Alice is in her second year studying Medicine at Queen Mary University of London. Alice was awarded a Scholarship for Excellence in recognition of her hard work and outstanding results.
My name is Alice, and I am originally from Italy where I lived until the age of 9 before moving to Mumbai where we lived until I turned 13. My parents and I then moved to London where I continued my secondary education.
I am now in my second year of the five-year Medicine course, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have wanted to do medicine from a very young age, and I can confidently say I have made the right decision. I love working through problems and bridging sciences and physiology with communication, which is ultimately what makes the biggest difference to the patient. I am also part of the Prehospital programme which only selected students from each cohort can participate in. This programme gives medical students opportunities to go on shift with the London Ambulance Service, which has been amazing in terms of getting patient contact and applying theory and knowledge to my practice so that I can provide the best possible care.
I chose to study at Barts and The London because of its rich history of providing care to the community, which is an important part of London’s culture and still felt by medical students and their patients to this day. I love that this university is committed to research and innovation and is so deeply integrated into the local community. I think diversity is so important and it’s great to be surrounded by that both on campus and during my clinical placements when begin next year.
It was a complete surprise to find out I had been awarded the Excellence Scholarship as I didn’t know these existed, but I think that made the award and recognition feel even more special to me as I worked hard because I care, not because I wanted a prize for doing so. It’s a lovely feeling to have your hard work recognised and I am very grateful.
I live at home with my parents in London and therefore lucky that I don’t have to pay for rent. Instead, I plan to save the awarded money to use as a safety net for the future. When we take our electives, we can be placed all over the world and it will likely be then that I will need some money to fall back on.
I think students do worry about finances, especially in a city like London, considering how big it is, transportation alone can be expensive, let alone social activities. Due to our busy schedules, medical students don’t have the time to take on part-time work alongside placements and lectures, so I know for many students, finances are something they have to always be mindful of.
Eventually I want to fully qualify as a doctor: I will work hard to continue progressing through my degree and look forward to being exposed to different fields of medicine to determine the area I will specialise in. I am considering taking an intercalation to study another subject and graduate with a BSc and MBBS but overall, I am just enjoying being in medical school and look forward to all future opportunities ahead of me.
I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has set out to invest in the future of Queen Mary students, your generosity is really appreciated and will play an important part in providing me with added financial security and ambition for the future. Thank you.