Why I created Clerked

Working in the NHS teaches you many things—resilience, patience, how to cannulate in a cupboard, and how to function on three hours of sleep and a stale Pret sandwich.
What it doesn’t teach you is how to slow down.

After years of back-to-back rotas, bleeps that never stopped, and a constant feeling of being stretched too thin, I hit the wall that so many doctors quietly crash into: burnout.

But here’s the part that surprised even me—burnout didn’t end something.
It started something.

The Day I Picked Up a Pencil Again

In the middle of that fog, creativity became the thing that pulled me out. I started doodling microbes, flowers, anatomical line art, and little moments of doctor humour that only someone who had actually survived ward life would understand.

Those sketches became designs.
The designs became tees.
And the tees became Clerked, a doctor-owned merchandise shop built from the exact pressure cooker that almost swallowed me whole.

Why Clerked Exists

Clerked isn’t just another medical merch store.
It’s a love letter to everyone who has ever been:

– Awake for a 3am cannula that didn’t want to be there
– Stuck writing endless discharge summaries
– Eating crisps for dinner in the doctors’ office
– Carrying 14 pagers and pretending it's fine
– Mentally drafting their resignation during handover

Everything in this shop—from the botanical anatomy prints to the “It’s a Good Day to Diagnose” tees—is designed by someone who has been through the system, felt the pressure, and still loves medicine enough to turn all that chaos into something beautiful and wearable.

Doctor Merch That Feels Personal

What makes this brand different?

1. Designed by a Real Doctor

No generic stock graphics.
Every design comes from lived experience on the wards, theatre corridors, isolation rooms and night shifts.

2. Made for Medics Who Want Something Subtle

No massive logos shouting “I AM A DOCTOR.”
Just clean, aesthetic designs you can wear on a day off—or under scrubs.

3. Manufactured on Demand

Sustainable, no mass waste, and shipped straight to you.
POD = lower footprint + higher quality.

4. Built to Make Medicine Feel Human Again

This brand isn’t about perfection.
It’s about humour, softness, art, and identity—things medicine squeezes out of us but we desperately need.

The Truth About Doctor Burnout

Burnout is real.
It’s heavy.
And it’s happening across the NHS in every department.

Clerked was my way of reclaiming a tiny piece of myself.
For some people it’s running, pottery, gym, travel.
For me, it turned out to be drawing microbes and growing a tiny creative business.

If you’re reading this and you’re tired, overwhelmed, or stretched thinner than the last rota gap—just know you're not alone. And you’re allowed to have something for yourself outside the ward.

Shop With Meaning

When you buy from Clerked, you’re not buying from a faceless corporation.
You’re supporting:

– An exhausted-but-still-trying NHS doctor
– A small UK business
– A creative outlet built from chaos
– Designs that actually mean something to medics

And maybe, in some small way, you’ll wear something that reminds you that you’re more than the rota, the bleeps, or the constant pressure to keep going.

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Discover the Collection

Browse the shop → clerkedbrand.com

Botanical microbiology tees & hoodies • anatomical line art • doctor humour • burnout-born designs