Aspiring medical students learn from doctors at RSM

London sixth-form students who want to study medicine visited the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) on Friday (22 April) to meet and learn from experienced and new doctors.

The 10 students from Mulberry Academy Shoreditch spent two hours speaking with and hearing about the experiences of doctors at different stages in their career.

Professor Roger Kirby, President of the Royal Society of Medicine and a prostate surgeon, was among those who shared advice to help the next generation of medics. He was joined by clinical geneticist and RSM Council Trustee Dr Melita Irving; Professor Humphrey Scott, Dean of Education at the RSM and a colorectal surgeon; and past President of the RSM, retired cardiac surgeon Dr Babulal ‘B’ Sethia.

The group also heard from Dr David Ariyanayagam, who is in his first foundation year as a junior doctor and has recent experience of applying for, attending and graduating from medical school.

Also in attendance were the students’ teachers at Mulberry Academy: Amoret Larkin, Head of Biology, and Ellie Sitch, Head of Chemistry; as well as Stephen Gilbert, RSM Medal recipient and former Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, and Mulberry Academy Local Governing Body member, Edward Nicholl. Edward and Stephen initiated the visit.

At the end of the visit, Ms Larkin said: “This has been completely invaluable for all our students.

“We really appreciate you taking the time to speak to our students individually about where they are in their journey.

“Thank you for taking their career aspirations with as much seriousness and joy as we do. We are immensely grateful.”

As well as hearing a number of inspirational talks, the students had the opportunity to break into small groups to ask the doctors a range of questions.

How to get into medical school was the hot topic and a lot of time was spent on mock interviews and giving advice on what to watch and read. The students also got a well-rounded and realistic sense of what life as a doctor is like – both the highs and lows. This included hearing about the benefits and challenges required for the different roles within healthcare and how individual character traits might make certain paths more fitting than others.

The RSM is committed to diversifying the audiences for our educational activities and sharing knowledge is at the heart of our activities.