Henry Budden

Year 2 Graduate Entry - Newcastle University

I would like to pass on my immense gratitude to Kidderminster Medical Society for your very generous bursary to support me in studying Graduate Medicine at Newcastle University. Having grown up in Kidderminster, it was a great surprise that this organisation existed, and were able to support me in following my medical passion, after graduating from a Masters Degree in Bioengineering from Sheffield University.

My first year of GEM consisted of the traditional two years of pre-clinical medicine condensed into a single, slightly extended academic year. In Newcastle there were just 21 students on the graduate course, who I was with for all lectures and seminars. This first year was the most academically challenging and rigorous year of studying I have ever completed. At its conclusion, I was very happy to move to clinical placements where I would be able to start getting real life, hands on experience. As Newcastle is a regional medical school, I spent the year living in Carlilse, which is a nice, large town, reminiscent of Kidderminster! During the year spent there I undertook placements in Emergency and Urgent Care, General Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry (community and hospital), Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Carlisle has a relatively small, but incredibly friendly hospital – some of my most memorable experiences were from working on the Labour ward and in the Special Care Baby Unit.

Alongside studying I have also been working as a Healthcare Assistant, on the bank, to further support my finances. I have found this job to be a fantastic source of experience in patient care, bedside manner, and working in an interdisciplinary medical team. In particular, I enjoyed working shifts on the Paediatric ward, a specialty that I am very interested in pursuing.

Being on placement in Carlilse has also been fantastic for its proximity to the Lake District – I am a keen walker and climber so have managed to fit in a good number of trips this year, which has certainly helped in keeping me grounded and escaping the medical ‘bubble’. A particular highlight was a fantastic weekend training with Patterdale Mountain Rescue team, working alongside their team Doctors, learning about providing medicine in challenging conditions, patient extrication and even signalling to helicopters!

I will return to Newcastle this September for my penultimate year, working in the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman Hospital, before going back to Carlisle for my final year.

Thank you again to all members of the Kidderminster Medical Society. Without your generosity I would have struggled with basic financial maintenance, in particular, costs associated with running a car, required to attend placements in GP and rural community settings.

Henry Budden