Sammy Arab

Our national study found that for every one hour with patients, UK resident doctors spend four hours on admin. In @bmj_latest today, we break down why this isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a safety risk.  1) Fragmented EHRs → endless copy-paste + re-entering data 2) Trainees turned into scribes 3) Less training, less confidence, less preparedness We suggest: • Reassign admin to allied staff • Joined-up IT that fits clinical workflows • Minimum patient-facing time requirement in training • Clinicians co-designing digital tools If you work in healthcare: what’s one admin task you’d automate or reassign tomorrow? 👇 Your answers might shape the fix-list. Thank you to my co-authors @KaranChhatwal_ @HamaadAKhan and Professor Stuart D. Rosen, and BMJ editors @Juliet_hd and @jolie__neill. You can find the link to the full BMJ piece in the comments. With thanks to @imperialcollege and @bmj_latest

@MarkDSiegel1 @TradIMYale @YaleIMed This is incredibly helpful! The only caveat is that not everyone who doesn’t signal is uninterested, especially when it comes to a program as impressive as Yale.

Program Director's Note - What Does it Take to Get an Interview Around Here? A #ProgramDirectorsNote to my @TradIMYale residents. @YaleIMed open.substack.com/pub/siegelmark…

Too many med students never get the mentorship & research opportunities they deserve. Today, we’re changing that... The MedNex Fellowship connects the next generation of physician-scholars with mentors to facilitate hands-on research experience, completely free of charge. 🧵👇

#SundayCardioGuide Risk stratifying acute PE (ESC 2019): - High-risk: instability → reperfusion (thrombolysis/catheter/surgical) - Intermediate-high: RV dysfunction + ↑troponin → anticoag + monitor - Intermediate-low: one/none → anticoag - Low-risk: stable → outpt possible

I am grateful to @MayoClinic for helping share why this matters. Something as simple as a pair of shoes can impact a child’s confidence, comfort, health, and even their ability to participate in sports or school. Thank you to Dr. Sam Sayed @Sayed10Sam and Sharif Sayed @SuperSharif_, founders of Dayna's Footprints, and to everyone at the Boys & Girls Club of Rochester @bgclubroch and @SCHEELS who made this possible.

The Portal Trust just published a feature on my journey, from being a scholarship recipient during my time at @imperialcollege. I first learned about @Portal_Trust through my brother, while I was in financially challenging circumstances. Our mother raised us alone and relied on us to help support our family. Thanks to their merit-based educational scholarship during medical school at Imperial College London, I was able to focus on my studies and pursue opportunities I never thought possible. Today, as a postdoctoral research fellow at @MayoClinic, applying for internal medicine residency in the United States, I am deeply grateful for how that early support helped launch my academic and professional journey. I have been reflecting on what it means to carry that forward, to remain focused, and to open doors for others. Once someone invests in you, the confidence that imbues in you lasts a lifetime and creates ripples that affect countless people. I hope my story shows how crucial and transformative early support can be. Thank you to The Portal Trust. You can read the blog on The Portal Trust website, which is linked in their bio @Portal_Trust.

Thank you Prof @scarlettmcnally for such a thoughtful response, couldn’t agree more that freeing doctors from clerical work is essential. Doctors’ Assistants are a pragmatic, evidence based solution that deserves far more airtime. Delighted to be working with @louisdowland on our project to examine and validate their role in reducing admin burden, and grateful for your outstanding leadership and mentorship.

Really appreciate you shining a light on this, James. I’m currently working on a study with some fantastic consultants, residents, and medical students, looking at doctors’ assistants in a few NHS trusts. Early findings are promising, can’t wait to share more over the next couple of months!

Thank you to the brilliant team of editors at The BMJ for facilitating this release @Juliet_hd @jolie__neill

"Every hour lost to poorly designed administrative activity is an hour not spent examining, teaching, or treating." Administrative overload harms patient care and wastes clinical time, @SammyArab @KaranChhatwal_ @HamaadAKhan bmj.com/content/390/bm…

@Baystate_Cards @AGoldsweig Incredible work @AGoldsweig ! You are an inspiration and incredible role model to us all 👏🏻

Congratulations to Dr. Goldsweig, first author of the 2025 SCAI/HRS LAAO Guidelines his national leadership continues to grow Baystate Cardiology’s reputation and inspire our fellows. #Cardiology #SCAI #HRS2025 10.1016/j.jscai.2025.103783

@KaranChhatwal_ Such a privilege to have worked with you on this!

