to ensure I eat and drink enough so that when I leave (hopefully as close to 6pm as possible) I can head straight home to get on the rowing machine or into the weights room and smash out another session usually something shorter and less intense before having a big meal after that around 8:30/9pm. I'll use this time to relax and unwind before getting to bed around 11pm.

At the moment, I’m filming for a TV show in Dublin. It's a dance show and we rehearse everyday. Today, I woke up at 6:35am. I drove from the city centre to Blanchardstown, Sport Ireland campus. I did 2hours on the rowing machine and then 45minute sauna there. I refuelled and got back to the city for rehearsal in the Quays for 12:30. I rehearsed until 5pm and then had to cycle to an axe throwing location to shoot some video for the upcoming themed dance this weekend. I cycled from there to the gym to do a quick weights session and then grabbed a burrito on my cycle home and I am writing this now eating some chocolate at 10:40pm."

Are there any skills you use as a doctor that you’ve applied to rowing or other projects, and vice versa?

"The biggest skill I use in both is actually, mental control. I call it mental clarity. It’s a unique skill taught to doctors via the ABCDE approach. It is a simple way to stop and make the brain think logically in high pressure and high adrenaline situations. I use it for racing, it is a logical and clear step process to ensure the best outcome. That can be translated across many things but racing is the best. On race day handling the mentality of competition separates good athletes from great ones. I plan my race day, down to what and when I will eat. Also, when I go to the bathroom, stretch, warm-up and take supplements. I follow the process and it will lead me to the best outcome. A template for success. Just as ABCDE is a template for success in a resus situation. There is one person who steps back, clears their mind and works the algorithm and directs the team so nothing is missed and everything is as efficient as it can be."

How has your definition of success evolved over time, both professionally and personally?

"My definition of success has changed immensely. I used to believe that success was being first or winning. I now take pleasure in the smaller wins. The personal bests on the rowing machine, the bronze medal instead of the gold. The further up in something you go the more talented people you encounter. As both sport and medicine have become more in my life I have had the pleasure of meeting people smarter and more talented on many occasions. It has taught me to enjoy small successes. My first solo stitches, my first Irish record on the rowing machine, my first nerve block and my first world cup gold medal are all on a power because when given context success can be found anywhere."

How has flexible working influenced the way you think about planning and sustaining your career long term?

"Without locum work I don’t think I could continue working as a doctor. Staying engaged in clinical environments is vital for a doctor to stay sharp and up to the standards our patients deserve and expect. It allows me to follow both passions in life. It gives me some financial support also on top of the rowing bursary that supports my sporting dreams. Staying connected to my career as a doctor also gives me options and a passion for when sport is no longer an option. It's not a long term alternative but for what I need from life right now it's perfect. I would have done one Olympics within the foundation program with time out and then went straight into training if I didn’t have the flexibility I have now. With the locum work I now have an olympic medal and am barrelling towards my third olympics hoping for another medal before settling into my career as a doctor full time.

Direct medics have come to my aid several times. I have to be based in Cork when I go rowing full time. I reached out to Direct Medics in 2022 about connections in Cork University Hospital and they worked their magic and had me talking with the Acute medicine department and arranged a perfect set up for me down there so I could continue medicine in the lead up to the Paris Olympics without having to drive back to Northern Ireland for shifts in the NHS all the time.

They also look after my compliance and most importantly they organise my appraisals so I stay in the green with the GMC and keep my license up to date. Lisa Wilson has been looking after me for the years I have been with Direct medics and is always on hand to assist with any requests for shifts and helps me manage communications when I come and go for training camps and competitions throughout the year."

What message would you share with healthcare professionals who feel they have to choose between career progression and life outside of work?

"I always thought as doctors we had to follow the conveyor belt of a career laid out in front of us. I have realised through sport and meeting so many of the leaders in medicine and the corporate world, that people crave balance. They see achievement in many ways and they all believed that taking time from medicine to roll the rowing dice was a wise and worthwhile move for me. We often lose our passions and hobbies, as a sacrifice for a career when we are young and then long for them in our later years. My advice is to take as many opportunities as possible. To say yes as often as you can, to anything that tickles your fancy and gives you a thrill. Taking the path less travelled is not failure and pleasing yourself is not as terrible as you think it is."