Episode 233 of The Adventure Podcast features expedition medic and NHS GP, Will Duffin. Will has spent 16 years as an expedition and reality TV doctor, including four seasons as lead on-screen medic for Survivor. He talks to Matt about his winding journey to becoming a medic, and how his work became expedition-focused. He also tells the story of his first on-camera emergency, and how to handle life-threatening situations with cameras in your face and a safety team in your ears. They cover six months running a neonatal unit in Myanmar with his paediatrician wife, nature as medicine and who gets access to it, balancing family with a freelance career, and why his side hustle keeps him energised in a job where colleagues are burning out.
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Chapter Breakdown
00:00-11:58: Will’s first on-camera emergency, then his path from a Devon farm and a secret rainforest to breakdancing in Bristol during med school.
11:58-30:26: A last-minute Kilimanjaro break, the economics of expedition medicine, balancing trips with family, and the ethics and reality of charity trekking.
30:26-46:27: Six months in Myanmar, losing a crew member, meditation, and why access to nature matters for health.
46:27-57:25: “Hard play” on Dartmoor, wild swimming, and letting children take manageable risks.
57:25-1:04:20: Why adventure is about solving the right problems, and how a side career alongside the day job has kept him energised.
1:04:20-1:10:47: Staying open to opportunity, the polar trips he never made, a luxury Trans-Siberian train, and the final questions.
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