Wan Yi Teoh,Year 5 student, published as first author
Wan Yi Teoh's passion for research jumps off the page and she has already notched up an impressive list of publications alongside her studies at the Liverpool School of Medicine.
Her proudest moment so far? Featuring as first author in the prestigious Annals of Surgery journal, something she would never have imagined where it not for the encouragement of her supervisor and mentor, Doctor Ng Ka Ting.
The project itself focuses on prophylactic topical tranexamic acid and its impact on the need for blood transfusions in patients undergoing surgery. It was a large review and analysis piece randomised controlled trials and over 7500 participants.
Wan Yi was supported every step of the way by Doctor Ng Ka Ting, an Anaesthesiology Medical Officer in Malaysia. "I wanted to carry out a systemic review and meta analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical TXA. What I found was that it reduced the need for blood transfusion by 70%, was significantly associated with lower outcomes of blood loss, and didn't produce any notable adverse effects, things like pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis."
While she was initially apprehensive about using the review software Revman to analyse the data, Wan Yi went ahead with the analysis, wrote up the manuscript and start to think about journals to target for publication.
At first I didn't consider Annals of Surgery, which was ranked as the No. 2 surgical journal in the world with JAMA-Surgery No.1 in 2019. However, Doctor Ng encouraged me saying, aim higher than you expect so that even if you miss the moon, you will still land among the stars.
This proved to be wise advice indeed, and Yan Wi was published earlier this year. Read an abstract of her published paper on the Annals of Surgery website.
Being published in this journal has enhanced my confidence to participate more in research and has put me in an excellent position for applications to medical training in the future.
Reflects Wan Yi, who knows her research work is an investment in her professional development. "I have learnt to work on my time management skills, balancing the research alongside my placement schedule and a part time job. And I am certain that early exposure to evidence-based medicine improves my critical thinking. I know that my efforts will pay off for the future."
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