[A]spiring medical students from across Cumbria headed to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle to learn from leading doctors and surgeons last weekend.
The ‘Career in Medicine’ event, hosted by North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, aimed to inspire potential medical students to take up the profession.
Local school students from across the county, in years 11-13, who are considering studying medicine, got the chance to meet senior and junior medical staff and to gain top tips for medical school entry. The event was also open to anybody who has already left school and is considering studying medicine as a postgraduate degree. Students were primarily residents in the areas the Trust’s two hospitals (the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven) serve.
Around 40 aspiring medical students attended from across the north, west and east of the county including Whitehaven, Keswick, Wigton, Penrith and Carlisle. The feedback received from the students after the event was very positive, their comments included:
- I enjoyed the workshops activities the most as I found them all very interesting and fun
- I liked seeing a wide range of areas and learning hands-on
- I really enjoyed the saw bone session
- The cardiology talk was very interesting and the use of the images was good at giving us an idea of what was taking place
The event, held in the James George Education Centre, featured a series of interactive sessions and workshops held by the Trust’s top clinicians. Topics included: Cardiology, intensive care, trauma, orthopaedics (bone saw), obstetrics (childbirth and midwifery), endoscopy, neurology, and ear nose and throat. The practical sessions – where the students got to train like real doctors – involved fitting metal plates to ‘bones’, infant resuscitation, and childbirth.
Dr Louise Buchanan, consultant cardiologist and course director at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The day was a fantastic success, the students were really engaged and their enthusiasm was great to see.
“I grew up in west Cumbria and want to encourage as many people as possible from the area to pursue a career in medicine.
“It takes a lot of hard work to become a doctor but medicine is a hugely rewarding career and the opportunities it offers are outstanding.”
Miss Claire Young, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Trust added: “It’s wonderful to see students’ reaction when they use real equipment and practice a real procedure, it’s not an opportunity everyone gets so it was a real privilege to be able to share what we do here at the Trust.
“It was also very encouraging that so many young women were in attendance and we’re trying to bust the stereotype of what it is to be a doctor and surgeon as the NHS turns 70.”