The College is a space for student healthcare professionals to develop their interests and champion issues of interest to them. We are delighted to welcome Ally Jaffee as our Student Nutrition Lead. Here, she introduces herself and describes some of the things she has already done with the College. You can find out more about our work with students here.

I am a 2nd year medical student at the University of Bristol.

Growing up, my mother instilled within me the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition was central to this. This has sparked my interest in preventative and lifestyle medicine. Last year as part of our ‘Whole Person Care’ module and this year as part of my ‘Optimum Health in later life’ module, I have researched the role nutrition and food play in the prevention and management of certain chronic conditions, as well as with wellbeing.

I learnt a great deal from the fantastic speakers such as Dr Ali Khavandi, Tim Spector and Dr. Andrew Weil and I was inspired by their passion surrounding nutrition and drive to change current perspectives within healthcare.

I have been involved with the College of Medicine since June 2016, when I volunteered at the ‘Food. The forgotten Medicine.’ conference in London. This gave me the opportunity to gain a much greater insight into the benefits that a good diet holds, especially in the prevention of many chronic diseases. I learnt a great deal from the fantastic speakers such as Dr Ali Khavandi, Tim Spector and Dr. Andrew Weil and I was inspired by their passion surrounding nutrition and drive to change current perspectives within healthcare. It also allowed me to meet and work with students with a similar interest. Subsequently, I felt compelled to transfer their insights and raise awareness around the importance of nutrition and diet to fellow medical students and the community. Along with a Bristol student colleague, we founded the UK’s first Nutrition in Medicine Society (NIMS), to provide a platform to promote nutrition education, as there isn’t enough taught within the curriculum currently.

I further participated in the ‘Mental Health: a 360°approach’ summer school in Birmingham. I had the opportunity to learn more from fellow students, especially those who showcased their research and work in a team with several students for the ‘Dragon’s den-like’ innovation challenge. It was fantastic to be able to inspire one another and have such a positive group dynamic. To my delight my team won a place at AbbVie’s Sustainable Healthcare ‘Beyond Medicine’ conference in London, which was a great privilege to attend. As part of my role as Student Nutrition Lead, I hope to be able to help with the promoting and organising of events and encourage students from all healthcare disciplines to get involved where they can and help spread Hippocrates’ message “let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food”.