Dr. Kynaston Pearson is a British Consultant Rheumatologist with special interests in musculoskeletal ultrasound, axial spondyloarthritis, and sero-negative arthritis. While at medical school in Leicester, Dr. Kynaston-Pearson obtained an additional First-Class Bachelor’s degree (BSc) in Physiology and Pharmacology. He then went on to complete his higher specialist training (CCT) in Rheumatology and General Internal Medicine in the UK, with a brief period of training in Australia. Dr. Kynaston-Pearson was a Rheumatology Consultant and Clinical Lead at The Royal Derby Hospital for over five years prior to relocating to the UAE in January 2025.
During his career, Dr. Kynaston Pearson has championed multiple quality improvement projects, including collaborations with the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS) and the Royal College of Physicians. His passion for teaching led him to complete his Master’s in Medical Education at the University of Nottingham with distinction. He continues to pursue this interest by mentoring trainees, teaching medical students, and participating in patient education programmes. Dr. Kynaston Pearson is actively involved in research and has published his findings in peer-reviewed journals.
Thank you so much for your time today, Dr. Francis. It’s really great to see you again. Would you mind giving us a bit of a background about who you are and what you do?
Thanks for inviting me here today. I’m Dr Francis Kynaston Pearson, but my patients often just call me Dr. KP because it’s a bit of a long one. I’m a Consultant Rheumatologist now working for Mediclinic Middle East, based at Parkview Hospital. I relocated to Dubai just last January, so it’s all very fresh and new for me.
How has your experience been so far working at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital?
It’s been great, Parkview is such a nice hospital. Just walking through the door, it has a calming atmosphere, everything is really well set up, and you have all the right equipment. We have a big team at Mediclinic Parkview, I think we’re one of the biggest private rheumatology units in the Gulf region. We’ve got about eight consultants, and that’s really nice because you’ve got people that you can bounce ideas off. It’s always helpful for complicated cases to know you’ve got supportive colleagues who can help support you in those early days or with rare cases.
I’ve also got a lovely nurse who moved recently to work with me. The management team has supported me, and I have been able to adjust easily to the new way of working in this region. I haven’t felt a huge pressure on me to suddenly perform or get super busy in the first week or two, and that’s been helpful. That space is needed because when you first relocate, there’s a lot to sort out, like getting the house ready, children’s schools, and all those other bits and pieces.
Why did you choose to specialise in Rheumatology? What was it about the specialty that particularly appealed to you?
It’s a bit of a long story. I wanted to be a doctor from a really young age, and it’s hard to explain why. I can give you interview answers – I like science, I like helping people, and all those sorts of things. All of that’s true, but honestly, I don’t know why being a doctor is what I wanted to do for such a long time. However, every time I tested other ideas or career options, it just didn’t sit quite right.
So, to get some experience, I did healthcare assistant work in phlebotomy and worked in an operating theatre, setting things up for the operations and I enjoyed that and so I said I’ll do medicine, and if I don’t like being a doctor at the end of it I’ll at least have got a medical degree. I loved medical school,l and I enjoyed pharmacology, so I did an extra BSc degree in that. I quite enjoyed being in the theatre, so I thought about becoming an anaesthetist or a surgeon. Then I realised that in medical specialties, you have more chances to have conversations with patients and build a rapport with them.
So I thought I would test the waters and did some training as a resident in general practice, paediatrics, and emergency medicine in the UK, and also for a short time in Australia.
That was great, but I realised that I wanted to be a specialist providing long-term care in a specific area. I got experience in haematology, endocrinology, and care of the elderly, trying to work out what I wanted for my career.
Discovering a Passion for Rheumatology
Then, when I started rheumatology, it just fit all the things I was looking for. You see a variety of patients from the ages of 16 upwards, both men and women. You get to lead on the treatment, and we have really cool drugs that work, which appealed to my pharmacology side, and patients generally get better.
There were also family considerations. In rheumatology, you are not likely to get many emergency calls in the middle of the night or on holidays, so it is more conducive to family life to have a balance. Also, it’s holistic, and you really get to know your patients. So I have no regrets about choosing to specialise in rheumatology.
Why did you decide to relocate at this point in your career, and why did you choose Dubai?
That’s a really important question, especially for others who may be considering relocating. There were both push and pull factors across three areas of my life: professional, family, and personal reasons. It was more about the pull factors drawing me to Dubai. I had a pretty good setup with great colleagues where I was working in Derby. I was Clinical Team Lead at the Royal Derby Hospital, also with a private practice, and working with a health technology company called Metaphor. It was all going well, so it took a lot of time and thought about whether to relocate.
