Speaker Carrie Grant

Once again, this year’s College of Medicine Student Conference was an inspirational experience for all those who attended. The theme of Mental Health provided great scope for diverse and thought-provoking topics and CoM did not fail to deliver.

With high quality speakers, including Carrie Grant, students were provided with an array of perspectives on the highly topical and complex issue of Mental Health. From personal experiences highlighting the difficulties that affect the individual along with the ways that health professionals could better support their needs; to reports on current research and understanding of the cultural impacts of mental health across the globe.

The networking meal offered a great environment for students to further develop relationships with their like-minded peers. With prize presentations for the poster competition and Student of the Year award, it also demonstrated the College’s appreciation of the high calibre students it attracts.

Poster Competition Winner (£100) – Aagat Sharma Khatiwada

Second place (£60) – Bogdan Chiva Giurca

Third place (£30) – Sean Harrison

Prizes were presented by Amanda King (Chief Officer). Congratulations to all winners.

A high calibre that was also well demonstrated the following day when delegates took part in a Dragon’s Den style innovation challenge. Amazing pitches from each team rounded up the conference and all of the learning, inspiration and development that it encompassed. The difficulty of choosing a winner was testament to the impressive results of this task.

At the end of the day it is the comments from students’ feedback that sum up the conference just right: “A powerfully moving confirmation of why I love this industry” and “Good fun – it was great to see how engaged people were.”

Emily Downs (College of Medicine Student Lead)