Voice Box

Three doctors, each with a parallel career: Voice Box meets medics who have also excelled in other professions.

Host Joana Rodrigues, a Year 6 MBChB student, chats with a writer, an athlete and a musician about how they achieve a delicate balancing act.

With:

Gavin Francis, GP, Head of MBChB Admissions at the University of Edinburgh, and best-selling author.

Polly Swann, surgical trainee and Olympic silver medalist.

Fran O'Hanlon, a palliative care doctor and musician who performs under the name Mezanmi.

Recorded Nov 2024.

Opening and closing music by Mezanmi.

A lively discussion with three Edinburgh-based surgeons, with a particular emphasis on the challenges facing women when working in such a demanding and high-pressure career.

Presented by MBChB medical student, Heen Shamaz.

With:

• Professor Lorna Marson, Professor of Transplant Surgery and Honorary Consultant Transplant Surgeon
• Ms Chloe Scott, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
• Professor Farhat Din, - Bowel Cancer UK-Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Chair of Colorectal Cancer Research & Honorary Consultant Colorectal Surgeon.

Recorded November 2023.

Voice Box theme music by medical student Alex Lewthwaite.

Approximately 15% of people living in the UK identify as neurodivergent. But what does it mean to be neurodivergent if you're working in the medical profession? 

Joana Rodrigues, Year 5 MBChB student, hosts a lively discussion with two Edinburgh doctors, both of whom were diagnosed with autism in their 40s.

Guests:

Dr Rosie Baruah. Consultant in intensive care medicine and anaesthesia, and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Edinburgh Medical School.

Dr Shirley Moore. A former hospital doctor and now a counsellor and psychotherapist,  specialising in working with neurodivergent clients.

For more information and support, visit:

Disability and Learning Support Service (for University of Edinburgh students)
Support for neurodiversity at the University of Edinburgh (for staff)
Scottish Autism
Autistic Doctors International
Autistic Girls  Network

Recorded September 2023.

Voice Box theme music by medical student Alex Lewthwaite.

Heen, Mohini and Sonia are all women of colour who are part of the Edinburgh Medical School community. They discuss how staff, students and clinicians all have a part to play in fostering a sense of belonging and community at medical school that will continue to support students into their careers.

Presented by MBChB medical student, Heen Shamaz.

With:

• Professor Mohini Gray. Personal Chair of Rheumatology, and lead for equality, diversity and inclusion at Edinburgh Medical School.
• Dr Sonia Afonso de Barros.  Previously a Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and now re-training to become a GP.

Recorded September 2023.

Voice Box theme music by medical student Alex Lewthwaite.

Medicine is often considered an elite profession - according to the British Medical Journal, only 4% of doctors in the UK are from a working class background.

"Widening participation" programmes in universities are seeking to address the imbalance and actively encourage people from all backgrounds to consider a career in medicine. 

 So what are the barriers facing prospective medical students today?  And do these obstacles persist beyond graduation and into professional life?

Joana Rodrigues, Year 4 medical student and Mentorship Director at In2MedSchool, hosts a lively discussion with two Edinburgh clinicians, both of whom were the first in their families to go to university. 

Featuring: 

• Dr Shahida Din, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh.
• Dr Gilly Flemming, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, NHS Lothian.

Voice Box theme music by medical student Alex Lewthwaite.

For more information on the resources discussed in the podcast, visit:

Reach Edinburgh – https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/access-edinburgh/high-school-students/reach-edinburgh 

In2MedSchool – https://www.in2medschool.com/

You Can Be A Doctor – https://www.youcanbeadoctor.co.uk/

Edinburgh Medical School MBChB  Year 5 student, Jen Baker, meets influential GP and researcher Professor Roy Robertson.  

 Jen is a member of the Homeless and Inclusion Health Society at Edinburgh Medical School and Roy is a GP in Edinburgh’s Muirhouse, whose 1986 BMJ study was one of the first to link needle sharing amongst intravenous drug users and the spread of HIV.

Hosted by Saloni More (Y3).

Voice Box theme music by Alex Lewthwaite (Y3).