Forest Futures Medics Day

Forest School’s innovative Futures series continued on Saturday 16th June with its second Forest Futures Medics day.

Twenty prospective future doctors and dentists were yet again put through their paces by an outstanding panel of experts. Leading the different viva sessions were Old Foresters Professor Karim Brohi, Consultant Trauma & Vascular Surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, Professor of Trauma Sciences at Queen Mary University of London and Clinical Director of the London Trauma System and London Air Ambulance, Dr Sanjay Gautama, Lead Paediatric Anaesthetist, Chief Clinical Information Officer and Caldicott Guardian at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, Dr Saimah Arif, Consultant Histopathologist and Clinical Service Lead, Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, and Council Member of the British Association of Gynaecological Pathologists, and Dr Rajiv Bahri, King’s College medical alumni and FY1 medic at Broomfield Hospital. Joining them was parent, Dr Helen Spencer, Respiratory Consultant and Clinical Lead for the lung transplant service at Great Ormond Street Hospital. With support from some willing current medical and dentistry students and organised by our own in-house medical doctor and Biology Master, Dr Matt Clifford, the pupils kicked off our own training process that has seen numbers of pupils entering medical school rise significantly in recent years.

The pupils experienced medical school viva style interviews and also watched their colleagues got through the process, allowing them to see first-hand how others tackled the pressure of interview and giving them a chance to adopt new ideas going into the next round. They had plenty of opportunities to talk to all our faculty about their careers and get top tips to prepare them for their applications, and were then mentored by the faculty and pitched against each other in 5 rounds of medical ethics debates. For the pupils, this process will be continued through the Michaelmas term with on-going mentoring, interview practise, MMI sessions and ethics lectures, as well as support for the upcoming BMAT and UKCAT exams.

The day finished with a fantastic four-course faculty dinner with the Warden – a small gesture to say thank-you to the professionals who gave up their time to support Forest Pupils. The next Forest Futures Medics Day will be on Saturday, 15th June 2019. If you would like to join the faculty and continue to help us to provide exceptional support to our pupils, please do not hesitate to contact Samantha at sgautama@forest.org.uk.