Michael Heath did not set out to become a doctor. His path into medicine followed a winding route before eventually leading him to it.

He joined Somers Medical Services just over a month ago, bringing with him an approach shaped by both personal experience and formal medical training in his native Britain.

As a general practitioner, he said his focus is on understanding patients beyond the symptoms they present with.

“I like to see the individual as a rounded organism — mental, psychological, spiritual, certainly physical,” he said. “So although my medicine is called evidence-based, I like to think of my patient as a rounded human being, and I treat them accordingly.”

It’s a way of thinking that he believes grew out of his early life experiences.

An only child, he grew up in a household shaped by long-term illness that exposed him early to care and responsibility.

His mother lived with severe mental illness, and much of his childhood was spent navigating a world that felt both isolating and intense.

“I felt like by the time I was a young teenager I was old for my years, and I felt like I had a fairly good understanding of the human mind,” he said. “I still think that's one of the better parts of my practice, that I'm good with mental health and holistic care.”

Before medicine entered the picture, his academic life was headed in a very different direction.

He studied the arts and humanities at the universities of Lancaster and Cambridge, taking that work to postgraduate level.

It was while studying in Cambridge that he met his Bermudian wife, Fritha.

In 2004, they moved to Bermuda, where he worked in the Civil Service for two years. From there, their lives continued to shift with work and opportunity.

“We lived in Canada. We lived in the Netherlands. We travelled around quite a bit, doing different things [with me mainly working] as a researcher,” Dr Heath said.

That period eventually slowed as family life took precedence. After the birth of their second son, and as his father’s health declined, they returned to Britain.

Only then did medicine shift from a distant idea to a clear decision.

Dr Heath studied at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, completing his foundation training across a range of surgical and medical placements in Kent and East Sussex, before undertaking his GP training in Norfolk and East Anglia.

He then worked across a range of hospital placements before committing to general practice.

In Bermuda, Dr Heath has found room to return to the arts and the natural world, interests that have long sat alongside his professional life.

There are trade-offs however. The self-described “long-suffering” Crystal Palace Football Club and Welsh Rugby Union supporter now follows his teams from a distance.

A habit of noticing what matters to patients outside their health, is something he brings into the consulting room.

“I've always been very good at communicating with people from all walks of life because of my working class upbringing I suppose,” he said. “But then I went to Cambridge, travelled the world — I've talked to people from all walks of life, and I'm fascinated by them.”

Good medicine, he feels, begins with listening.

“The best part about any patient is the story they have about themselves and their background — the health is just a part of that, but it's the part that enables them to live their lives.”

That perspective also shapes how he views modern healthcare. While he acknowledges the pace of innovation and the expanding range of treatments available, he remains mindful of their limits.

“It is an incredible time for healthcare,” he said. “There are these incredible innovations taking place in terms of what we can offer people, but at the same time, they all come at a cost.”

Much of his focus, he added, lies earlier in the process — before illness becomes entrenched.

“What you're trying to do is encourage positive, healthy lifestyle behaviours and look at the whole patient,” he said, noting that many chronic conditions develop gradually.

“Always think: what you do in your thirties is going to affect you in your forties. What you do in your forties is going to affect you in your fifties.”

That outlook has also shaped where he chose to practise.

At Somers Medical Services, Dr Heath said he was drawn by the calibre of the team already in place.

“They are all excellent doctors,” he said. “Actually, that's what attracted me to the practice.”