My name is Yosha and this is a short introduction to who I am, my interests and what I hope to achieve as a member of the Virtual Medical Society committee.

I am currently a year 12 student and aspiring medic. My A levels are Biology, Chemistry and History, and I have written an extended project qualification on the Law of Attraction. I understand how future doctors/dentists/vets have a lot to complete during these uncertain times and I hope I’ll be able to offer some help to those in my position or younger. I understand how overwhelming the process can feel, but I find reassurance in the fact that self-doubt should never replace ambition, and as long as you assume an active role towards your goals, they will become an inevitable achievement. There are so many resources and people for us to learn from and we are the only individuals in control of our aspirations. Aside from trying to seem knowledgeable, I bake and play basketball (brave of me to pretend like I can shoot more than once in a game). I also work as a classroom assistant at a tuition centre because I find it humbling to surround myself with hardworking, like-minded peers who challenge me to become a better version of myself.

My first encounter with Medic Mentor was in January of this year when I attended the National Healthcare conference. The experience cemented my goal to become a doctor and I learned a lot about the application process, competition ratios, taking medical histories, and more. I am grateful that I was able to find Medic Mentor in time for my application to medicine and the weekend allowed me to explore other opportunities that would strengthen my medicine application such as: writing in the Mentor Magazine and presenting at a ‘Get into Medicine Conference’ -which will hopefully happen after lockdown! Any aspiring vet/doctor/dentist can take initiative and participate in the many projects that Medic Mentor offer just as I did. A few months later, I volunteered to become a campaigner for the ‘Doctors in Difficulty’ charity in partnership with the Royal Benevolent Fund, and as of now, we are over ¾ of the way to our £10,000 goal!

 Once Medic Mentor had established a virtual medical society, I applied to be on the committee and was successful in becoming a fundraising officer (along with Lynette) for the society. Before becoming a committee member, I made the most of my lockdown by fundraising for the charity, sharing webinar and article links that piqued my interest, and learning from the contributions of my peers who also discuss topics such as ethics and how to prepare for interviews. Despite this, I wanted to offer more of my time and effort towards creating change and developing the medical society into one that becomes the model for creating school societies.  My role consists of monitoring the fundraisers that Medic Mentor promote, including the events created by society members to raise awareness. I felt this role was perfect for me because I am head of fundraising at my school already (one of the events we hosted was a Valentines Day party for the elderly and we raised money by selling roses) and being a committee member allowed me to offer my creative, organizational and leadership skills to an organisation that encourages me to reflect and improve upon myself.

I look forward to creating media that will be of use to the members of the society – for instance, my friend Tyler and I have a created a blog for the Medical Ethics Club at school and I can’t wait to work with the other committee members and introduce new opportunities for students to get themselves out there. I enjoy reviewing all the creative methods that my peers use to promote the COVID-19 Mission charity, such as sponsored dances and competitions -plus I find it to be a source of inspiration that I can bring back to my school community. Engaging in these fundraisers is so rewarding (especially knowing that you can help those that risk everything on the frontline of healthcare) and anyone can volunteer. I strongly believe that grasping opportunity when you are able to is a blessing in itself, and I love working with the committee members to improve our virtual medical society and involve more aspiring medics/dentists/vets with the programme. The role also allows us to mimic a multi-disciplinary team of individuals that constantly try to enhance the system we have generously been given direction over, which will be useful in my future career of becoming a paediatrician. I hope I will be able to inspire more members of the society to apply for leadership roles and engage with projects that show off their talents and interests (just as the Medic Mentor scholars have inspired me). As of now, the virtual medical society has 600 members, and I would love to see this number rise!

I am here for anyone that would like to suggest improvements to the society, or just need to talk to reassure themselves of their potential. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so!

If you would like to post Yosha a question, please comment below and she will get back to you!