RUMS Society: Pre-Clinical Education Vice President

With COVID restrictions easing up, we may be returning to a predominantly in-person curriculum. After years of disruption, it is crucial we do this transition properly, so making sure your voice is heard will be more important than ever to get the very best from the Medical School.

My experience as a two-time academic rep has given me unique insight into how the Medical School operates, and how to effectively and efficiently bring about change. I would like to continue working with faculty to ensure your feedback and needs are listened to, with concrete outcomes.

As your Academic VP, I would:

• Push for more in-person small group work including cross-CPP activities to provide more opportunities to get to know your year group.
• Persuade faculty to give us more feedback on exams, as well as more exam and practical skill preparation e.g. more case studies, quizzes, and practice clinical sessions.
• Incorporate important contemporary topics into the curriculum, such as mental health of both patients and doctors, and medical challenges in the LGBTQ community.”
• Fine-tune SSC and iBSc allocation so that more people get their top choices, as well as improving the quality and delivery of information about each choice.
• Continue to work on the RUMS Opportunity bank, providing useful information about building better medical CVs, research opportunities, summer programmes, and other supra-curricular activities

As a year 2 academic representative (UoM module) I’ve found that I really enjoy administrative responsibilities. To advocate for ameliorations, I have responded to the concerns and desires raised by my peers, through individual conversations and surveys. Regular communication with staff has taught me how best to present these, in order that the student perspective can be understood and hence acted upon. For example, through our discussions, the UoM lead has resolved to seek more spaces in the next Y2 timetable for tutorials, as I relayed how helpful they had been for my cohort to understand and consolidate the mass of pharmacology teaching. Moreover, I’ve witnessed how impactful our current VP has been. I’ve learnt from her diligent action on the department’s worries and reports, whilst remaining firm that student voices are heard. Seeing how her commitment to my cohort alone has eased us through a challenging year inspired me to want to do the same. I have devoted myself to supporting my peers this year; it has led me to develop skills in advocacy, leadership, and representative communication on behalf of both the medical school and students. My hope is to continue this and use these to the benefit of the upcoming Year 1 and 2 students as well.