Have you ever considered standing for a BMA committee but not put yourself forward? Perhaps you felt you weren’t knowledgeable enough, lacked experience, or worried you wouldn’t be able to fit it in around work.

You’re not alone. That’s exactly how I felt when I first stood for an officer seat on my regional consultant’s committee that would mean taking a place on the national committee.

I was a fairly new consultant and hadn’t been involved with the BMA before other than being a member. However, I had a niggle in my conscience that there weren’t enough women on BMA committees and that my specialty, emergency medicine, was under-represented. I realised the only way to change that was if people like me stood.

Getting elected to the consultants committee has turned out to be one of the most rewarding elements of my career. It is a privilege to represent my colleagues locally, regionally and nationally and make sure their voices are listened to and considered.

I didn’t need to worry about my perceived lack of experience as the BMA has a great mentorship scheme to help you settle into your new role with guidance from an experienced colleague. I also didn’t have to be concerned about my lack of knowledge as just working as a doctor gives you everything you need to participate in discussions and influence policy.

Diverse workforces have been proven time and time again in research to be the highest performing workforces so it’s crucial committees have doctors from all genders, ethnicities, specialties and experiences.

Finding time around work is also not a problem because trade union duties are protected by legislation meaning your employer needs to make sure you have time off for meetings. If it sounds daunting negotiating this with your employer don’t worry, most employers are used to having trade union reps in their workforce and the BMA can support you in navigating this.

Being on a BMA committee provides you with a wealth of experience useful in your regular career too. There is excellent training available in leadership, negotiating, media, and EDI as well as opportunities within your committee to stand for additional roles and workstreams.

Being part of a committee means you get to network with like-minded doctors from all over the UK and, depending on whether you seek additional roles, external organisations such as the colleges and government bodies.

You could decide to stand for your committee’s negotiating team and take a real driving seat in representing doctors at the negotiating table with the Government on matters such as pay and contracts. We have seen over the last two years just how important those roles are and the difference you can make to working doctors all over the UK.

If this all sounds a bit scary, don’t worry. There’s no rush to take on these roles when you start and if you decide to in the future, you will be working alongside BMA staff who are incredible, knowledgeable and supportive professionals dedicated to making a difference for doctors.

New voices and perspectives are vital to BMA committees so please consider putting yourself forward. If you are still unsure, reach out and speak to one of your regional reps. All of us are delighted to hear from people interested in standing and more than happy to help guide you through the process.

Den Langhor is a consultant in emergency medicine, and a member of the BMA’s UK consultants committee

Any BMA member can self-nominate for the ARM elections between 19 May and 23 June, and the ARM representative body will then vote from 23 to 27 June. Find out more and to see which committees you are eligible to join