What does a doctor’s day actually look like?
It depends on where they are in their career.
For one doctor, the day begins amid the urgency of an emergency department.
For another, years of clinical practice have led to a role overseeing the wider healthcare system.
And for a third, operating on patients is only one part of a day that also involves teaching and training.
At the recent Disruptive Doctors Conference 2026 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, three doctors shared what their working days look like during a session titled “A Day in the Life of a Doctor” – and how their experiences have shaped the way they practise medicine.
Beyond the emergency room
For consultant emergency physician and Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) Emergency and Trauma Department head Datuk Dr Alzamani Mohammad Idrose, no two working days are the same.
Before assuming his current position, his work was about 80% clinical and 20% administrative.
His day began in the resuscitation room, where he took over patients from the previous shift while preparing for new emergencies.
“My hospital is a war zone,” he says.
Several critical cases can present simultaneously, with the team performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on one patient while managing others.
Emergency medicine has also taken him beyond the hospital.
He has served as a personal physician to His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia; been on standby at major events; and worked as an expedition doctor, including at Everest Base Camp where he treated patients with acute mountain sickness.
“Our service is not just inside the hospital walls, but also in the mountains and the wilderness,” he shares.
Nowadays, his responsibilities extend to administration, research, planning and staff training, although he remains involved in clinical work.
His mornings begin with what he calls “management by walking around”, i.e. observing operations and making himself visible to staff.
Even the number of trolleys outside the emergency department gives him an indication of how the department is coping.
“My heartbeat goes faster when there are fewer trolleys because it means that we have used them all up,” he says.
For Dr Alzamani, leading a busy emergency department means tackling challenges one day at a time.
“It’s just like leading one ship at a time to survive; I’m also leading one day at a time.”
From clinician to administrator
Two decades ago, Dr Nik Nor Aniza Mohd Zain’s day revolved around individual patients.
Today, her work focuses on patient safety, complaints and improving healthcare systems.
Before becoming a senior principal assistant director and head of the complaints and medicolegal branch at the Selangor State Health Department, she spent about 15 years in clinical practice, beginning in emergency medicine.
Her encounters with pregnant women and newborns eventually drew her towards obstetrics and gynaecology.
“Ah, the sound of the baby crying – to me, that is like music,” she says, recalling a moment after an emergency caesarean section.
Dr Nik Nor Aniza’s clinical career was demanding, and at one point, she performed 13 caesarean sections within 24 hours, alongside other emergency procedures.
However, a problem with her right hand eventually made clinical work increasingly difficult.
“Because of my hand issue, I was very upset ... something that I loved, I had to let go,” she says.
Encouraged by her mentors, she moved into administration and was offered an opportunity to head a quality unit.
The transition was not easy.
On her first day, overwhelmed by paperwork, she returned to the labour room because she missed clinical work.
“I just wanted to feel the aura and smell the lochia,” she recalls, referring to the normal vaginal discharge following childbirth.
“So then I went downstairs and started rewriting a letter.”
Gradually, she found a new way to make an impact: improving systems, rather than treating individual patients.
When incidents were reported, she looked beyond assigning blame to finding ways to prevent them from happening again.
One case involved a baby who had fallen from a bed.
Rather than simply reprimanding the nurse or family, Dr Nik Nor Aniza focused on prevention.
“We developed an innovation that prevents the baby from falling,” she says.
Her perspective expanded as she later took on her current state-level role.
She adds: “Before this, I was a doctor treating one patient at a time.
“Then I was in charge of a hospital, which became my ‘patient’.
“Now I am at the state level. I see the healthcare system in Selangor as my ‘patient’ that I need to look after.”
Changing the culture
For Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) clinical lecturer and paediatric surgeon Dr Azrina Syarizad Kuthubul Zaman, her experience as a surgical trainee shaped the kind of specialist she wanted to become.
She recalls long working hours and a training environment where senior doctors sometimes shouted or threw things.
“They would express anger and frustration in a manner that I did not think was professional,” she says.
Those experiences now influence how Dr Azrina trains the next generation of surgeons.
Her working day moves between ward rounds, clinics, operations and teaching.
Ward rounds begin at 8.30am, with trainees arriving earlier to review patients and prepare for the session.
Dr Azrina only teaches during her afternoon ward rounds.
“Instead of making every morning a time where you’ll be quizzed and questioned, dragging the ward round on, I prefer to do it in the afternoon,” she explains.
Much of her teaching takes place during operations, where she supervises trainees and guides them in surgical techniques.
She also tries to remain accessible when parents want to speak directly with her, recalling how difficult it could be to reach senior doctors during her own training.
For Dr Azrina, creating a better working environment requires a supportive team.
“You need people who think the same as you,” she says.
Finding meaning in medicine
Medicine can be demanding enough to make even experienced doctors question whether they want to stay.
But for Dr Alzamani and Dr Nik Nor Aniza, the challenges of the profession do not necessarily mean that walking away is the answer.
For those considering leaving medicine, Dr Alzamani’s advice is blunt: “Don’t.”
He acknowledges the difficulty of medical school, training and housemanship, but says completing the journey gives doctors the freedom to pursue different paths.
“I’ve thought about not being a doctor a million times. But it still comes back,” he says.
For Dr Nik Nor Aniza, staying in medicine means finding what gives the work meaning.
“My advice would be, do what you feel passionate about,” she says.
She also believes difficult experiences during training can become an opportunity to improve the profession.
She advises: “Follow what you love. Or find a way to love what you do.
“If you are going through difficult times in training, remember them.
“And when you come to a position where you can change things, change them.”
