Meet our Scholarship for Excellence students

My name is Adams, and I was born and raised in Hong Kong where I completed my primary school education before coming to the UK for my IGCSEs and A-levels in Christ’s Hospital in Horsham, West Sussex.  

I am now in my third year of the five-year MBBS Medicine course and have started my clinical placements where I can apply the theories I have learned and put them into practice. I am really enjoying the hands-on experience and the clinical exposure, and I’m thrilled to be involved in clinical placements; so far, it’s going really well.        

I chose to study at Barts because I have always been interested in the clinical aspect of medicine and aspire to become a clinician. I knew that Barts has a strong reputation for MBBS Medicine, and I really like that clinical teaching is integrated throughout the course and I am confident that my education at Barts will prepare me well to become a competent and well-rounded doctor. 

This award has had an immense impact on me. It has made me feel appreciated and recognised for my hard work and it’s great to be acknowledged for my efforts. My family were really pleased to hear of the award too, which gave me a great sense of pride and it’s lovely for them to know their hard work to support my education is paying off. I was really delighted to hear the good news; the award has served as an enormous motivator for me to continue working hard towards my goal. 

My colleagues and I are also in the process of building an education platform for medical students, and this generous scholarship has been fundamental in lifting it off the ground. We are aiming to build a user-friendly online platform that focuses on summarising and presenting important UK medical guidelines, such as NICE and BTS guidelines for medical students.  

Throughout my studies, I have come to deeply appreciate the challenges students face while trying to manage copious pages of guidelines and learning what’s relevant. We hope to provide medical students with up-to-date guidelines presented in a user-friendly format, employing simplified flow charts, collapsible text and pop-up text functions for enhanced accessibility. This funding was a vital contributor to our financial expenditures, which included costs associated with building a website and a team. We have great ideas to expand this platform across all the UK’s medical schools and to European medical students in the future. My short-term goal is to complete my degree but after that, I hope to complete my post-graduate training in the UK and go on to become a fully qualified doctor. 

I think finances are on a lot of students’ minds. Education is expensive, especially when you need specific resources such as books, equipment, laptops, and question banks which all cost money but are fundamental for studying. Giving back to Barts and Queen Mary is a very kind and generous thing to do so thank you! I really appreciate those who have funded this award and recognised my hard work. This award will go a long way in supporting me through the rest of my degree and encourage me to further excel throughout my medical education.  

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.  

My name is Veronica, and I am the first in my family to study Medicine and am now in my third year. Both my parents are Polish, but I have lived in the UK all my life. I now spend term time living with friends in East London and stay with my parents in the holidays.  

So far, my studies are going well. I am on placement now which I am really enjoying as I get to talk to patients and apply what I have learned in the earlier years of my degree. I chose to study at Queen Mary University of London for several reasons including the location of the university as well as its close-knit community of medical students. I always feel supported by my peers and it’s a lovely environment to study in. I also love the diversity here in London, I get to see a diverse range of patients which has really supported my learning and development, especially during my clinical placements.  Living in London is not cheap, my student finance covers a lot of it and my parents can support me so I am very lucky in that sense but I also try to work during the holidays so I can support myself.  

Receiving this scholarship has enabled me to involve myself in other areas of university life. There is now less pressure for me to work shifts during holidays and I can engage in societies and extra-curriculars and still have time to focus more time on my studies. This funding has really motivated me to continue trying my best and provided me with a great sense of comfort and security too.   

I definitely think students, especially in London, worry about their finances. My rent also increased recently, so my friends and I had to decide how and where we can move our money around to ensure we can pay our bills. With placements, we also have added travel costs, which are substantial expenses for many students. I think it is hard to find someone who isn’t worrying about finances.   

In terms of the future, I am just taking things step by step and progressing through the system as a medical student. I am still figuring out what aspect of medicine I want to specialise in, but I am really interested in public health matters too, so that is something I am considering. I think I would like to go into teaching at some point, perhaps teaching students at a university hospital. For now, I am just considering all my options.    

I would like to say a massive thank you to the wonderful people who have funded this scholarship. For students like me, your donations can make a huge difference and change our university experience completely! I will carry this support forward when I can to help others. Your generosity is really appreciated and has gone a long way in supporting me through my third year.