Akilesh Rathinam

Paediatrics' is difficult to experience early in the curriculum and I would love to help more students get experience in it as your Academic Officer.

This role requires communication and organisation to ensure smooth running of events, and my prior experience has prepared me for this role.

As Teddy Bear Hospital’s Equipment Officer, I consistently brought equipment to visits every week and kept the items organised. On Transplant and Vascular’s conference subcommittee, I helped create a schedule, allocate tasks, keep time and help everything run smoothly on the day of the conference. This would help me in organising the various academic events throughout the year and in the running of those events on the day. Similarly, I have examined and helped organise several teaching circuits, so I am familiar with the hectic nature of teaching events like mock PACES and how to get things back on schedule.

This role also needs networking to book speakers. I had the chance to network with many Paediatric consultants this past year through the Great Ormond Street Medical Student Ambassador programme, contacting consultants to create elevator pitch videos for their specialties, as well as through volunteering with charities like Diabetes UK. This would be hugely beneficial in finding doctors for events like “Meet the Paediatricians” and I would love the chance to branch out more to have even more similar networking events. I hope to further enrich the Paediatric community and help students gain exposure to such a fantastic specialty as your Academic Officer.