My name is Shaemala Anpalakhan, and I am a
final year student at Edinburgh.
Recently we have developed an online student
journal aimed at medical and science students studying in Scottish
universities. The site is available here.
The idea was developed with the aim of
providing an alternative platform for students to present their
work carried out during their undergraduate years, and in the
process gain experience in medical journalism.
The most important lesson gleaned throughout
this process, was the importance of effective teamwork and
communication. There were several steps involved in the development
phase, carried out by various teams simultaneously.
First we had to gauge interest by students
from the other schools. To do this we sent out a survey to the
medical college secretaries and student societies. Through this it
was possible to build up a database of students interested in being
a part of this journal. As supervisors were important to the
process of editing and peer-reviewing, a list was compiled for this
purpose as well. Not surprisingly, most of the supervisors
contacted were involved in some aspect of medical journalism
(either as regular contributors or editors). As such they were able
to provide a template on how to develop this idea. They provided a
useful set of pros and cons associated with the idea. This was
important in that we were able to refine our development processes
accordingly. Lastly there was the issue of funding, design and
advertising for which there were key students involved as well.
Without regular meetings or email correspondence it would have been
quite easy to overlook the overall picture of development
(and certainly we did have issues with this in the beginning) and
to address any issues related to it.
This was a group effort definitely; however
there are a few students who need notable mention because of their
ability to complete tasks whilst balancing their workload. Prerana
Huddar (2nd year student, who was involved in the
administrative work), David McLennan (2nd year student,
who was Treasurer and vital to seeking out funding sources), Jim
Zhong and Tina Jeong Herim (4th year students involved
in design and advertising)
At the moment we are currently accepting
articles for our first issue. In addition to our aim of promoting
academic medicine and medical journalism, we hope that through this
journal, communication between the five medical schools is
strengthened.
For any idea it is always useful to contact a
supervisor who may be able to guide you into planning your next
steps. There are always going to be downsides to any idea but if it
is something that you are extremely passionate about its best to go
ahead and try it anyway. It is likely that an idea will result in
increased workload, however with effective task delegation and
proper time management this should not be a significant issue.
Finally it is important to ensure that the people involved in your
idea are those who are equally passionate about it and are able to
work as effectively as yourself.
Please note the content and
opinions expressed in all case studies are those of the writer and
do not necessarily reflect the views
of NHS medical careers.