Medical Society: Paediatrics Chair

Hi everyone! I'm Hari, a 4th year at Whittington hospital, and it's been an absolute joy  to serve as Vice President of PaedSoc this year. We've built such a friendly and supportive community within the subcommittee and have worked hard to put on a variety of engaging events, ranging from seminars and movie nights to the London Medical Schools Paediatric Conference.

This year, we’ve laid the foundations for some really exciting long-term projects like the Paeds Podcast and our mentoring scheme, and I’d love the opportunity to help them grow and flourish in the coming year. It’s projects like these that make me genuinely excited about what PaedSoc can achieve next year! Alongside building on what we've started, I have lots of new ideas I'd love to bring to life: Paeds Art Project and Fundraiser, Paeds Ethics workshop, a realistic mock OSCE and a "Paeds in 60 seconds" mini-series on Instagram reels.

Finally I want to say a massive thank you to Ed, Emily, Laetisha, Shiv, Yameena, Ashleigh, Kashvi, Sameera, Yameena, Shivi and Daniel for being the best subcommittee ever! Thank you all for your immensely hard work this year, you all inspire me so much and it would be a privilege to be your President next year.

Despite only being in my first year, I’ve taken a quick liking for paediatrics and I’ve been passionately engaged in the society already, giving me plenty of ideas for the future!

In summary, I would: 

1. Continue collaborating with UCL Debate Society
2. Host casual embryology tutorials to advertise future events
3. Contact speakers who’ve done voluntary paediatrics work overseas
4. Explore the social factors behind child health through a talk(s) from Camden Social Services
5. More socials and inter-uni conferences!

• Attending the PaedSoc x UCL Debate Society events was a great way to introduce the ethical intricacies that make paediatrics such a unique specialty. I will continue the collaboration between the groups and advertise the events throughout the year.

• As a first year, I understand the struggles around studying embryology all too well. A great way to recruit more members is to host casual embryology tutorials, allowing new people to learn, meet the committee and hear about future events. Embryology can be daunting, but teaching it in a fun and condensed way will be much more attractive.

• I will reach out to speakers who have volunteered overseas to talk about the opportunities for voluntary work in less-equipped environments from warzones to natural disasters.

• The role of a paediatrician requires them to navigate family relationships, socioeconomic factors and the law. Social workers can offer helpful insight and give students a better idea of what the job entails.

Thank you for reading!