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Alwin Paul

ICSMSU: Academic Officer for Early Years

Hello! I’m Alwin - a second year medical student running to be Early Years Academic Officer.

You’ve presumably been skimming through hundreds of manifestos at this point, and if you're scratching your heads thinking ‘why you?’, let me keep this one interesting.

Now, medical school is tough. Really tough. An academic 6-year marathon of sorts.

Simply put, my role would be to make it as easy as possible. At least, for the first 3 years.

So that I can learn how you learn, or more precisely, how you WANT to learn.

Alongside your academic representatives, we can convey this in an SSLG meeting, where feedback meets faculty. These include:

  • Encourage inter-society academic peer teaching/competitions e.g. with specialty societies, to gamify learning.

  • Involvement in QI/audits when on placement. These schemes would be thought-provoking ways to introduce students to research, and promote the improvement of the trust.

  • Provide additional mocks, regular TBLs and model student answers particularly for the more challenging questions/lectures in the formative papers.

  • Consistent lecture slide formatting (incl. yellow boxes), and further encouragement of the 50-minute timing.

  • All teaching slides being released on-time with lecture slides being made accessible before the lecture (requisite of the Student Disability guidelines).

  • Opportunities to get involved in ICSM research as an extension of LMAP epidemiology teaching, with greater scope for publication.

While these changes won’t make Medicine a walk in the park, that chequered flag can look a lot less intimidating.

If that resonates, I hope I have your vote of confidence :).

- Alwin