Lenzie student takes top award

A Lenzie medical student has won a UK-wide competition by using ‘Trip Advisor’ to help fellow students improve as doctors.
Medical student of the year winner - Hattie Greig.Medical student of the year winner - Hattie Greig.
Medical student of the year winner - Hattie Greig.

Hattie Greig, a fourth year medical student at the University of Dundee, secured first place for her workshop aimed at helping doctors reflect on how they practise medicine.

Her winning submission used a ‘Trip Advisor’ inspired approach to encourage doctors to reflect on their own practise in the same way they would when thinking back on a visit to a restaurant, café or place of interest.

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Hattie enjoys the varied career that medicine offers and was driven to train as a doctor following the death of a close family member.

She said: “I used the ‘Trip
Advisor’ approach as I often look at reviews prior to visiting places of interest. I incorporated this into my lesson as most people understand the concept and I hoped it’d spur medical students and doctors’ interest in reflection and show how we use it in our everyday lives.”

The competition, jointly organised by the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Medical Schools Council (MSC), saw medical students develop a teaching session based on the GMC’s guidance for doctors the standards expected of them.

Now in its third year, the competition attracted 42 entries from students studying at 21 medical schools across the country.

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Hattie’s prize was £300 in vouchers, and an opportunity to present her winning session at a joint GMC and MSC event in London, in November to an audience of fellow medical students as well as representatives from both organisations.

Hattie added: “It was a pleasure to deliver my lesson at the conference.

“As soon as I heard about the competition, to create a teaching session on reflection and its importance for medical students, I jumped at the opportunity and It was great to have feedback from the audience and the chance to prompt discussion.

“For doctors, reflection is an essential personal skill to develop as it allows for self-development and improvement through reflecting on past events, exploring what you were thinking and how you feel, considering what was done well or what could be improved.”

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Professor Colin Melville, the General Medical Council’s Medical Director and Director of Education and Standards, who was part of the judging panel, said: “It’s exciting to see the energy and enthusiasm that students have for this competition. This year’s entries were very creative and engaging.

“All of us on the panel were impressed by the high quality of entries and the exciting and innovative approach medical students had taken to develop their session plans.

“Hattie’s entry made an often challenging, but highly important, subject accessible and real to everyone and promoted great discussion.

“When students realise how much they reflect in their everyday lives, the idea of establishing it for learning in in medical practice seems less daunting.”

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Fellow panellist Clare Owen, Assistant Director of the Medical Schools Council, said: “This annual competition always produces superb entries from medical students and this year was no exception.

“Reflection can be a tricky skill to explain but Hattie’s entry linked it back to the types of things we all do in everydaylife as well as the nuanced theory. It was this relatable mix of activities that made the panel pick it as the overall winner.”