Bursary Reports 2020
Firstly I would like to thank the Kidderminster medical society for enabling what certainly was the trip of a lifetime and a medical elective that has changed me as a person and as a future doctor. I spent my elective at ASHWINI Gudalur, a charity hospital in the Nilgiri Valley, a beautiful and remote region in South India’s Tamil Nadu.
The hospital serves a tribal population the area who have experienced extreme discrimination displacement and poverty. Previously many tribal people had never used health systems because of discrimination, leading to extreme maternal and child mortality. Social exclusion and poverty had a detrimental effect on the population’s health. Healthcare provided at the hospital is free to tribal population, whilst hospital services are available to low income nontribal people for low fee. See more at: http://ashwini.org/.
For my elective we stayed on site at the hospital guest house with the doctors who volunteer at the hospital- it is set in what can only be described as jungle, with tribal families travelling to stay for the duration of their care. Whilst there I took part in outpatient clinics and ward rounds. The hospital also offered some surgery, which I scrubbed in on. I also was able to assist with birth as much of what was provided at the hospital was maternity care. One of the most interesting aspects of my elective however was the field visits. In a jeep us and several staff from the hospital would travel to tribes and provide basic medical care, monitor children for malnutrition, and provide medications.
I was also able to set up some projects whilst we were there to help the hospital. Me and my colleague set up a system for recording and reporting muscle pains and venous ulceration in the hospital patients with sickle cell disease (something common in the tribal population). I also helped them to analyse some data about child malnutrition and paternal alcoholism- just one of the results of poverty we saw often on the field visits. I was very impressed by the staff and the charities dedication to improving the health and education of the tribes, and empowering them to train to become doctors and nurses to them work in the hospital, ensuring the project is sustainable.
My elective experience opened by eyes personally and medically.
Medically I saw a lot of tropical diseases such as dengue fever which I have not encountered often in the UK. The hospital also did not have much access to blood tests or to medical imaging meaning they relied lots on examination findings, which honed my skills. Personally, the team in the hospital immersed me in their cultural practices surrounding childbirth, and in their harvest celebrations, food, dress and dance.
From my elective I opened my eyes to the impact of poverty on health, and to how to provide high quality medical care with very limited resources. I learnt about how to manage different cultures in a healthcare setting. More important than all of this I feel I learnt a lot about the human spirit, reliance and the compassion that can be seen no matter what setting you are in. I would once again like to thank the Kidderminster medical foundation for enabling this experience that would otherwise have been out of reach.
I would like to express my appreciation to the Kidderminster Medical Society for awarding me the 2019/2020 bursary. It is such a generous amount of money and it has greatly helped me throughout my first year studying graduate entry medicine at the University of Birmingham.
At the start of the year I had planned to work at the weekends to help fund the first year of my degree. However, thanks to the Kidderminster bursary I did not have to do this. Not having to work at the weekends allowed me to keep on top of my studies throughout an intense year. Moreover, not having the pressure of working at the weekends allowed me to pursue my passion of playing football; I played for the medical school football team throughout the year.
GEC1 has been an intense year, however I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I have learnt so much. The first year of my studies has largely been based on problem-based learning (PBL). When learning in PBL we would work in groups of around 8 students, this has been very enjoyable and has enabled me to make friends with people on my course. The highlight of my first year studying medicine has been my community-based placement. I have relished having the opportunity to interact with patients and to learn clinical skills. I have found it fascinating meeting with patients to take their medical history in order to try and understand their presenting complaint.
The Kidderminster bursary has not only helped me to fund the cost of commuting into University but also the cost of commuting into my community-based placement. I am very much looking forward to starting GEC2 and I am taking steps to ensure that I am fully prepared to start my clinical placement in September. Once again, I would like to thank the Kidderminster Medical Society for awarding me the bursary it really has made a huge difference to my first year at Birmingham.
Jamie Richardson
Graduate Entry Medicine Bursary Report
Firstly, I would like to extend a huge thank you to Kidderminster Medical Society for the opportunity and support provided by the Graduate Entry Medicine Bursary during my first year at The University of Glasgow. It has been an incredible help over the past year, especially in such an unpredictable time. My decision to return to university life after a previous degree and year away has unsurprisingly presented some unique challenges, and the support of this bursary has allowed me to combat those and ensured I have made the most of the past year.
Despite a somewhat strange ending to the academic year I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year on the Medicine course. The structure and focus of the course has assured me of my resolve to continue my studies and career in Medicine and I am excited to see what the future has to hold. The last couple of months of the academic year were extremely unpredictable, with the medical school doing all they could to ensure we were still provided with all the necessary learning and examination experience. The support of the bursary allowed me to focus on this improvised and altered teaching structure without having to worry about my living or working situation alongside the inevitable stresses of studying. Furthermore, over the past year I have been able to supplement my day to day studies with extra-curricular and social medical events, due to the support and financial stability provided by this bursary.
Over summer I have been able to undertake a small remote research project assisting a cancer research laboratory at Texas A&M University College of Medicine in the writing of a review paper. This has been extremely valuable to my studies, with the focus of the review covering large aspects of my first-year studies in immunology, epigenetics, and gastroenterology, and a solid basis to topics yet to be covered on the course. It is also a fantastic contact to have in a superb medical facility. This opportunity was facilitated by the bursary, allowing me to focus on this project over summer rather than work. Indeed, this demonstrates how this bursary has not only supported me and provided valuable opportunities over the past year, but that its impacts will continue to be seen throughout my studies and beyond.
Will Hodgeman
Bursary Report - Bryony Garfield
Wow – what an unexpected end to a first year of studying at Warwick Medical School! Thank you to all at Kidderminster Medical Society for the Graduate Entry Medicine Bursary. The bursary enabled me to fully throw myself into each and every learning opportunity without having to think about the financial consequences as much as I would have done before the bursary. I really have appreciated this and it has enabled me to say “yes” to more extracurricular activities, such as doing Basic Life Support training in the evenings, which will hopefully help in the future as a Doctor.
A particular highlight of the year, aside from seeing beautiful specimens in the anatomy labs on Fridays, was visiting patients in community to see how they cope with their chronic and sometimes rare conditions. Speaking to the patients, carers and a variety of healthcare professionals has really opened my eyes to how important it is that we all work together to help improve the patient’s quality of life. It has also highlighted a need to focus on what the patient is telling me, especially with rarer diseases, as they are likely to know a lot more about their conditions than I will as a junior. Communication is so imperative, and I am incredibly grateful that I could spend the time chatting to and learning from people before the pandemic took over the degree.
With the changes to academics caused by the pandemic, I was able to focus on my studies during the lockdown without having to try and fit a part time job alongside this. This was largely due to the support from the bursary and I am truly appreciative of this. Thank you all once again and I truly hope that 2021 is less eventful for all.
Bryony Garfield