by Ines Lahlou Chettab, Ophthalmologist (Algeria), MCh Ophthalmology Student, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK.
Over the past six years, the Institute of Medical Sciences of Canterbury Christ Church University has hosted the Medway Medical Fayre. This event was initiated and organised by Professor Rahul Kanegaonkar, a consultant ENT surgeon at Medway Maritime Hospital, and Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and Medical Innovation at Canterbury Christ Church University.
This event is aimed for children aged between 12 and 13 years from less affluent backgrounds and provides them with an invaluable insight into medical and paramedical careers. The event held this year was made remarkable by the presence of Rithik Rajan, who attended the very first event as a secondary school pupil and is now a third-year medical student at UCL. This was incredibly satisfying to the entire faculty.
This event offers a state-of-the-art environment for interactive learning, and supportive staff to facilitate various activities with pupils rotating through different stations that cover a wide range of medical and surgical specialties, such as respiratory medicine, cardiology, ENT, surgical simulation, or accident and emergency. These stations are conducted by enthusiastic consultants, medical professionals, and university students who provide hands-on demonstrations and engage pupils in practical exercises.
For example, the mock A&E scenarios where students participated in a simulated emergency room trying to find diagnoses and treating patients which provided them with a realistic experience of an NHS A&E department. I was impressed with how many of them were able to manage a hypoglycaemia in a diabetic patient and diagnose an asthma attack. The surgery simulation equipment where the attendees had the opportunity to use the same equipment that junior surgeons train with offered an immersive learning experience.
The speciality demonstrations were performed by consultants and trainees in the fields of ENT, urology and anaesthetics, who shared their knowledge and demonstrated various medical procedures, sparking curiosity and interest among the pupils. They were also taught how to perform CPR and learnt about other topics such as the scientific principles in radiology and genetics.
The Medway Medical Fayre is more than an educational event – it is a community-building initiative aimed to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals. More importantly, it could represent a turning point for many children from less affluent backgrounds by breaking down the social barriers and providing equal opportunities for the pupils to explore careers in the medical field. Furthermore, Prof Kanegaonkar believes that neither the children nor schools have to pay for attending the event and makes a point of running this event free of charge for them.
To conclude, this event aims to encourage teenagers to consider medical and healthcare careers by providing them an early exposure and hands-on, interactive experience which may be a game changer for pupils of less affluent backgrounds. Finally, because of its success, this initiative promises to make a long-lasting impact on Medway’s future generations.
