'What better time to be part of the health sector than now,' the 24-year-old doctor said
A doctor who was crowned Miss England in 2019 has put her international charity work on hold and returned to the UK – to be at the forefront of the COVID-19 battle.
Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, who specialises in respiratory medicine, went into self-quarantine soon after she returned from India and before joining colleagues at the Pilgrim Hospital in eastern England.
Eager to come back home and head straight to work, Mukherjee told CNN: “I felt a sense of this is what I’d got this degree for, and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now.”
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The beauty queen, who graduated from the University of Nottingham, recognised the dedication and hard work of frontline healthcare workers in the UK. She knew she needed to be with them, fighting in the same trenches.
“I was hearing about these really long shifts and that my colleagues were covering various parts of the hospital and taking on responsibilities we didn’t have before,” she shared with Fox News.
“I really wanted to join in the task force right away.”
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While Mukherjee’s role as ambassador for various charities allowed her to undertake humanitarian work in less developed countries, she was convinced that now was the best time for her to be Miss England by “helping England at a time of need”.
The opportunity to show compassion in her line of work is what motivates the doctor.
“It’s scientifically proven, when you do an act of kindness, it activates the happy sensor in your brain,” she said.
“It’s a whole different feeling of being able to sit next to someone, give them that support, and to feel needed. Those were the biggest reasons for me as to why I went into the medical field.”