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Dr Caroline Kamau-Mitchell

Positions held:
  • Reader in Occupational Health, Birkbeck Business School
  • Overview

    Overview

    Highlights

    • I research the occupational health of doctors, and the implications of illnesses and mental disorders for patients returning to or finding work. My research has had an impact on how several hospitals support the occupational health of doctors based on an intervention developed through a randomized-controlled trial e.g., the Royal Berkshire hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham, BARTS Health NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, and the NHS Practitioner Health Programme, a confidential service for doctors in distress. I engage with stakeholders in medicine and the UK government. One of my reports in inspired Parliament to change legislation, and I have influenced government inquiries into occupational health issues such as the impact of long covid on the UK workforce.

      My research has been covered in The Guardian, Times and BBC, with some articles ranking in the top 5% of outputs within Altmetrics in terms of their impact. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and I lead Birkbeck's Brainstorming Grants Group (BGG), a learning programme for academics featuring speakers who are global pioneers such as Nobel Prize winners and Fellows of the Royal Society.

      I have published many journal articles, 2 books, and I am currently working on a third book.

      With the Medical Schools Council, I lead SWIMEDICINE, the UK's first longitudinal survey of the wellbeing of future doctors. Find out more at www.swimedicine.com

    • Sample publications:

      Kamau-Mitchell, C. (2025) Body cameras and panic alarms for doctors could help deter violence and harassment. BMJ (British Medical Journal) 2025;388:r529 [Impact factor = 93.7]

      Kamau-Mitchell, C. (2024) Global implications of deprivation, hospitalization, and mortality. Quarterly Journal of Medicine, 117(6), 476–477. [Impact factor = 13.3].

      Kamau-Mitchell, C. Bin Waleed, K. and Gallagher, M.M. (2024). Global meta‐analysis of physicians' experiences of workplace sexual harassment by patients. Internal Medicine Journal, 54(10, 1760-1764 

      Kamau-Mitchell, C. & Lopes, B. (2023) Importance of occupational support for NHS patients with mental illness. Occupational Medicine, 73(9), 528–531. [Impact factor = 5.1]

      Kamau-Mitchell, C., & Lopes, B. (2023). Mental illness and unemployment-related mortality. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(8), 583-584. [Impact factor = 30.8]

      Kamau-Mitchell, C. (2021). GPs need awareness about post-covid ME/CFS. British Medical Journal (BMJ), 374, 12;374:n1995 [Impact factor = 93.7]

    • Kamau, C. (2019). Five ways media training helped me to boost the impact of my research. Nature, 567(7748):425-426. [Impact factor = 64.8]

      Kamau, C. (2017). Postpartum depression or psychosis and return to work. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(2), 96-97. [Impact factor = 30.8]

      Kamau, C. (2017). Preparing patients with cancer who work and treatment responsiveness. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 7(1), 94-97.

      Kamau, C. (2015). Should clinical experience be a precondition for a job in NHS management? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 108(4), 120-1. [Impact factor = 16.3]

      Kamau, C. (2014).  Effects of experimental inductions for newly qualified doctors on competence at clinical procedures. Clinical Medicine, 14(4), 380-5.

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    My past doctoral students include Dr. Asta Medisauskaite, a senior research fellow at UCL's medical school; Dr. Camelia Oancea, a machine learning engineer at Airbus Defence and Space; Dr. Chris Attoe, a Director of Strategy within the NHS; and Dr. Carolann Edwards OBE who works for leading law firms in staff development and training. I am currently supervising Humaira Anwer's doctoral research within the UK's Ministry of Justice. I second-supervised Dr. Eduardo Dias and Dr. Ioanna Parry, and current students include Anna Niemczewska, Johanna Van Osch and Krystle Thomas Vedat.

    My doctoral students conduct research on topics such as the occupational health of medical doctors and nurses, supporting doctors returning to work after sickness absence, distress among lawyers, and workplace factors relevant to patient care. I supervise many MSc dissertations each year on topics with a focus on occupational health.