Naeem Akhtar

Name: Naeem Akhtar
Age: 42
Born: Lahore, Pakistan
Lived in Scotland: 15 years

Naeem Akhtar’s journey to becoming a consultant urologist in Glasgow has taken him all over the UK.

“I first came to Scotland in 1987 to take part one of my fellowship exam. That was at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.”

Naeem laughs at the memory.

“I remember it clearly. It was May 21st. It was beautiful bright weather in the morning, then it rained and in the evening it snowed! I thought, this is summer? How different to Lahore.”

Despite the surprising weather, Naeem enjoyed his first spell in Scotland.

“I came with friends and we shared rooms on Clerk Street in Edinburgh. The people were lovely.

“I came back in 1990 for further training at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital where I took part two of my fellowship.”

Next stop, Ireland, where Naeem worked and studied for a couple more years. By now trained in urology at registrar level, he returned to the UK to work in Bristol.

“This gave me the experience I needed to get a prestigious post as registrar in Dundee. Then I did my post-graduate training in Edinburgh and finally took up my present post as Consultant Urologist at the Southern General Hospital Glasgow.”

After moving up the career ladder and around the world, Naeem and his family are now happily settled in Glasgow.

“I can whole heartedly recommend Scotland as a place to live. The education is better in Scotland, in medicine especially. And I could talk and talk about Glasgow.

“Half an hour north and you’re in the beautiful mountains or two hours south, you’re in the Lake District. My tip would be to go to Fort William. It’s a wonderful place for walking in the mountains.

“And now there are direct flights from Glasgow to Lahore, it only takes eight hours. Friday evening I can be in Glasgow and at 6am on Saturday I’m in Pakistan!”

Naeem takes advantage of the convenient transport links between Scotland and Pakistan to take his children home once a year.

“My children are Scottish whether we like it or not,” he laughs. “But it’s an asset to have more than one language. My daughter speaks English, French, Urdu, Punjabi and Arabic.

“The best thing about Scotland is the people. I try to adopt the qualities of the people wherever I go. I think ‘this is nice’ and pick it up. In Scotland, people are very honest and that’s a very nice quality for a nation. I appreciate the honesty.

“Of course there is some racism but there is in every country.

“Our neighbours are wonderful, we have lots of friends, my job is very satisfying. I wake up every morning and I look forward to the day.

“Yes, the weather is still unpredictable, but you can’t have everything!”

Related information

• Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh
• Find out more about working for NHSScotland
• More about NHS Lothian, including the Western General Hospital
• More about NHS Greater Glasgow, including the Southern General Hospital
• City of Edinburgh Council website
• City of Glasgow Council website
• City of Dundee Council website
• Glasgow International Airport
• Information on VisitScotland about Fort William