Medical Society: Neurology Chair

Hi everyone, my name is Ian! I'm a 3rd year medical student who is currently doing an iBSc in Neuroscience.

I have a keen interest in Neuroscience, Neuroanatomy and Neurology (basically, anything to do with the brain). I am running to be Neurology chair to develop my own interest in the field and get others to share my passion for it! This last year I have been working in a lab doing immunohistochemistry on mice brains to tease apart the various circuits involved in feeding regulation and how this goes wrong in pathology to cause problems such as obesity and anorexia nervosa. 

Within neurology, my niche interest lies in sleep medicine and I would love to get specialist speakers to communicate about research to do with sleep. In my spare time, I listen to the HubermanLab podcast about how we can hack the brain to improve our lifestyles.

In this role, I will work hard to find guest speakers to communicate neurological concepts that are at the cutting-edge of clinical research for neurobiological diseases. I will also encourage members to think about the ethics and law of neurology specifically, hoping to discuss topics such as euthanasia and identity loss.

If I were to get your vote, I would translate my passion for the topic into plenty of opportunities for everyone else to develop their neurology interests. I would also ask for feedback after every event to make it an iterative process and giving members what they want.

Hey everyone! My name is Jackson and I will be intercalating in Neuroscience next year. Through my current leadership position in UCL MedSoc Neurology, I have gained invaluable experience in organising the current Brain Symposium, and I aim to build upon my experience and bring some exciting new changes to UCL MedSoc Neurology. Specifically, I hope to:

1. Host a two-day in-person Brain Symposium, focusing on clinical neurology skills. I aim to give students an opportunity to learn more about Neurology and potentially experience clinical Neurology techniques on the brain such as surgical microscopy.
2. Promote shadowing opportunities in Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience research. Neurology is a competitive yet exciting field and it is often challenging to shadow busy clinicians. Therefore, I aim to collaborate with the shadowing officer to create opportunities to shadow Neurology clinicians at UCLH and Queen’s Square by contacting them. I will also contact multiple leading UCL Neuroscience researchers for summer internship opportunities for interested members.
3. Organise regular neuroanatomy tutorial sessions for pre-clinical students to revise and refine their knowledge. NSB is one of the most complex modules in the pre-clinical course, and I have found tutorials from older years to be extremely helpful. I aim to organise tutorial sessions where senior students can pass on their knowledge of specific areas to focus on and revision tips.

Thank you and I hope I have your vote!

Neurology has always interested me, as a speciality where research is always evolving, furthering our understanding of the intricacies of the brain. From my iBSc, to spending time on the neurology wards this year, seeing the principles we learn about come to life through patients has solidified my passion for this speciality. 

Although neurology is a fascinating area of medicine, it is often an area that students find challenging to study. Therefore, as neurology chair, I want to work towards organising more consistent neurology tutorials throughout the year for both preclinical and clinical students. Over the past year, I have been involved with neurology teaching both for SurgSoc and Anatomy Society, by creating teaching materials and delivering tutorials, so I want to continue making a difference in this area through this role. 

As a part of the neurosurgery subcommittee this year, I am also aware of the intersection between the specialities. I will continue to collaborate with other neuro societies to deliver high-level lectures, focusing on innovation within the field. I also aim to run more events focusing on recent research being conducted by clinicians at UCL and Queen’s Square institute of neurology, incorporating a journal-club aspect within this to allow students to gain confidence in understanding and appraising academic papers. This would also provide an opportunity to ask questions to doctors in this speciality and form new connections in the process!