Profile: Dr Hugh Montgomery, the master of time management

Dr Hugh Montgomery co-founded Rock Face Medicine, a training company, which organises conferences and seminars for senior doctors

A key challenge faced by all owner-managers is time management. But whilst most people struggle, others appear to do it effortlessly. Take Dr Hugh Montgomery, a consultant physician in Intensive Care Medicine at University College Hospital, London.

Hugh also leads the research team that discovered the first gene for human fitness. He's also an expert climber and intends to climb Everest in 2007 as the Research Leader for a team of doctors (www.xtreme-everest .co.uk) intending to undertake experiments at the summit!

It seems impossible to imagine that Hugh could also have time for anything else. But he also co-founded Rock Face Medicine, which teams up with sponsors to organise events for the continuing professional development of doctors. "Medical education can be so dull," says Hugh. "Rock Face Medicine hopes to break the mould."

The key to his business is communicating ideas effectively. Luckily, Hugh is a good communicator - he's an award-winning novelist whose latest book, Cloudsailors (Walker books) is just out. However, his challenge for real business success will be to surround himself with a team every bit as competent as the intensive care team that he leads in the hospital.

So what can we learn from this master of time management? "Doctors are good at taking important decisions under pressure," he says, "which probably means I use time efficiently - and I don't watch much TV at home."

Which is just as well, since his wife Mary is about to give birth to their second child.

www.rockfacemedicine.co.uk