What a lot there has been to celebrate this month and I don’t just mean the excuse you had to eat those Easter eggs! Particular congratulations to Selina Robertson for winning the National student ASME award! I’m especially celebrating what this month has taught me about you.
Your responses to support others have been a great reflection of what wonderful doctors you are destined to be. Your approaches to learning, despite the interferences of COVID, have shown just how much you value the chance to become one.
Your staff colleagues have been greatly enjoying meeting with you, whether as Year 5 completing the final transition, or in online classroom CBLs and CCT sessions. The excellent way that you and they have made the emergency transition to such online teaching has shown just how adaptable and resilient you are and been a great example for other courses elsewhere.
Usually, when we are all together, I know you love sharing your own learning and putting on lots of extra teaching for each other, through societies, or just by meeting up. There is still the opportunity to do that.
If societies want to host a teach-in, we will work with you to set up a ZOOM room. Contact mednews@liverpool.ac.uk for help with this.
Do also make use of the new year ‘Padlets’ to post extra things that will be useful for others. Don’t be shy, do add good teaching links you find on Youtube or elsewhere, or talks you have already given. If you are shy, you can add them anonymously!
You might also have something that won’t necessarily help your year, but might help someone in a younger year group. If so, then add it to their Padlet.
Links to the different year Padlets: Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5
The current situation is different to what we are used to, but it is also giving us the courage to try new things. Perhaps you have been experimenting with cooking what has been lurking for a year at the back of the cupboard, decorating cakes for Bake-offs, joining an online choir, or teaching grandparents how to ZOOM.
I think it will also have taught us how to teach and learn even better than before and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on that in the future.
For now, I’m celebrating being able to hear bird song without the traffic noise and, as it is Thursday evening when I’m writing this, paying tribute to those of you who are contributing now to the NHS and those of you who will make such a difference to it in the future.
Professor Hazel Scott MBChB MD FRCP PFHEA
Dean of the School of Medicine