Holly Dejsupa, Grad’16

Holly Dejsupa’s journey has been a true tale of global exploration. Born a Thai national, she spent her childhood immersed in the vibrant cultures of Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, before finally settling in Bangkok. There, she spent eight years at Bangkok Patana, culminating in her graduation in 2016. Now, she has found her home in Surrey, United Kingdom, where she continues to explore the world around her.

Holly is currently a Doctor in Foundation Year 1 at the NHS, having graduated from the University of Bristol in 2022 with an MBChB (Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery) and an interca- lated BSc (Bachelor of Physiological Sciences).

From the start, Holly had a strong appreciation for science and interact- ing with people. “I can’t recall the mo- mentIsaid,‘Iwanttobeadoctor’—I guess I naturally fell into it after ruling other things out, with my love for the sciences and dealing with people. The journey certainly hasn’t been easy, and there were many moments during medi- cal school where my resilience was pushed to the extreme. But as tough as medical school was, my passion for medicine was great enough from the beginning that I enjoyed it overall. And I can honestly and sincerely say that right now, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.”

Thinking back to her time at Bangkok Patana School, she fondly remembers the memories she made there. As a musician, Holly deeply appreciated the opportunity to take part in all of the school’s concerts.

“The entirety of it all — late-night practicing past midnight, lunchtime rehearsals with the banter of Mr Larking and Khun Nirat, sharing pizzas on concert day with everybody and, of course, the euphoric feeling when performing on stage with the rest of the band (where we’d share all sorts of hilarious non-verbal cues). I remember one year where I played in 16 songs for Patana Jazz & Blues, one of which was my very own composition that I penned for the Senior Jazz Band. That was one of my proudest moments. Throughout my time at Bangkok Patana, a lot was spent in the Music Department, so naturally, my favourite memories arise from there.”

“All my teachers were so incredibly supportive and encouraging, and I’m honestly really grateful for that. I cannot thank them enough and can only hope I’ve made all of them proud!”

Medical Musician

Besides her medical profession, Holly has been fervently pursuing her passion for music. She recently released an album of her own, filled with music that has provided her solace and a unique escape. An unexpected collision of her two loves, medicine and music, has captivated her with a new- found appreciation for the power of art.

“My inspiration to create music has always been people, and that still stands: each song on my album ‘Wednesday’s On-Call’ is about a patient I met in the hospital. Each song is a story, each song a ‘clerking’ — this album is effectively my hospital portfolio, albeit in the form of music.

Crucially, I find the greatest privilege as a doctor is being there for patients at their worst. I don’t know who they are outside of hospital, but under my care, their stories are important to me, so I hope I did them justice with these songs. Each lyric is very intentional, so I highly recommend having a read whilst listening as there’s a lot of hidden meaning between the lines! So, join me on-call to ‘clerk’ and meet each patient with each song – I hope their stories impact you the way they did for me. If you’d like to hear about the patient behind each song, I’ve posted about them on my social media (don’t worry, all anonymised!).”

Check out Holly on Spotify and Social Media