Dr Amy Walker

I qualified in 1998 and, apart from a brief foray to Australia to work as an A and E doctor, I have spent my entire career working in the NHS.  I specialised in Paediatric Anaesthesia and was a Consultant at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital for 12 years.

In 2021 I had a shock diagnosis of breast cancer. My life was turned upside down as I embarked on a treatment journey that would involve several surgeries, five months of chemotherapy and three weeks of radiotherapy. When I asked what I could do to reduce my risk of recurrence, I was told that I’d been unlucky, but as I was slim and didn’t smoke there wasn’t wasn’t much more I could do. I instinctively knew that this couldn’t be the case. What about nutrition? What about sleep and stress management?  I wasn’t onboard with this being a ‘luck thing’ so I set about doing my own research which led me initially to the Institute of Functional Medicine and their AFMCP course where I was introduced to the concept of ‘Root Cause Medicine’ It was a real light bulb moment when I realised that so many of the chronic diseases that plague society, including cancer, can be addressed if we go back to root cause.

Through my new training path I was gradually able to put together the pieces of the puzzle that had led to my diagnosis. I began to understand how nutrition and gut health played a part, how my pathways for oestrogen detoxification predisposed me to forming metabolites that can increase cancer risk, how the chronic low level stress and sleep deprivation associated with my previous job had an impact and so much more. Importantly, I learnt about how I could instigate change in these areas to improve my health.

I hold full registration with the General Medical Council, am a Member of the British College of Functional Medicine and am a Fellow of The Royal College of Anaesthetists. I have completed AFMCP with the Institute of Functional Medicine as well as Advanced Practice Modules in Hormones and Gastrointestinal Health. I have undertaken training in Integrative Oncology – Systems Approach to Cancer for Physicians Parts 1 and 2 as well as a mentorship program. I recently completed the Lifecode Gx Nutrigenomic Practitioner Program in epigenetics.

I live in Oxfordshire with my husband and two teenage children. When I’m not at work I enjoy running with our dog, yoga and the occasional dip in my new Lumi ice bath. I love the concept of food as medicine so I particularly enjoy cooking meals that are full of colour, fibre and plant points.