A review of the academic year 2022-23.
Academic year 22-23 certainly didn’t disappoint. Our student doctors had a cracking year – notching up prizes and awards, pulling off show-stopping events and raising thousands for local charities
An award-winning year
Student Doctor Jasmine Coulthurst earnt herself a prestigious Wolfson Foundation Intercalated Scholarship (link) to support a Master of Research in Biomedical Sciences & Translational Medicine in which she carries out a retrospective review of tissue and imaging biomarkers of local recurrence in secondary brain tumours.
Next up Student Doctor Sophie Crawford was chosen as one of only three medical students to receive the Sir Colin Dollery Award (link) and £6000 to support her intercalated BSc degree in Pharmacology and was presented the award at the Academy of Medical Sciences FORUM event at Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery & Museum.
Students Matthew Heneghan, Olivia Whittle and Govind Dhillon attended an awards evening at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in celebration of their success in the RCGP Mersey Faculty Medical Student Poster Prize (link).
Student Doctor Charlotte Rigby was recognised with the Norton Walford Prize (link) for her work at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, undertaking both systematic reviews and laboratory-based projects. during an MRes in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine.
The School was delighted to award a series of prizes for excellence in a range of areas across the MBChB curriculum. Our 21-22 School Prize winners (link) really hit the ball out of the park in assessments, portfolios, presentations and in creating learning resources to support the course’s key themes.
It was an honour to celebrate their successes together with loved ones at a Prize Evening in November (link). In her welcome address, Dean of the School of Medicine Professor Hazel Scott noted,
”The challenges facing our national health service continue to be felt but through their tenacity and commitment, our students demonstrate the qualities that will serve them, and their patients, so well in the future, as they are indeed the bright future the NHS looks towards.”
Rounding off the year were big wins at the annual Guild Awards (link) where the School scooped up awards including Course Rep of the Year for Year Four Student Eric Dos Santos, Teacher of the Year for George Ampat and Biggest Impact on the City of Liverpool for President of Liverpool Humanitarian Society Year Four Student Jessica Lwin.
Our fantastic BME Medics society went home with an Inclusivity Award for the activities they have championed this year (link) to help students feel welcome and accepted in the University community, including a cross-society Culture Ball in celebration of nearly 50 different countries and cultures.
A busy social calendar
The Culture Ball was just one of the events that brought student doctors together during the year. 22-23 began with a fantastic series of activities for Welcome Week, including a dedicated Medical Societies Fair (link) run in partnership with the Guild.
The School’s Wellbeing Team put on a weekly programme of events throughout Feel Good February (link) including board games, ‘crafternoon’, guided mediation session with Mindfulnes Coach Phillipa Bellis and a trip out to the Walker Art Gallery and World Museum.
They also ran hugely popular Wellbeing Wonderlands (link) together with LivPsych in the run up to assessment season, which included an ice cream van, snacks and games and our furry friends from Therapy Dogs Nationwide.
Our student societies held a number of insightful and inspiring conference, including Pioneering Innovations in Dermatology by LivDermSoc (link), Liverpool Research Society’s LivResCon8: Learning Through Research (link) and the third annual LGBT+ Healthcare Conference (link) by LMSS, QueerMedics and the University of Liverpool LGBT+ Society.
Performing arts society had a smashing year involving charity Zumba classes, a variety show, Strictly Come Dancing event and of course their production of Kiss Me, Kate (link).
Support through sports
Student doctors combined their favourite sporting activities with opportunities to raise money in support of local charities. The LMSS alone managed to raise over £15k this year (link), with a walking challenge in Snowdonia and SEA2SEA cycle covering 235km from the North Sea at Hull to the Irish Sea back here in Liverpool.
Liverpool Marrow Society took on the Paris Marathon (link) raising £3000 for the the Anthony Nolan Charity, encourage sign ups to the stem cell register and spread awareness about the transplant process.
Year Five Student Doctor Alice Fortune continued her challenge of running a marathon in every city in the country (link) in aid of Young Minds, notching up an impressive £4.7k so far.
Reaping the benefits of research
Finally, it was a seriously impressive year for our student doctors in the realm of research. A number of students had their studies featured in major journals and publications, including a study into Spiking by Year Four Student Doctor Tess Blandamer (link).
A number of students were invited to present their work nationally and internationally, such as Shubhi Gupta and her data synthesis project on coronary revascularisation guidelines (link).
A number of students represented the University of Liverpool at the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT) Congress in Vienna. Anxhela Syziu presented her findings on tibialis tendon entrapment on posterior malleolar ankle fractures (link), while Alice Fortune and Jessica LaCourse shared their work on non-invasive interventions for musculoskeletal foot conditions (link).
If you are keen to follow in their footsteps next academic year, take a look at how the INSPIRE programme (link) could support your passion for medical research, how to ace your RS3 research project (link) and the benefits and opportunities of getting involved in research as an undergraduate (link).
Congratulations to all of our students on some fabulous achievements this year.