As part of the its charitable status, the BGS makes available, the Medical Students’ Elective and Vacation Project Grant.

This grant of up to £500 enables UK medical students to pursue a project related to health care of older people during their elective period or holiday, either in the UK or abroad. Students must have a project supervisor from their medical school and also one in the host institution.

Applications are adjudicated by the Education and Training Committee. In 2005-2006, seven applications were received of which five were approved. Projects and locations are both diverse and interesting. Recipients are asked to submit a written report to the Society on completion of the project and acknowledge receipt of the award in any publication or presentation.

In 2004 the Society received an application of particular interest, from Jo Lyn Chooi, a 4th year Nottingham medical student. Jo Lyn was undertaking a project entitled “Teaching Geriatric Medicine II” with the Ageing and Life Course division of the World Health Organisation. This was a questionnaire survey exploring the attitudes of medical students around the world to older people. The quality of Jo Lynn’s application and report was so high that the BGS Education and Training Committee invited her to the December 2005 meeting to present the results.

Jo Lyn (currently a Foundation Year 1 trainee) gave a tour de force presentation. The committee were delighted to find a young doctor at this stage of training with so much passion and enthusiasm for the specialty. We very much hope she continues to develop her interest in geriatric medicine and as the meeting was extremely well attended, with a number of Specialty Training Committee Chairs present, I suspect Jo Lyn could find herself head-hunted in the future! (Jo Lyn, have I told you what excellent training we provide in Yorkshire….)

I shall let Jo Lyn describe her experience as a beneficiary of the grant.

Jo Lyn’s story
“A medical education encompasses more than a fundamental knowledge of the inner working of the human body – it becomes a life-altering discipline, challenging preconceived perceptions and fears, provocative and ever-changing, it is designed to stimulate and inspire. It is a formidable undertaking involving exams, tears and sweat (an appropriate introduction to the rest of one’s career), punctuated with several memorable rites of passage, all of which contribute one way or another to our development as doctors and individuals.

When such an opportunity presents itself, it is not always seen as a blessing. Rites of passage usually involve challenges in some shape or form, as well as difficult decisions. So, when on elective with the Ageing and Life Course (ALC) division of the World Health Organisation (WHO), my supervisor asked if I would like to present the work undertaken with them at the International Association of Gerontology (IAG) World Congress in Rio de Janeiro that same year, the big decision I had to make then was not what swimwear would be appropriate, but rather how could I to afford to go.

Up to this point I had been enjoying my elective in Geneva under the supervision of Dr Alex Kalache, the head of the Ageing and Life Course (ALC) at the WHO, collaborating as one of the co-authors of the Teaching Geriatric Medicine II (TeGeMe II) project, a large international study assessing medical students’ attitudes towards older people using a standardised questonnaire. This had been a major undertaking, with 8685 participants from 4 continents. The congress which they were proposing I attend was even more impressive – the 18th Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics organised by the IAG to promote research spanning biological, medical, behavioural and social policy fields as well as raising awareness about global concerns affecting older people. However, Geneva, the city synonymous with Rolex and Cartier, is by no means cheap and two months in Switzerland had more than depleted my medical school’s elective student grant.

I applied to the British Geriatrics Society for a Medical Student Elective and Vacation Grant and fortunately my project was deemed worthy, enabling me to attend the congress and opening doors to experiences that previously I could only dream about.

Attending a world congress with almost 4000 delegates was a major challenge. The IAG holds world congresses every 4 years and runs a variety of sessions including keynote lectures, plenary sessions, symposia and poster displays to facilitate the exchange of information on various aspects of care of the elderly. It was an amazing experience to participate in a forum which entailed discussion on a variety of issues ranging from elder abuse to the impact of natural disasters on older people. The concurrently running First World Student Meeting on Healthy Ageing co-organised by the International Federation of Medical Students Associations acknowledged the importance of students acting as advocates to change their own education. Amongst the huge range of topics there were subjects which gave me fresh perspectives on caring for older people.

Health care of the elderly is a particularly holistic field and I found it interesting to get perspectives on issues raised by members of other professions. I recall chatting informally to a Scandinavian physiotherapist about his presentation on exercise and improving independence in older people and listening to a Canadian pharmacist talk about the hazards of polypharmacy. Equally, the mix of backgrounds and cultures at the congress offered insight into healthcare of older people in other countries and afforded the opportunity to glean ideas for improving my own practice as a physician. I particularly enjoyed the presentation by the Tsao Foundation of Singapore, a non-profit organisation which had found a niche serving older people in a country where in the juxtaposition of traditional and modern values, there exists a growing subculture of older people with inadequate familial support.

The fact that I was attending not only as an observer, but also to present the findings of the TeGeMe II study was most exciting. It was both exhilarating and unnerving to present to an audience comprising a large range of professionals, academics and members of international organisations. It tested my confidence, to say the least, and gave me a chance to practice a much needed skill in medicine which is so highly sought, but rarely taught - the ability to hold an audience’s attention, stand one’s ground under pressure, whilst maintaining composure and coherence. These are definitely useful attributes for any ward round, let alone future presentations.

Despite the scientific component of the congress, one soon learns that being in Rio means that life is more than work. In fact, part of the congress had to be put on hold one afternoon as the Brazil vs Argentina football match was on (beamed to large plasma screen TVs at the congress). Sipping coconut juice on Copacabana beach, riding ramshackle trams through favelas and feasting at one of the famous “churascarias” ( a restaurant where waiters bring you endless supplies of barbequed meat skewered on swords of which neither the source nor species is known) were only some of the whirlwind experiences in this most sensual of cities.

The trip to Rio was the last thing I did as a medical student; 2 weeks after my return I graduated as a doctor from Nottingham. It was a perfect end to student life, giving me a chance to confirm that an education in medicine is about more than textbooks – my foray to Rio achieved what I always thought a good medical education should do - challenged my perceptions and fears, stimulated and inspired.

This unusual excursion is in no small part due to the generosity of the BGS who I will take this opportunity to thank again. Without your contribution I would never have managed to experience such a spectacle. The BGS not only supported me financially but also kindly took an interest in the TeGeMe project. The Society’s admirable efforts in supporting and kindling interest in fledgling physicians for older people’s care is commendable and will most certainly be appreciated by generations of medical students to come, should it continue to be extended. I would also like to express my appreciation to Dr Alex Kalache and the members of the ALC division at the WHO, who gave me this chance in the first place.

As a vestige of my visit to Brazil - “Obrigada!”

Dr Jo Lyn Chooi
Foundation Year 1 Trainee”

Oliver J Corrado
Chair
Education and Training Committee