Dr Chantal Sargent

Dr Chantal Sargent (MBChB MRCPCH DCH) is a paediatrician and works in the NHS in Worcestershire, UK. She recently took a sabbatical to complete a Professional Diploma in Positive Psychology and Coaching.

Her passion is people and different cultures, and understanding the essence of what makes them human. As such, she has travelled extensively, both with an academic and cultural agenda, with an ongoing interest in Healthcare systems around the world.

Born and raised in South Africa, she completed her MBChB at The University of Cape Town, and subsequently worked in various rural hospitals in South Africa, where she started her career in paediatrics and did her DCH in Community Child Health. She completed her MRCPCH in London and went on to further her training and work as a paediatrician in the UK, South Africa and Australia.

Latterly, and since the COVID pandemic, she has embraced the practice of psychological well-being and positive psychology, with an interest in Integrative Medicine, which is reflected in her voluntary work as a well-being conversation Ffacilitator and NHS coach for colleagues, along with having trained as a practitioner in NLP and Trauma, which she does in her spare time.

She has travelled extensively in South Africa, and has spent time in Morocco, Peru and the Amazon rainforest, Australia and New Zealand. She has enjoyed trips to Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and more recently helped lead a medical trip in South Korea), and has covered much of Europe and some of the USA, Boston, and visiting the ‘ether dome’ at Massachusetts General Hospital, being a highlight!

Chantal has also enjoyed spending time on Shetland, where the abundance of bird life, and warm encounters with the Shetlanders, make it a special place to revisit. Her favourite holiday destinations to read, walk, swim and relax, are in Cornwall and a little island in Greece. One of her favourite destinations is Iceland, where the rich expanse of untouched nature and the humour and ‘no-fuss’ approach of the people make it a place to return to.

Her most challenging trip was completing the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (along with altitude sickness) but the views and memories were more than worth the effort.

"Travel expands one’s mind and warms one’s soul. It is the people with whom one shares the journey and experience, who contribute to the richness of the adventure".