So, from a professional standpoint, there are a lot of opportunities in Dubai to have an incredibly rewarding career. Due to the differences in the health systems, there are drugs available here that I don’t have access to back home, and there are different types of conditions that are more common here. Also, if you are motivated towards service improvement and quality improvement, and can make a strong case for that, you can make changes happen more rapidly here. In the NHS system, it can be frustrating at times. If you see a good idea to improve care, it not only has to be better and offer more for the patient, but also the funding has to be available, and often is not for the more expensive treatments. Going through endless business cases and meetings can sap your enthusiasm somewhat for constantly trying to innovate.
A Family-Driven Decision to Migrate
In terms of family reasons, I’ve got three growing kids in different stages at school. We talked about migrating for a long time, and my oldest is going to be in secondary school from next September, so we felt it was the right time to make the move. I think they’re going to have a really good education here. The school’s facilities are amazing. It’s really safe and kids are able to gain more independence, going out with friends when they’re in their teenage years, and you know that they’re safe to go out and they can get a cab back. I think sometimes we’re a bit more protective in England because everyone’s worried about traffic accidents or crime.
I think that will be really helpful for them to experience a new culture and get to know people from all over the world in Dubai. From a personal standpoint, we were very comfortable and happy with the new setup, and my wife got a job opportunity out here. We were also seeking a change and a new challenge. I didn’t want to wake up and realise that 20 years had passed, and you know that you’re in the same job and in the same house. I thought coming to Dubai was going to be a massive adventure, it’s going to slow down time and give me milestones in my life. Life passes so quickly, and I wanted that adventure, and this was the right time to do it.
You have a special interest and experience in Medical education. Are there opportunities for teaching and mentoring medical students and specialist trainees here in Dubai?
Thankfully, even so early on in my new job, I have been able to continue teaching here. It is a passion of mine. When I was a registrar, I took time out to do my Master’s in Medical Education, so I’d be sad if I didn’t continue teaching. I’ve already had students come into the clinic, and I’ve been involved in some university teaching. Coming from the NHS, which has a strong, continual professional development structure, it’s great to know that there are loads of professional education events and conferences here also.
Obviously here you need to make sure you’re seeing patients, and in the private sector, things do run as a business, but there are opportunities for teaching and continuing professional development as well. I’ve been to three different educational events in the last two months. There’s the Middle East Rheumatology Conference from the 16th to the 18th of May this year in Dubai, and I’m involved in that and going to present there, so that’s really exciting. It’s also a good opportunity to network with colleagues, so that they can reach out if they’re having complicated cases or they want to collaborate on projects or research.
Do you have any resources out there that would make it easier for patients to find you?
Something I’ve been working on, actually, even before I came to Dubai, is my website. I’ve had a bit more time to add content recently, and it will be helpful for patients here. When you see a patient you’ve always got standard explanations and educational information you want to convey to help them understand the condition, or perhaps you’re trying to give them some lifestyle advice that might help inflammatory diseases, or counselling about a drug therapy. It takes time when you may be running late, or need that time to answer other specific questions instead. So I’ve been putting together the kind of information that I’d like to give to my patients if time were unlimited, and compiling it onto my website: doctor-kp.com.
There is a lot of good information already on the internet for specific conditions, such as from the Lupus Charity, the fibromyalgia charity, or the arthritis foundation. They’re fantastic resources, but it is great for patients to get all the information they need in one place.
So, as well as my own content, I have added links to each of the websites that might be helpful. So that’s been really good fun, and I’ve also been gaining a new skill set. I never thought I’d be trying to produce educational videos or design a website as a doctor, but I love learning new skills. I hope it’s also helpful for patients so they can find information about conditions, and it might answer questions that they have that they didn’t have a chance to ask in the clinic. Potential patients can also find details about where I work and how to contact me or book an appointment if they want to as well.
Finally, how has your experience working with Allocation Assist?
So it’s been great. It’s funny because someone told me that in Dubai things either move really really fast or really slowly, and in some ways I think that is how things have been for us. So we were first in contact in 2022, maybe a bit earlier, it was around the covid time. I am possibly the slowest candidate that Allocation Assist has ever had. We had been thinking about moving for a long time, but there were lots of things to organise, if it was the right time for my career, would my wife would get a job, schools for the children, and all those sorts of things. You were very patient, and you helped me a lot with the questions I had early on.
Then last summer, two and a bit years after we first got in touch, we finally came to the decision that we were going to move, and I contacted you again. Then I think it was only about eight months from then. Things moved incredibly quickly.
My first job interview was with Mediclinic, and within a few days, the job was secured. Your team helped me with all the paperwork and made the process incredibly simple. There was really no stress involved once we had made our minds up. It’s been great, not only that first part but your follow-up since we relocated, and the social event and networking that you organised. It’s great to meet the other doctors and be on the WhatsApp group, which is another network for support and referrals. Also, coming on this podcast is a chance to introduce myself to the region. Allocation Assist has been really helpful with ongoing support, not just in finding a job here.
Thank you so much. We’re really really happy to have you here.
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