@sophia_edw28123 Thanks for sharing our study! The full article can be read here: academic.oup.com/qjmed/advance-…

A study finds resident doctors spend 4 hours on admin work for every 1 hour with patients, cutting into their patient care time and increasing workload. Yet, PAs are filling clinical roles, limiting residents’ training opportunities and adding strain to an already tough system.

Thanks for sharing our study!

@IMotairek @KaranChhatwal_ Thank you so much Issam! 🙏🏻

@SammyArab @KaranChhatwal_ Great work!

Ever feel like you’re doing more admin than medicine? We proved it. 🩺 For every hour doctors spend with patients, four go to admin. Happy to lead this national study with @KaranChhatwal_ , just published in Oxford University Press’ QJM, captured over 550 hours of real clinical data across England. It’s the first multicentre study to quantify how NHS doctors spend their time. 📉 Key findings: • 73% of time is spent away from patients • Junior doctors spend the least time at the bedside • 62% report dissatisfaction with admin burden • Computers so outdated, some take 30 minutes to start #TACTStudy #QJM #MedicalEducation #ResidentDoctors

@ibrahimabuhadba Hi Ibrahim! Thanks for your interest. Please check your DM :)

@SammyArab Research

#1 in the UK. #2 in the world. Two years running. And once upon a time… I nearly didn’t even apply. As a first-generation student raised in a single-parent household, university wasn’t something I was prepared for. No one around me talked about it. I saw my first league table the day before the application deadline. My main concern? Affordability. There was no point being accepted if I couldn’t afford to attend. I remember checking every possible route to each University’s campus on Citymapper; not for the fastest, but for the cheapest one. And last year, I graduated as a doctor from @imperialcollege a place that challenged me, changed me, and has officially now cemented its position as the best university in the UK. Today, I’m a postdoctoral research fellow at the @MayoClinic ranked the best hospital in the world for 10 years straight, working at the frontiers of heart failure research, and applying for Internal Medicine residency in the USA. But none of this was handed to me. Even with the max student loan, I had to balance clinical rotations with working as a brand ambassador for @Amazon, a private tutor, and a personal trainer. I even worked as a waiter and teacher's assistant during Summer breaks. Scholarships from The @Portal_Trust, The @ApothecariesLDN and The Campden Foundation helped cover the costs of USMLE and electives. People from low-income backgrounds shouldn’t have to navigate a maze of scholarships to chase their dreams. But this is the world we live in. So we find a way. In the USA, more than 75% of medical students came from families in the top two quintiles of family income, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Worse still, in the United Kingdom only 5% of medical students are from working class backgrounds according to a recent study by @ucl. The playing field isn’t just uneven, it’s tilted. Most of my classmates grew up around doctors. For many, medicine was a natural next step. For the 5%, it’s a leap into unfamiliar territory, without a safety net, without built-in networks. And yet, we try to carve out space anyway. In this hyper-connected world, so much of success still hinges on who you know, but if you didn’t inherit those connections, building them from scratch can feel like starting a marathon a mile behind the line. Still, I’m aware of the privileges I do have... Being born in the United Kingdom, having access to a world-class education, and the opportunity to pursue a career I love. That alone puts me in a position so many others can only dream of, people who hope not for residency interviews, but for clean water and safety. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞? Mentorship opening doors I didn’t know existed. Persistence that outlasted every setback. Late nights spent studying hoping it would all be worth it. An unshakable belief that where you start, your postcode, your family’s income, whether you have both parents cheering you on or just one, should never be a shadow that dims how brightly you let yourself shine. I sat STEP1 & STEP2 while studying and in research full-time, and still scored in the 99th and 96th percentiles, respectively. Not because I had all the answers. But because I had mentors who helped me craft a strategy, and reminded me I belonged, even when I didn’t feel like I did. To any student doubting whether you belong in elite spaces: 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 The struggle isn’t a flaw in your journey; it’s the reason your story matters and is worth telling. And if the system doesn’t make room for you, build your own room, then invite others in… I get a lot of messages asking how to get involved in research, and how I landed a fully-funded research position at Mayo Clinic. So, I’m building something to help others do the same. 🎯 I’m co-founding a platform with @KaranChhatwal_ a FREE, open-access research hub for medical students and doctors to connect, and collaborate, with zero gatekeeping and plenty of honest mentorship. Time to level the playing field. Want early access? Comment “Research” and I’ll personally DM you with an invite to our network. #FirstGenStudent #ImperialCollegeLondon #MayoClinic #MedicalEducation