Dr Joe Kaczmarczyk

Dr Joe Kaczmarczyk

Dr Joseph John Kaczmarczyk, known to everyone as Joe, the brightest (radiology) trainee I have ever met, sadly died on 25 November. Aged only 28, he was just a few months into his specialist radiology training on the Manchester Radiology training scheme.

Joe Kaczmarczyk was born and raised in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, where his parents were both teachers. Joe studied at the Altrincham Catholic grammar school St Ambrose College, making the Manchester Evening News with his A-level results. After St Ambrose College, he commenced medical training in Sheffield in 2007. He obtained a BSc in medical education before graduating MB BS in 2013. Joe completed his foundation training in Sheffield and a further year as a trust doctor in Sheffield before being appointed to the Radiology training scheme in Manchester in summer 2016. In that relatively short time Joe made a big impression on all those who trained and worked with him.

Whilst at medical school in Sheffield, Joe rotated through the radiology department at the Northern General Hospital. This is where he found and developed his interest and passion in radiology, a career choice influenced by the vascular and musculoskeletal consultants.  Joe spent his ten week elective in the vascular interventional radiology department and by the end of that time he was being supervised to perform angioplasty to the level of an experienced Fellow, he had a natural aptitude for the work and a very easy manner with his patients. At the end of his elective we asked him how he was going to make himself stand out amongst the other trainees who may apply for radiology. He enjoyed teaching so sought out an intercalated BSc in medical education achieving a first class degree. He was unassuming but fiercely bright and hard working.

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20th November 1988 to 23th November 2016

As a medical student he was the first Medical student representative for the BSIR and attended the annual scientific meeting on a couple of occasions with both posters and presentations. As a junior doctor Joe continued to work closely with the vascular radiology department in Sheffield, presenting shared work on the role of interventional radiology in trauma. In the last year alone he presented work at the UKRC and International conference of Emergency medicine in Cape Town.  Richard FitzGerald, Vice-President of the Faculty of Clinical Radiology at The Royal College of Radiologists said ‘The number and  quality of his research projects, publications and presentations would be what one might expect in a high performing young radiology consultant, not in someone Joe's age embarking on a career in the specialty’. Joe was part of a new breed of radiologists who strongly believed in radiology as a clinical specialty that should own its patients, and planned to use radiology to access sports and trauma medicine. His dream job would have been working at Old Trafford.

His other passions were music and football and more specifically Manchester United. He played week in and week out with the radiology football team in Sheffield, taking care not to embarrass the aging consultants he played with and fitting in straight away. Joe loved a beer and either after football, a long day in the hospital or at a conference, was often seen smiling with beer in hand. He was far more than a trainee or colleague, he was a friend to all that knew him.

Very sadly Joe took his own life. This has had a profound effect on the radiology community and all those who knew Joe. He didn’t have a history of depression or mental illness and was the most rounded character you could wish to meet. Whilst the job as a junior doctor was grueling and upsetting at times, Joe was always able to apply common sense to any given situation and did so with a smile on his face. He always placed patient care as his main priority and the difficult task of doing the best for every patient was one of the driving factors that brought him into radiology. He was happy as a radiologist and had a brilliant future ahead of him. I think what I have learnt from his passing is that depression or mental illness can affect anyone and come on very quickly. If it can happen to someone as bright and ‘normal’ as Joe with a great support network and close family around him then suicide can affect any one of us. Sadly suicide is the biggest killer of young men in our society and Joe’s family are trying to raise awareness of this. In memory of Joe Kaczmarczyk his family are asking for donations for 'The Louise Tebboth Foundation' www.louisetebboth.org.uk The Foundation aims to provide financial assistance to projects and services which support the mental well-being of doctors in England and Wales and initiatives assisting the bereaved families of doctors who have died by suicide.

Our sympathies go to his parents John and Ellen, brother Stefan and sister Anna, and all his friends and colleagues. He was the best of us and will be sorely missed.
www.everyclick.com/joekaz