Students get a taste for a medical career

Four sixth-form students from Ladies College have gained first-hand experience of a career in medicine thanks to the Medical Specialist Group’s Taste of Medicine course, which ran from 3 to 7 June.

The course, which has run for several years, is led this year for the first time by Dr Kalaivani Ramalingam, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and is designed to offer a taste of what a career in medicine looks like for students considering working in the profession.

It will run again in July, this time for students from the Sixth Form Centre and Elizabeth College.

During the week students are paired up and can shadow ten different clinical sessions, including ear, nose and throat (ENT), ophthalmology, orthopaedics, dermatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, various theatre lists, diabetes, emergency medicine, paediatrics, breast clinic and ICU.

For students Talia Godet and Molly Robinson, the highlight of their week was getting to see a caesarean section. Talia says, ‘We got to watch a beautiful baby boy brought into the world which is incredible. If I do choose to pursue medicine, I’d love to be an obstetric consultant.

‘I think the experience has been amazing, getting a really useful insight into the world of work and it's been invaluable in helping me decide my future career.’

Molly adds, ‘I was so lucky that we got to go in and witness a C-section. Overall, it was incredible to see every specialty, what they do and how they all work together.’

For Akshaya Gopinath the highlights were surgery and fracture clinic. She says, ‘I thought it was really useful and solidified my choice of wanting to take medicine forward in the future.’

Molly Wagstaff, who is interested in being a dermatologist, says, ‘I enjoyed seeing what life is really like for doctors.’

Dr Kalaivani Ramalingam says, ‘We are very happy to offer the Taste of Medicine course to aspiring school students. They had a fruitful week with a variety of experiences that capture the essence of being a doctor. The MSG and the hospital were very warm and welcoming environments to provide this unique opportunity to them. We wish them success with their medical applications and their future.’