Dr Quattrocchi trained in medicine and neurology at the University of Catania, Italy. During her training, she spent one year as a clinical and research fellow in the neurology and movement disorders department of the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, in Paris. After her training, she undertook a masters in neuroepidemiology and tropical neurology at the European Institute of Tropical Neurology in Limoges, France. She then moved to London, where she completed a PhD in motor neuroscience at UCL, and she developed a clinical and research interest in strokes. After one year as a locum neurology consultant in Lewisham and Greenwich, she was appointed as a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and at the North Middlesex Hospital in 2020. Her clinical interests are general and acute neurology and strokes, and in particular strokes in young people.
1. How long have you been a doctor for?
Since I was 24, it has been almost 20 years.
2. How long was your residency?
I did my neurology residency in Italy, and it lasted 5 years.
3. Have you worked in both the UK and Italy?
Yes, and France. So in Italy during your residency, you can do one year abroad. I did one year in France, in the last year of my residency.
4. Did you have to take any tests to practise in the UK after studying in Italy?
Because the UK was part of the European Union when I came, no. You can work as a doctor in the whole European Union, it doesn’t matter. Of course you have to know the language and you have to get your certification recognised - if you have completed training - but it’s easy, it’s just a lot of paperwork. There were no formal exams. If you come from outside the European Union, you have to do it, yes.
5. When applying to university what made you decide to do medicine?
I think because I wanted to be useful, and do a job where I felt useful. At the time I liked to read a lot. I remember I was reading a book and at the end of the book it said “don’t call us to volunteer if you don’t have any skill.” People with skills are, for example, doctors and I wanted to be useful so I decided to do medicine for this reason. Now, I know that in any job you can be useful, but I don’t regret it.
6. Why did you choose neurology?
I think because there was a lot to discover and I found it very fascinating when I was studying. I remember I had followed a Medicine lecture about language and it was very very fascinating to me. I found it interesting also because there is a lot still to discover and I was curious.
7. What would you say is your favourite part about being a doctor?
If you are a doctor, you have to like interacting with people because practically, a lot of the time spent at work is with people and patients. When they come, they demand because, of course, they are unwell so they keep taking your energy. You have to like it because otherwise it is very tiring - and I enjoy this. I enjoy the fact that in my job, I feel that I have a relationship with people everyday and also that I am useful, so you have a sense of purpose when you do this kind of job.
8. Can you tell us about a topic of current interest in neurology?
In neurology, as a subspecialty I do strokes, but I have also been interested in cognition, but I am doing strokes and I like it because it’s very direct and you can really improve things really quickly so it’s quite interesting.
9. Since you have worked in other countries, have you found a difference in being a doctor in each country?
Yes, it is very different: a part of it is the health system and another part is due to culture. I think for example in the UK, it is very very schematic, there are many guidelines, there are rules for everything and the relationship with people is a bit more indirect and people are a bit more cold. In Italy, it was all much more direct, there were less guidelines. In the UK, the medicine we do is more reactive, while in Italy there is a bit more attention to prevention, but then in some ways it is a bit less organised. The best health system I have found in my experience is in France because it was a mix of the two. There were the good parts of the UK, and the good parts of Italy and it was an in between, I also liked the cultural aspect, so they have a very good system.
10. Are there any unexpected cases you have dealt with?
We have many unexpected cases. The fact is that in neurology we have a lot of people with psychiatric conditions who come to us because not everybody wants to go to a psychiatrist, they come to us. So it’s very borderline. The difficulty is that quite often when you tell people that their case is psychiatric, they think we don’t take them seriously and that they are inventing symptoms but actually it is very different.
11. What do you wish you would've known at my age? Do you have any advice for people in my situation?
I think I don’t regret that I chose medicine, and for people at your age I would always recommend not to choose a job just because of money. For example, especially in the UK, there is a lot of work in finance, for example, I see a lot of young people who choose to go into finance. But then you find yourself in a job where you work for some abstract company, and you don’t feel purpose in life. So whatever job you choose - because you are going to spend so much time on the job, it is very very important that you feel the purpose of that job - and that could be anything. For example, in Italy, I had a postwoman who loved being a postwoman and she was so useful, when we couldn’t find mail, she would always look for it for us. She was so useful because she loved being a postwoman.
Medicine is a very good thing to feel useful to the community, but it is not the only one, I think that jobs that have a social relationship with people and some purpose are good jobs. Each person has to decide based on their inclinations but I would say not to choose a job for money. Secondly, I think it is important not to be worried, because there is time to change, I remember when I had to choose at your age I was getting into panic - What do I do? And what if I choose wrong? - and then I made a choice in life, I went abroad, that I had not predicted, everything cannot be predicted, just go with the flow, but every time you choose, choose what will give you purpose. More than social recognition or money. Because that will make you happier as a person rather than just working for money because I see so many people, especially in finance jobs, they are so unhappy. Some people may like finance but if you are doing it just for money, that is not enough.
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