Category: Faculty of Medicine

‘It can make a massive difference’: How to be a trans ally

Every student deserves to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness at University. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case for transgender students. So, how can you step up and be an authentic ally for the transgender student community? Medical student, Elliot, discusses all things allyship.

Treating people with respect and dignity is the utmost priority for many people at university, however meeting someone who is transgender can be confusing and new for a lot of people. With ever changing laws, media output and opinion, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and swept up when trying to care about those around you. I have compiled the some tips for supporting the trans (non-cis) people in your life, so that you know where to start. 

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The Compressed Air Bath and its Therapeutic Uses in Mid-Victorian Britain

The Wharfedale hydropathic establishment and hotel (Ben Rhydding) with surrounding grounds. Etching, ca. 1860. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection.
The Wharfedale hydropathic establishment and hotel (Ben Rhydding) with surrounding grounds. Etching, ca. 1860. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection.

What happens when industrial technology meets nature? A French invention of the 1830s, the compressed air bath capitalised on the allure of ‘pure countryside air’ to treat a range of respiratory problems. Dr Jennifer Wallis, Medical Humanities Teaching Fellow, explores the fascinating history of these baths and their therapeutic uses in mid-Victorian Britain.

During the summer holiday season, many of us will have taken a break to recharge our batteries. Whether it’s gazing out over a clear blue sea or hiking through a forest, connecting with nature is often a key component of our holidays.

Tourists in the 19th century sought a similar experience. They yearned to escape the crowded city or the routines of home to immerse themselves in a new environment. The era is most associated with the seaside resort, which grew in popularity as the railway network expanded. But many Britons were also choosing to follow in the footsteps of their eighteenth-century ancestors by visiting spa towns like Malvern. Spa towns were renowned for their health benefits, from the freshness of the air to the energising effect of the mineral waters. Hotels and resorts sprung up in spa towns to cater for the health-seeking hordes.

One such resort was the Ben Rhydding Hydropathic Establishment in Ilkley, Yorkshire. It cashed in on a contemporary interest in hydropathy, a treatment regime based on baths and showers. Ben Rhydding offered its visitors a variety of activities to supplement these treatments: bowling greens, dances, and guided walks of local beauty spots. It also offered a rather unusual experience for the health-seeking tourist, one that used air rather than water: a compressed air bath.

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Exploring Community-Based Care and Support Networks for Frail People

Many of us will need support as we age but who exactly provides that care? Dr David Sunkersing offers new insights into the support networks of frail people.

Frailty is a clinical syndrome, most common in older adults and associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes including falls, hospitalisation and reduced survival time. Many frail individuals therefore rely on family, friends, groups, healthcare professionals, carers and others to assist with their care and support needs and maintain both their independence and quality of life (a care and support network).

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Navigating LGBTQIA+ discrimination in healthcare: where do we go from here?

Avi Kaura, LGBTQIA+ Student Officer

As a chronically under-represented and under-researched group, the unique experiences of LGBTQ+ healthcare staff in the workplace are often neglected. Third-year medical student, Avani Ela Kaura, highlights why it’s imperative that we listen, address and support the specific needs of LGBTQIA+ people.

Exploring how work-related stress affects LGBTQIA+ healthcare professionals in my recent Letter to the Editor was greatly saddening, and a little dark. However, having been published in The BMJ  and reaching a wider audience, my hope is that awareness has been raised, granting volume to these silenced voices. This is especially important as the unique yet varied experiences of LGBTQIA+ people are in-genuinely, or more frequently, not explored. Despite being at the dawn of my career, I am keen to pioneer a movement of change.

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Advancing diversity in the healthcare workforce

Brian Wang

When Imperial alumnus Dr Brian Wang founded In2MedSchool, he had one aim: to break down the barriers preventing students from disadvantaged backgrounds pursuing medicine. Brian shares his motivations for supporting the next generation of medics.

In the summer of 2022, before my final year of medical school, I had the opportunity to support the national efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic at Imperial College Healthcare Trust NHS hospitals. My experiences as a medical student and volunteer during this time kick-started my passion for advocating diversity within the healthcare workforce. Levelling the playing field and ensuring the diversity and representation of medical staff—in my mind at least—seems beneficial to the healthcare workforce and the communities that our healthcare system supports.

Today I am the founder of In2MedSchool, a charity that provides support for disadvantaged children with ambitions to study Medicine and healthcare-related degrees at university.

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Balancing academics and athletics as a student-athlete

Joaquin Bello

In August 2022, fifth-year Medical student, Joaquin Bello, and his twin brother, Javier Bello, made history as England’s first-ever Commonwealth Games beach volleyball medallists. Joaquin reflects on his journey to becoming a professional volleyball player, and the challenges of juggling academic studies with sports stardom.

This summer I won a bronze medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the culmination of many years of hard work whilst balancing my studies with training. While I hope my dual-career is far from over, I wanted to reflect on my journey so far and the lessons that I have learnt along the way.

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Consulting and involving the public in the first human COVID-19 human challenge study

How do you engage members of the public with medical research? Dr Emma Smith, HIC-Vac Network Manager, outlines how consulting the public was crucial during the world’s first COVID-19 human challenge study.

It is important that health and social care research aims to improve the overall well-being of the population, from advancing treatments for patients to helping us live healthier lives. People are at the heart of medical research and so engaging and involving them is an integral part of the research process and one that is mandated by most funders.

When we set up the world’s first COVID-19 human challenge study, acceptability of research to participants and society more broadly was particularly relevant because of the study’s ethically complex nature.

With volunteer participants being deliberately exposed to coronavirus (COVID-19) and the associated risk (albeit very small) of serious illness or death, the public’s perspectives were an important element of assessing if the study was acceptable and ethical (and was stated by the WHO1  as one of the key criteria for the ethical acceptability of COVID-19 human challenge). (more…)

Finding ‘me’ in the fight against inequality

This festive period Three Wise Women from the Faculty of Medicine will be giving us the gift of wisdom.

Dr Sarah Essilfie-Quaye, Project Manager in Research Strategy, discusses how we can all do more to address structural racism in academia.

I used to describe myself as an ‘early retired scientist’ – I left the lab not because I no longer loved research, but due to a series of challenges and roadblocks. However, on reflection, regardless of any career choices I made, it was unlikely I would become a professor. Because I am a woman; a woman who is Black; of African descent – Ghana, to be specific (#GhanaJollof!).

The harsh reality

To have a successful career in academia, I saw becoming a professor as the top of the achievements list, and while this is a tough goal for anyone, it is much, much tougher for some. I looked for Black women professors at Imperial. I think I was looking for my role models. Unfortunately for me ‘computer said no’, the answer was there were none. Zero. Nada. Zilch. This hugely influenced my decision to move away from academia and towards university administration, as I thought I was more likely to be able to achieve a stable and successful career that way. This was a decade ago, and despite now finally becoming part of a supportive team, I am still on short-term and part-time contracts. For this to happen I had to leave a permanent (albeit part-time) post elsewhere at Imperial – due to the toxic environment and lack of allies.

During my career, I have come to understand several key issues around race, and these include how under-represented Black women are at Imperial. There are still no women that look like me as professors. Nor in any permanent academic roles. In the whole of the UK there are only 35 professors who identify as Black women out of 21,000. And as I currently keep trying to highlight, while 25 per cent of Imperial staff are from a Black, Asian or ethnic minority (BAME) background, only 9 per cent are in senior positions, and how many of those are Black…? (more…)