13 Jul 2015
The very first cohort of students have passed their exams for an Intercalated BSc in Pre-Hospital Medicine with flying colours. This is testament to their enthusiasm and the excellent teaching and dedication by members of The Institute of Pre-Hospital Care at London’s Air Ambulance and Queen Mary University London Faculty. It has been an outstanding year for our 11 students who were accepted to the programme in September 2014.
Throughout the year the students were taught modules that covered Applied Sciences, Resuscitation Science and Trauma Science as related to pre-hospital medicine; as well as Integrated Topics regarding the fundamental principles for operating safely and effectively as part of a team in a pre-hospital environment.
The students were also fortunate to be a part of a number of field visits to different services which have been stand-out highlights and where our students gained crucial hands-on experience:
- Drowning and Search and Rescue Day with the RNLI
- Extrication and Road Traffic Collision Day at the London Fire Brigade training centre
- Serving as medical aid at the London Marathon
Furthermore, the BSc teaching was brought to an emotional end in early May by our ‘Surprise Survivors’ session when we arranged for our students to meet patients of London’s Air Ambulance who survived against traditional 'odds'. The aim was for the students to have a grasp of the effect of medical dogma on patient outcomes, and on methods that clinicians use to determine the prognosis of their patients.
The standard of the student case presentations and projects has been phenomenal and many of them have been nominated for submission in a number of online and print medical journals such as the British Medical Journal and the European Journal of Emergency Medicine. In addition, and in collaboration with their tutors and mentors, six of the students have submitted abstracts to be published at the 9th European Congress on Emergency Medicine in Torino, Italy in October. Should they be approved, these students will be required to travel to Italy and present on their chosen topic which would be a significant accolade given how early on they are in their medical careers.
Our second year of BSc students will be starting in September and we look forward to updating you on their progress…
