Dalvir Singh Bajwa

My journey into medicine has been far from straightforward. I am now a Consultant Dermatologist with a focus on skin cancer and surgery, currently doing a fellowship in Mohs Micrographic Surgery. Getting here has taken resilience, faith, and a lot of support.
I grew up in the West Midlands in a family that faced a lot of instability. My parents divorced when I was young, and I left school with poor GCSEs and no A-levels. At that stage, medicine felt completely out of reach.
At sixteen, I became a Sikh monk and was destined to a life of celibacy. The temple gave me structure and direction which I lacked without my father being in our lives. Early mornings discipline gave me structure. I trained in North Indian classical music, playing the tabla, and music became a grounding force. Even now, through our band SurTaalNE, I continue to perform, often at the temple and for charity. We also have a doctors group called Doctors Sewa doing free health checks at the local gurdwara.
Eight months after I entered the temple, my sister died from meningitis. That loss, combined with my mother’s poor health, planted the thought that one day I might study medicine. My mother’s faith and encouragement kept me going when life felt most difficult.
Eventually, my path changed. I left the temple after meeting the woman in the temple who would later become my wife. We married in the United States, where I built a career in real estate and later managed a trucking business. Those years taught me how to work with people, deal with setbacks, and keep going when things didn’t work out.
I returned to the UK to be closer to my mum and studied Business Management. During this time, I developed a desire to study medicine which was heavily influenced by the death of my sister. Remembering my sister, caring for my mother, and with my wife’s encouragement, I decided to pursue what once seemed impossible.
I entered medicine through a widening-access programme, completing pre-clinical studies at Durham University and my clinical training at Newcastle University. For someone once written off academically, simply being there felt extraordinary. But challenges kept coming. During medical school I suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with Behcet’s disease. In my final year my son was born prematurely and underweight, Balancing placements, exams, illness, and a fragile newborn was tough, but gave me a deep empathy for what patients and families go through.
As a student, I was fortunate to spend time at NASA, an unforgettable elective that showed me how far medicine could reach. After graduating at 34, I trained in one of the UK’s largest dermatology centres, took up an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship, and received Cancer Research UK funding for skin cancer research. My work led to publications, national prizes, and opportunities to present at major meetings. I also had the privilege of serving as Associate Editor for Skin Health and Disease and of mentoring students and junior doctors.
I have have begun my consultant career, and I am currently undertaking a fellowship in Mohs Micrographic Surgery. My aim is to help build a new Mohs service in York so patients can receive specialist surgery closer to home, reducing waiting times and improving access. Alongside my clinical work, I continue to contribute through music, seva camps, and charitable projects.
Looking back, I have realised the impact environment can have on an individual’s success. I however owe much to the teachers and mentors who guided me, the discipline of my monastic years, the strength of my mother, and above all, the love and support of my wife. Being nominated for this award is humbling. It reflects not only my professional journey, but also the struggles of my life and how circumstances can change during one’s lifetime. I am extremely grateful for the love and support from my wife and son which has been unwavering through this journey. More than anything, I feel I was lucky to find myself in an environment that changed my life, and I am grateful for the journey, which has been the greatest blessing of all.