The life and work of U.K. radiologist Sarah Burnett-Moore have been celebrated in an obituary posted on 14 February by the British Medical Journal.
Burnett-Moore, who died at the age of 60 on 6 December 2022, regularly contributed to the Career Focus section of the BMJ. When giving advice on compiling a presentable CV, she recommended using limited typefaces: "This is a job as a doctor you are applying for, not the advertising director of Dolce & Gabbana."
She also wrote about the importance of being charming to everyone encountered at an interview. "You never know if the receptionist who has kept you waiting is in fact the chief executive just passing through human resources."
Burnett-Moore was a woman of wide interests and was always keen to encourage others into medicine and to help develop their careers, the journal wrote.
Her BMJ article on "dressing the part" for interviews told candidates to decide well in advance what to wear. "Stand in front of an unforgiving mirror and let your inner Trinny out. Better still, get a really bitchy friend to help with finetuning. Brush your teeth well and avoid curry or a major drinking session the night before."
The obituary also noted that subjects covered in her long-running blog for Hospital Doctor included choosing a management qualification, jargon busting, creating a PowerPoint presentation, how to be an expert witness, and becoming a media doctor.
Burnett-Moore had a Master of Business Arts degree from the Open University, a Master of Arts in creative writing, and was a tutor at the London Jewellery School. She ran a workshop on origami technique and was an enthusiastic bookbinder.
In 2006, she was found to have breast cancer and had a mastectomy and chemotherapy. She experienced a recurrence in 2015 and became a campaigns ambassador for Cancer Research.
She leaves her mother, Mitzi; her third husband, Troy Moore; and Pericles and Xanthe, children from her second marriage.
