Woman who dropped out of school without a SINGLE GCSE becomes doctor 15 years later

A SCHOOL drop-out whose teenage years were blighted by depression and alcoholism has told how she turned her life around to land her dream job as a doctor.

Jo Barton’s prospects didn’t look good when she left school in Harlow, Essex, at the age of 14 without any GCSEs.

The period saw her mother sectioned on a number of occasions with bipolar disorder.

But through determination and hard graft the 32-year-old confounded expectations to become a qualified doctor three years ago.

She recalled: “My teenage years are where it all went wrong really.

“I left school at 14, halfway through year 10, and I ended up skipping a lot and I wasn’t living at home.

“I got into alcohol at an early age – about 13 – and I was drinking every single day.

“I think I was probably depressed but I didn’t know it at the time.

“I turned to alcohol and then I began to rebel and that got me into lots of trouble as a teenager.”

Deciding to turn her back on her wild ways, at 17 Jo got her first job as a waitress before becoming an assistant at a care home - where her interest in medicine was sparked.

During her two years there she completed an NVQ in care as well as getting key skills in English and maths.

She then landed a place on an access to nursing course while working part time at a hospital’s X-ray ward.

It saw her put in 60-hour weeks.

She recalls: “You don’t really get support in college and I just got on with it.

“I had about one meal a day and that’s effectively how I survived.

“There were lots of times I wanted to quit but if I did that then I would have got nothing.

Despite the struggle Jo passed her exams before being accepted on a six-year degree at St George’s Hospital in London where she graduated from three years ago.

Now she is currently working in accident and emergency at Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, Essex and she has already set her mind on her next goal - of becoming a GP.

She added: “I just want people to know that if you come from nothing there are options if you are willing to put the effort in.

“It’s just staying focused and staying in education.

“It was a struggle and I am not going to tell anyone it is easy.

“Always what was in my head was, if I don’t do this then it’s all gone and I am back to square one.

“If I give up then I am going to be left with nothing.”

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