by Dr Sian Powell
This year’s annual conference of academic primary care for the South East and London was hosted once again at Madingely Hall, Cambridge and a number of the team were in attendance to present various aspects of our work. The theme for the conference was ‘Challenging Inequality and Promoting Inclusiveness’ and we were treated to fantastic key note speeches from Drs Sally Hull, Margaret Ikpoh and Ban Haider which got us all thinking and on our feet as we heard about their inspiring work and initiatives in this field.
Our team also had an opportunity to showcase some of our recent work and departmental priorities. Drs Ismail Ismail and Aamena Bharmal presented our faculty development work on recruiting GP practices from lower IMD deciles to teach medical students and Dr Agalya Ramanathan described our recent faculty workshop and video for community GP teachers to support students experiencing discrimination in primary care placements. Agalya also described the development of a Student Selected Choice (SSC) for medical students on critical appraisal that incorporated a decolonising lens, and Dr Felicity Lalloo and Steph Powell presented their work on identifying interprofessional multidisciplinary learning opportunities within the undergraduate primary care curriculum.
However, what we probably all enjoyed most was hearing medical students from South East England presenting in the creative enquiry category which included paintings, photography, prose, poetry and film, all accompanied by the student’s reflection on their piece. The standard was exceptional and it was inspiring to see how talented, thoughtful and reflective the students were and to experience their perspectives on complex aspects of life as a doctor.
Of particular note was a poem by Maisie Irvine, an autistic medical student who powerfully described stereotypes and challenges she has experienced as a medical student on placement. We’re privileged and honoured that Maisie will be able to join us for our Annual Teachers’ Conference in June to share her poem with our community GP teachers.