New Zealand consultant visits Leicester Diabetes Centre
Doctor Manish Khanolkar and Professor Pratik Choudhary
Recently Dr Manish Khanolkar, Consultant Physician and Diabetologist at Auckland District Health Board in New Zealand, visited Leicester Diabetes Centre to learn more about our world-leading research and how we are revolutionising care through the adoption of diabetes technology.
We asked Dr Khanolkar to reflect on his visit with us.
“I spent an amazing time at the Leicester Diabetes Centre with Professor Pratik Choudhary’s team in April. Driving up the M1 post-easter brought some thrills of its own. The stars also seemed perfectly aligned with Pharmac (Crown entity that decides on which medicines / medical devices should be publicly subsidised in New Zealand) approving funding for use of glucose monitoring sensors by people with type 1 diabetes in Aotearoa.
“It was nice to be welcomed to the LDC by the ‘komorebi’ (Japanese word meaning ‘sunlight leaking through trees’), so well designed and thought out. I should admit that I did shed a few tears on entering the halls of the NHS after almost 15 years!
“The ever-smiling Laura Willcocks (EDEN’s Assistant Director Integration, Education and Innovation) helped introduce me to the centre and its team – thank you Laura.
“Catching up with Pratik and his passionate team over the following days was precisely what I had desired out of my planned sabbatical. Some of the valuable learning and tips passed on by him were mind-boggling! His generosity and knowledge sharing attitude had no limits. He explained complex clinical scenarios with such clarity that even a jet-lagged ‘kiwi’ could grasp them with ease! He had me attend a team meeting with Ian Lawrence, Head of Service for Diabetes at Leicester’s Hospitals, which was another amazing real-life learning experience that covered almost all aspects of diabetes care that I was hoping to catch up on.
“Having a glimpse of Pratik’s working day was both educational as well as motivational, seeing him run through his multiple research studies, virtual clinical reviews of complex diabetes scenarios and virtual multidisciplinary meetings. Still etched in my memory is his virtual MDT meet with psychiatry colleague, his being able to support other team members, jotting down a clear management plan for a complex clinical scenario and at the same time coming up with a short guidance for future use, all this done within a 30-minute slot can only highlight his formula1 racing ability and passion for the work that he does.
Last but not the least, I express my deep gratitude to Hannah Wakefield, Laura Willcocks and all the others who aided me to get my sabbatical application across the line. I will surely be coming back for a booster!”
Thank you for visiting us Dr Khanolkar, we look forward to welcoming you back to LDC in the future.