Who IS the Ultimate TV Doctor? How the careers of Dr Hilary, Dr Amir Khan, Dr Zoe Williams and Dr Ranj vary
Family physicians seen on daytime television offer to help the nation deal with their medical problems.
Dr. Hillary Jones, Dr. Amir Khan and Dr. Zoe Williams are just some of the medics sharing essential health advice, from the signs of skin cancer and health risks around the home, to Covid symptoms and menopause.
But how do their experiences relate to each other?
Here MailOnline compares the careers of some of the most famous British doctors.
Dr. Hillary Jones
Completed medical education: 1976
Number of years working as a doctor or general practitioner: 10
Best known for: Role as health editor on Good Morning Britain
Dr. Hilary Jones, 70, has been a recognizable face on our TV screens for over 30 years. Image of dr. Hilary on GMB
Dr. Hilary Jones worked as a general practitioner before bringing his health knowledge to daytime television.
The 70-year-old has been a familiar face on our TV screens for over 30 years.
The father of five has appeared in shows such as GMTV, Daybreak, Good Morning Britain and Lorraine on ITV.
But before his big TV appearances, he trained at the Royal Free Hospital in London and became a qualified doctor in 1976 following his six years of medical training.
After his qualification, he worked for a year as the only doctor on the most isolated inhabited island in the world, Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic.
He then moved to another island in 1981, but this time in Shetland to work as a general practitioner for troubleshooting and emergency care for the oil industry.
Less than ten years after graduating as a doctor, he became a GP trainer in the early eighties.
Dr. Hilary also worked as a physician, specializing in eye health, assisting with extraction procedures for glaucoma and cataracts.
He switched to presenting in 1986, ten years after qualifying, making educational medical TV programs for British Medical TV.
He and Lorraine Kelly were the first presenters signed by GMTV.
Now he is health editor for ITV’s Breakfast Television.
Dr. Amir Khan
Completed medical education: 2009
Number of years working as a doctor or general practitioner: 11
Best Known For: ITV’s GP for Lorraine since 2010
Bradford-born GP, Dr Amir Khan, can often be seen on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain, giving viewers health advice during the day. Here he is pictured in the Channel 5 show GPs Behind Closed Doors
The Bradford-born GP can often be seen on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain, giving viewers health advice during the day.
For the past ten years he has made TV appearances on shows such as ITV’s Lorraine and Good Morning Britain. He will also direct the one-off documentary Dr. Amir’s Sugar Crash, in which he tries to turn himself into a sugar addict by eating large amounts of processed sugar.
He appeared in You Are What You Eat as a GP and helped transform some of Britain’s most disastrous eaters.
Dr. Amir has hosted other shows including The Science of Sleep in 2019, How to Lose a Stone in a Month in 2019 and Channel 5’s The Great British Urine Test in 2020.
As well as being a TV doctor, he still works as an NHS GP in West Yorkshire, where he has worked for about ten years.
He is also the author of two books, The Doctor Will See You Now, which explores the highs and lows of being a doctor, and How Not To Have An Arranged Marriage.
Before becoming famous on television, he studied medicine at the University of Liverpool in 2004 and in 2009 received his full degree as a General Practitioner.
He is considered a specialist in women’s and children’s health, type 2 diabetes, minor surgery and joint injections.
Dr. Zoe Williams
Completed medical education: 2007
Number of years working as a doctor or general practitioner: 16
Best known for: GP on ITV’s This Morning
Dr. Zoe Williams, 43, although she’s now a GP based in London and a regular on the ITV daytime show This Morning, pictured had her first experience on TV with the 2009 reboot of Sky 1’s Gladiators
NHS GP Dr. Zoe Williams paved her media career with her passion for fitness and health after graduating from medical school in 2007.
The 43-year-old, from Burnley, Lancashire, had her first experience on TV with Sky 1’s Gladiators reboot in 2009.
She is now a GP in London and a regular appearance on the ITV daytime show This Morning.
Dr. Williams has presented BBC shows including Trust Me I am a Doctor and a Horizon episode about the birth control pill.
The media practitioner has also held several non-clinical GP roles, including acting as Public Health England’s leading clinical champion for their physical activity postgraduate education program and the RCGP’s clinical priority in physical activity and lifestyle.
In addition, she was also the clinical leader of Southwark CCG for lifestyle medicine and social prescribing and a director and founding member of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
Dr. Williams also helps young people from challenging backgrounds use activity programs to improve their health and well-being through her non-profit organization Fit4LifeCIC, which was founded in 2017.
Dr Ranj Singh
Completed medical education: 2003
Number of years working as a doctor or general practitioner: 20
Best known for: GP on ITV’s This Morning
44-year-old NHS pediatrician, Dr Ranju Singh, is known for his decade-long appearance on ITV’s This Morning as their resident doctor
The 44-year-old NHS pediatrician is known for ten years as a GP on ITV’s This Morning.
In addition to appearing on a range of TV shows from the One Show to The Weakest Link, he also co-created and hosted the CBeebies series, Get Well Soon, in which Dr. Ranj examines puppeteers in the hospital and treats them for various ailments.
In 2018, he even traded his scrubs for sequins when he competed on Strictly Come Dancing.
But the BAFTA award-winning TV presenter still works as a pediatrician consultant in London.
Born in Medway Kent, he was educated at Guy’s King’s & St. Thomas’ School of Medicine in London and graduated as a medical doctor in 2003.
In addition to his TV career and shifting observership, he has also become a Sunday Times best-selling author with his books How To Be A Boy And Do It Your Own Way, How To Grow Up (and Feel Amazing) and The No-Worries. Guide For Boys, as well as two children’s textbooks at Oxford University Press.
Dr. Sarah Kayat
Completed medical education: 2009
Number of years working as a doctor or general practitioner: 14
Best known for: GPs behind closed doors on Channel 5
Dr. Sara Kayat is a GP at Gray’s Inn Medical Group in London and conducts private consultations. Prior to that, she worked at Balham Park Surgery, appearing on the Channel 5 show GPs Behind Closed Doors
Dr. Sara Kayat is usually seen offering her expertise on shows like ITV’s This Morning, The Truth About series on BBC1 and Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff.
She was even trapped on a deserted island on Channel 4’s Bear Grylls Celebrity Island for four weeks in 2017.
But off screen, Dr. Kayat is still a practicing NHS GP with Gray’s Inn Medical Group in London.
Prior to that, she worked at Balham Park Surgery, appearing on the Channel 5 show GPs Behind Closed Doors.
In addition to her TV repertoire, she has a long list of medical qualifications.
She graduated with a medical degree and a science degree from King’s College London in 2009, before becoming a junior doctor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, followed by Worthing Hospital.
She later completed a three-year GP training at St George’s Hospital in London.
She also holds a degree from the Faculty of Family Planning and accreditation for minor surgery and joint injections.