#Student medical conferences 2016 how to#

None of us had ever organised anything like this before, so one of the biggest tasks was working out what we actually needed to do. The whole process was really one big problem-solving exercise. We have to be honest and say that organising an event as big as this wasn’t without its trials. Oh, and we were really proud to help raise £2000 for The David Nott Foundation of course! What were the challenges? This wasn’t your average academic affair it was an escape from the city and from normal medicine for a couple of days, and after all, isn’t that what wilderness medicine is all about? It felt great to be part of a conference with a difference.

You don’t have to be Bear Grylls to be an expedition doctor – this world is open to us and it’s much closer than we think if we are willing to get out there and access it. It was lovely to meet all of the amazing speakers and realise that a career in wilderness medicine is achievable. Too often we get stuck in the bureaucracy and protocol that is medical school and it can be so very impersonal it was such a nice feeling to see folk getting inspired about the potential of a career off the beaten track. Not only that, but it was lovely that so many of the delegates took the time to come up to us at the end to thank us before they started their long journeys home. It was really satisfying to see all of our hard work come together in the end and to see everyone enjoying themselves. Without a doubt the opportunity to work as part of a committee made up of such lovely people was a highlight in itself.

#Student medical conferences 2016 how to#

It certainly wasn’t without its fun moments though, we did our fair share of pizza eating and we are all now experts in how to mass produce sandwiches by hand: 500 lunches won’t make themselves. It really showed us what a great bunch of people the wilderness medicine world is made up of. Whilst many of our messages may have never been replied to, we were constantly surprised at the willingness of people to give up their time and help out. Speakers, caterers, sponsors, local businesses. This may seem obvious, but when organising something like this it is never too early to fire emails across the board. What went on behind the scenes?Ī LOT of emailing. Of course, we couldn’t host in Scotland without the option of a deep-friend mars bar after dinner. We made sure it wasn’t all work and no play, with a traditional Scottish ceilidh and the classic SWMUK bonfire – like-minded individuals could meet and share their stories and adventure plans. They delivered incredible talks and interactive workshops across the field of expedition medicine to inspire the next generation of wilderness medics. We were delighted to be able to welcome a whole host of inspirational speakers who have worked in healthcare across the globe. What was 2016’s conference like?įantastic. We recruited a few more members to our conference committee and learnt very early on that it’s never too early to start spamming email inboxes across the country! Months of hard work followed, and never before this had we really appreciated the importance of teamwork and leadership. Like children at a fun fayre we enthusiastically put forward our bid to host the conference in January and were very excited to discover that we’d got it. What more could you want? How did Edinburgh get involved?Īfter attending last year’s SWMUK Conference down in Snowdonia, hosted by the lovely folks at Liverpool University Wilderness Medicine Society, four of us from Edinburgh decided we’d love to give it a go ourselves. The event is enormous fun, but is also a great opportunity to learn about wilderness medicine and to network with future colleagues in the field. This conference is international, with a group of students travelling from as far away as Estonia to attend this year.

The conference is attended by students from all across the UK and is hosted by a different university each year. The SWMUK Conference is an annual event that takes the form of a jam-packed weekend, with inspirational talks from some of the best speakers in expedition medicine, interactive workshops, great food, a huge bonfire complete with marshmallows, and 5* camping for all (take our word for it…).