Many children grow up wondering what they are going to be one day, but for Holly Elgan, there was never any doubt in her mind. At just 4 years old, her mind was made up, and she knew she wanted to become a doctor.
"Other careers never entered my thought process—it was always going to be medicine," Elgan, 27, told Newsweek.
She was still just learning to read and write at the time, but the ambitious 4-year-old was already planning for the future. Elgan, from Manchester, in the U.K, always loved to help people and learning new things, so being a doctor felt like the perfect fit.
Throughout her adolescence, she continued to excel in school and, by 16, she was in the top 10 for her school year. That helped solidify her goal of one day becoming Dr. Elgan because she truly believed in her academic ability.
"I never thought it was impossible to achieve (because I don't believe anything is impossible), but I questioned if I was good enough at times," Elgan said. "I still feel like that from time to time. I get impostor syndrome a lot, wondering if I really am good enough to be where I am or if it was all luck."
After high school, Elgan attended college but unfortunately didn't get the grades required to study medicine. She refused to let that derail her plan, though, choosing to study Biomedical Sciences at Newcastle University instead.
Following that three-year course, Elgan was finally accepted into medical school at the University of Manchester in 2019. She had long dreamed of becoming a doctor, and at the age of 21, that goal was finally getting closer, leaving her crying "lots of happy tears."
"I had worked my whole life to get there, and finally being a medical student felt awesome. I don't think I stopped smiling for my first month," Elgan continued.
In 2024, her lifelong dream came true, and she graduated from medical school.
While she may have dreamed of studying medicine straight after college, doing a degree in Biomedical Sciences gave Elgan a love and appreciation for academic medical research. This is something she carried into medical school too, conducting research on bladder cancer and presenting her work both nationally and internationally.
Elgan has also completed a funded research fellowship on magnetic resonance guided radiotherapy, something that led to her being shortlisted for the Elsevier Young Researcher Award.
Now, she is finally Dr. Elgan and is in her second year as a qualified doctor. She has already worked in wards including general surgery, trauma, orthopedics, and respiratory medicine. At present, Elgan is working as an academic doctor in obstetrics and gynecology, where she splits her time because assisting in the operating rooms for ovarian cancer patients, and working in the laboratory.
Needless to say, being a doctor is everything Elgan hoped for and more.
"I cannot think of anything I would rather be doing. I wake up excited to go to work and come home smiling from the day I've had and the patients I had the privilege of looking after. It was a long process to get here, but, my goodness, it was worth every step," Elgan said.
Obstetrics and gynecology is the specialty that Elgan hopes to remain in, and she is working in an international consortium looking at novel biomarkers to detect high-grade ovarian cancer early on.
It took eight years of studying at university to reach this point, but as Elgan's dreams began when she was only 4, she has been preparing for this moment for the last 23 years. She is so glad that she stuck it out and never lost hope that, one day, her dream would become a reality.
Throughout her journey, Elgan documented her experiences on social media (@dreamsofamedic on TikTok and Instagram). Her posts showcase what a typical week looks like, what she's learned over the years, and offer advice.
A post detailing the years of work that it took to reach this point has gone viral with over 1.1 million views and more than 132,900 likes on TikTok at the time of writing. By giving people a glimpse into her life, Elgan said she hopes to be a beacon of information and inspiration.
More than two decades after choosing her career, Elgan stands by the mantra that "no dream is too big."
She said: "There are so many negative things out there on social media, so, if I can be a break from that for someone, then that is amazing. I want to be the role model I wish I had. My message is reach for the moon and you will land among the stars (just don't forget to stop every once in a while and take a look around)."
Of course, Elgan isn't done yet as she is determined to achieve more. In addition to one day specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, she said she hopes to continue with her current research as well as complete a Ph.D. one day.
Now that she is a doctor, she also dreams of someday becoming a professor of gynae-oncology. As she has proven already, Elgan isn't afraid to make a plan and do everything she can to make it happen.
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