Judgy colleagues brand my purple hair unprofessional – I don't care, you don’t have to be ‘stale and male’ to do my job | The Sun

A DOCTOR has told how she wants to change the "stale, male and pale" stereotype of a GPs after colleagues passed judgement on her bright hair.

Dr Zoë Watson, a Glaswegian living in East London, worked for the NHS for 17 years.

During her time with the National Health Service, she tried to dress and wear her hair how she thought doctors "should look" based on the opinions of others.

But Zoë has started to embrace her own personal style after founding her online platform Wellgood Wellbeing last year.

She left behind the preconceptions of what GP 'should' look like and instead championed her true self.

Now she helps hundreds of people by empowering them withknowledge to care for their health and wellbeing.

The mum-of-two told the Scottish Sun about how medicine desperately needs to step away from the old-fashioned stereotypes to become more accessible to the public.

She said: "It's time to let go of the tweed jacketed, leather elbow-patched, spectacle peering, silently judging old man stereotype of doctors and GPs.

"People like me may not be perceived as looking 'professional'.

"And that's why the new world of modern general practice needs to be potty-mouthed, purple-haired, daft as a brush women like me – who people may not perceive as LOOKING professional – but in actual fact, are bloody good at their job."

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Since becoming her own boss, Zoë says she has been able to experiment with her own personal style and has had a rainbow of hair colours since.

She said her patients rarely judged her, and she often receives compliments about her her pink and purple locks.

Instead it was her colleagues who were often the biggest critics of her personal style.

Zoë said individualism was drummed out of her during medical school – where there is a perception of 'professionalism' expected.

But she feels dressing too formally put a barrier between patients and the medic.

She continued: "I think there is always a sense that doctors are held on a pedestal within the community.

"When you work for the NHS, you might only have 10 minutes with somebody and you already have this barrier in place between yourself and the patient.

"When you get to dress and look like how you want to feel, people realise that you are a human being, and it is more accessible to the patient looking for help.

"People need to realise that I might have purple and pink hair, but I also have decades of experience and knowledge about the human body and mind."

Dr Zoë launched Wellgood Wellbeing in October last year, offering advice and support in what she describes as a "non-judgemental and non-BS" way.

She added: "Doctors are human beings too. They eat ice cream, drink wine and binge watch television shows.

"Looking after yourself means different things to different people, it's not just drinking green smoothies or buying into the wellness crap.

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"When I was struggling with my own mental health, it was about embracing creativity, music, and laughter – and that isn't taught to you in a medical setting."

Find out more about Dr Zoë Watson's online platform Wellgood Wellbeing here.

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