Content warning: depression, suicide. When I was contemplating suicide in second year, I didn’t think I was allowed to go to A&E for urgent help, so I didn’t. I didn’t think I felt bad enough to call a helpline, and convinced myself they would tell me off for wasting their time if I did. I cried and isolated myself because…

Trigger warning: mental illness, suicide. In recent decades, conversations around mental health have been transformed. The mad woman has left the attic; her face is now splashed across the front pages of tabloids, her story dramatised for soap operas and sitcoms. Madness has entered mainstream media. So the conversation has cracked open, but is discussion really helping those who need…

May your holy sites never be violated or disrespected  May your prayers at your holy sites never by intruders be obstructed  May your loved ones never receive the bullet of your oppressor May your loved ones never lose their limbs & eyes & lives because of the aggressor  May you never go to sleep to the destructive bombs and their…

by Febi Sidiku, year 5. This academic year has been especially stressful, and this is certainly not helped by the current global climate and pandemic. Making something has always been my outlet; making art has been the “something” that always stuck. Something about seeing pretty things, or seeing the pretty in things, and focusing enough to create something new from…

by Marianne Gazet, year 5 We are all more than medical students- and it’s important to talk about it! My name is Marianne Gazet, I’m currently a fifth year medical student- but I’m also more than that! To mention a few things, I speak multiple languages, I’m interested in fashion and I was also an avid swimmer – at least…

A diastolic murmur   In the trolley being pushed;  Something on its wheel,   sounding like that ‘whoosh’  A desk cleared next door,   or am I hearing crackles?  Everything sounds medical,   My ears are feeling frazzled!  I’m clutching at diagnoses   And trying to remember symptoms,  How do I really listen if  My brain is sifting systems?   I ask about family history,  I’m…

Written by Carolina Rosa, Year 5 with an introduction by Sophia Terry The steep learning curve of financial independence hits many of us when we leave home for the first time. Suddenly thrown in at the deep end, the idea of stretching a measly student loan to cover the weekly shop, travel costs, rent and social events can seem daunting.…

Written by Cate Goldwater Breheny Do you know when Holocaust Memorial Day is? In my experience, not many people do. Your old school may have made it the subject of an assembly, but it is otherwise often forgotten. Holocaust Memorial Day falls on the 27th of January, marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945. Nearly…

If you have been scrolling through Instagram in recent weeks, it will have been hard to miss the growing success of Amber and Simi’s new campaign. Their page, @medschool_racism, has impressed us with its reach and engagement, publishing stories from medical students and healthcare professionals from the UK and beyond. The pair have created a platform which is drawing attention…

On a Sunday afternoon in February, Ahmaud Arbery went on a run in his local neighbourhood – something he had done many times before. However, this was to be his last run. He was fatally shot, after being pursued by, father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael. They claimed to have thought that Arbery was a burglar and believed he…

I find myself writing this on the 19th day since the Head of Undergraduate Medicine wrote to us all with guidance about our teaching and exams given the COVID-19 pandemic. When I opened that email, I read the first paragraph and then skimmed the rest until my eyes came to the assessment section: year 6 written paper to be postponed,…

The Oxford English Dictionary describes wellbeing as the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy, the application of wellbeing is rooted in a myriad of factors; wellbeing is not fleeting, but it’s more of a constant state of living. Taking care of one’s welfare doesn’t only involve discussing a personal issue, going to a wellbeing workshop or reading articles –…

Being a second generation immigrant often means you are raised bilingual, and switching between languages is a part of life. Often it is easy to fall into dismissing the weight and significance of what you’re doing or the unique effect it can have on people. Language is a representation of the people that speak it; it will tell you where…

On the 3rd of October 2019 President Vladimir Putin shifted in his seat, looked around at the audience he found himself in front of at the Energy conference in Moscow and told them: “I may disappoint you, but I don’t share everyone’s enthusiasm about Greta Thunberg’s speech… nobody explained to Greta that the modern world is complicated and complex.” He…

London excites me. It reeks of promise, of memories to be made and experiences to be found. Unlike so many places this city is not satisfied by simply acting as the stage for stories to be written. It moulds them. It seeps into the very fabric of their construction. And how could it not? Its personality is as pervasive as…

On a Monday morning back in August, I awoke in a sluggish stupor. This was quite typical post my summer slumbers, which lasted an unhealthy average of 10 hours. Before my feet could hit the floor my thumb had begun its bi-hourly ritual of swiping through my social media feed, desperate to prevent a scenario where the latest holiday pictures…

Imperial College London. When I received my acceptance letter this time last year, I couldn’t believe it. I remember the morning of results day like it was yesterday, anxiously checking UCAS, realising that the days and weeks and months of endless work had finally, finally paid off. Honestly, it feels like first year has been and gone in a flash.…

 So you’ve got your results, you’ve packed your bags and you’re counting down the days until you step onto campus. In less than a month you’ll be a medical student, and hopefully that thought is one not of trepidation, but of excitement. In the last year I’ve dissected a thorax, learned more enzymes than I thought possible, and come out…

The laying of the foundation stone on 30 June 1931 of the current medical school building at St Mary’s by the then Duchess of York, president of the Hospital and later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was of such national and even international importance that the speech of the former prime minister Stanley Baldwin was broadcast to the world by…

 A surprise announcement of Imperial’s intention to sell the St Mary’s medical school building has invoked anger from ICSM students and alumni. The student body was informed of the decision on 25th July via an email sent on behalf of Professor Alice Gast (Imperial College President), Professor Ian Walmsley (Imperial College Provost) and Professor Jonathan Weber (Dean, Faculty of Medicine). …

Two months ago, on the 3rd of June, tragedy struck. Pro-democracy protestors in Khartoum, who were calling for a majority civilian controlled interim government, were brutally cracked down on by the military, leaving 100 people dead and 500 wounded.  The violence, essentially large-scale pre-meditated murder, was carried out under orders of the Transitional Military Council who had took over after…

Hundreds of voices fervently repeated this same word over and over; the extent of emotion and weight behind the sound was profound. Translating to ‘freedom’ in Kashmiri, ‘azadi’ encapsulates the plight of a people forced to fight for their liberty and fundamental rights. Trafalgar Square was adorned by vibrant splashes of orange and green as protestors waved Kashmiri flags; others…

Podcasts can be a great way to pass the time as a med student, and we have put together a list of 10 podcasts that will educate, inspire and aid in your years in medical school. There are plenty more podcasts out there and we recommend if you haven’t got into any yet you have a search on spotify and…

Benjamin Golding, the founder of Charing Cross Hospital, was born, the son of a prosperous tanner,  on 7 September1793 at St Osyth near Clacton. In 1811 he began his study of medicine at the University of Edinburgh and in 1815 enrolled at St Thomas’ to complete his medical training.  He also received his MD from the University of St Andrews…

(adapted from Nursing Churchill: Wartime Life from the Private Letters of Winston Churchill’s Nurse, by Jill Rose, Foreword by the Hon Emma Soames. Amberley Press: 15 June 2018) The son of a Presbyterian minister,  my father Roger Miles was blessed with an amiable personality, a wry sense of humour and a well-developed notion of fair play. He was an enthusiastic,…