Dr Amrita Sen Mukherjee is a portfolio GP, accredited coach, and wellbeing expert specialising in psychological safety, post-traumatic growth, and inclusive leadership. A TEDx speaker and advocate for doctors with disabilities, she was previously the co-chair of the Disabled Doctors Network and is the Founder of Your Wellbeing Doctor. Amrita combines medical, psychological, and lived experience to support individuals and organisations in creating compassionate, resilient, and inclusive cultures.
As part of Pride Disability month, here Amrita talks to FMLM about her experiences of having a hidden disability, what the health service can do to better support staff with hidden disabilities, and her top tips for leaders.
FMLM
Doctor Amrita, welcome. Could you tell us a bit about your hidden disability please and how it has impacted on your experiences, particularly at work?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
Thank you. I live with temporal lobe epilepsy, which was diagnosed a few years ago. It's something that has shaped my understanding of both myself and the systems I work within. It’s also drawn attention to other neurodiverse aspects of how I process the world. The impact has been far-reaching – not just professionally but personally too. It's influenced the choices I make around the work I do, how I structure my time, and the environments I feel most aligned with.
FMLM
Thank you. Before you were officially diagnosed did you have any sort of inclination that something was different?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
Yes, I was very aware that I was unwell well before I was ‘officially diagnosed’ – as a doctor I was well aware of what the symptoms I was experiencing meant. It was not easy to get a diagnosis and I did have to do a lot of ‘convincing’ and self-advocacy to be truly understood. It took time, four years, before all the pieces came together and I was offered treatment. Those in-between years were especially challenging because you're navigating symptoms without a diagnosis or treatment. That can be disorienting – not just physically, but emotionally and cognitively too.
FMLM
During that time, if we split it between pre and post diagnosis, did you did you notice a change in how you were treated at work by colleagues and have you noticed a change in how you approach patient treatment?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
There was a definite shift. Before diagnosis, you're in a grey zone where people may notice you're not quite yourself, but there's no clarity to guide their understanding – or your own. That ambiguity can sometimes change how you're perceived. Post-diagnosis, I think my professional focus has sharpened. I’m more attuned to the nuanced experiences of others, and I think that shows up in the way I connect, especially around communication and empathy. These are often called "soft skills," but they require real depth and courage to practice well.
FMLM
That's really interesting and it links to our next question. The last time you spoke to us, one of the things you said about supporting someone with a hidden disability was to ‘be human and treat someone how you would like to be treated.’ That is such a simple but seemingly profound notion. Do you think that healthcare professionals are sometimes forgetting to do that?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
Yes, though I don’t think it’s deliberate. But colleagues do wonder ‘can they do their job properly?’; ‘what will be the impact on me?’. The system is under extraordinary pressure, and in that context, humanity can sometimes feel like a luxury. But it’s not. If anything, it’s more essential than ever. We also don’t talk enough about professional maturity – the kind that comes from self-awareness and reflection, not just technical competence. When that’s overlooked, so too is the ability to truly care for colleagues as well as patients.
FMLM
At the moment it seems that we place, both within the NHS and society, quite a large value on productivity and just getting things done and less on compassion. So do you think the NHS is almost a microcosm of the wider world at the moment?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
Absolutely. Like many systems, it values what's easily measurable. But we miss a trick when we only reward throughput or volume. Relationships, trust, emotional intelligence – these aren’t as easily counted, but they are powerful contributors to sustainable, effective care. Until we make space for those qualities in our frameworks and performance metrics, we risk losing them, just like we are seeing now.
FMLM
Your research into post‑traumatic growth in doctors with acquired invisible disabilities highlights transformation after adversity - what lessons can medical leaders draw from this when supporting colleagues through career altering health challenges?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
That there's no singular narrative. Disability can be challenging, yes, but it can also surface strengths like adaptability, determination, and perspective. Leaders need to hold space for those possibilities. Systems need to flex more, not less, and provide the conditions where people can contribute meaningfully – even, and especially, when their path looks different to the one we expect. It’s also important to recognize the significant hardship of developing a disability, especially in the early stages and the impact this has on identity. That can be catastrophic for high-performing professionals.
FMLM
That’s interesting and leads nicely to a question about how do medical boards and leadership move beyond just reasonable adjustments to create cultures of genuine belonging for all colleagues, but particularly disabled colleagues?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
Representation is a start – seeing disabled clinicians in leadership roles matters. But more than that, we need safe structures. Somewhere people can turn without fear of being judged or side-lined. And we need to move from accommodation to inclusion – so that disabled doctors are not just ‘managed’ within the system, but actively shaping it.
FMLM
Thank you. Outside of individuals taking on role modelling and responsibilities, how do you think we can shift from this model of prioritising resilience, with everything being thrown at doctors and them being expected to manage? How do we move from that, focusing on just performance, to a model that values vulnerability, flexibility, authenticity and bringing your whole self to work? Because surely that can’t be done at an individual level with just good leaders being valuable role models?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
It requires systemic commitment, not just individual resilience. This is about shifting from the medical model of disability to one that acknowledges identity and social context. Flexibility, job clarity, and designing roles to fit real people – all of that requires structural intent. Piloting small-scale innovations, testing their impact, and building from there – that's how cultural shifts take root.
FMLM
So, I guess a lot of it is about representation at the various different levels right up to board. It would be an interesting research project for someone to figure out what proportion of boards are disabled.
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
I believe there are some insights coming from the BMA later this year, and there are scattered pockets of research. But what's missing is amplification. We need to make better use of the data we already have – integrate it into decision-making, not just shelf it as a good intention.
FMLM
You've led training and mentoring for clinicians in transition. What would be your top tips for senior leaders in clinical educators to do better to support early career doctors who acquire a disability?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
Start with listening – really listening. Ask open questions without jumping to solutions. Support people to identify and use their strengths. And don’t be afraid of not being able to do everything – sometimes offering two things out of ten still builds huge trust. It’s the act of engagement that makes the difference.
FMLM
So a large part of it is making people feel seen? For instance, what you mention about a list of 10 things.
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
It starts with improving confidence in the language and frameworks around disability. Leaders need to feel equipped to say, “I might not have the answers, but I’ll find someone who can help.” That’s not weakness – it’s leadership. Training across all levels, embedded in culture, not just in policy, is essential.
FMLM
What impact do you believe inclusive leadership has on patient care outcomes, especially when led by individuals with lived experience of health inequity or disability?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
There’s growing evidence that compassion – both for self and others – is strongly linked to improved patient care. Lived experience sharpens that lens. When leadership includes those who understand inequity firsthand, it changes the conversations, the decisions, and ultimately, the care that’s delivered.
FMLM
Looking ahead, if you could embed one change into the NHS leadership competency framework tomorrow, what would it be and why would it matter for disabled doctors in particular?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
A clearer emphasis on self-reflection and personal accountability. Leaders need space to ask, “Am I really showing up in the way I aspire to?” Not just in output, but in presence, impact and integrity. It’s not just about high performance – it’s about high alignment with values.
FMLM
Where can people learn more and find out more information about working in healthcare with a hidden disability?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
The Disabled Doctors Network is a good place to start. Professor Lisa Meeks and her team in the US also lead some excellent work through the Disabled Doctors Initiative. Closer to home, the BMA now hosts resources, and some medical defence organisations are beginning to address this more proactively too.
FMLM
Thank you. Finally, is there anything that we’ve not asked you that we should ask, and that you would like to address?
Amrita Sen Mukherjee
Just that I’m grateful to those who’ve shared their stories with me in research and conversation. It's made it possible for others to feel seen and heard too. That ripple effect is powerful – and reminds me why I continue to do this work.