harmonisation in practice - cardiff university · 2016-04-04 · have endorsed these guidelines. of...

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Newyddion o’r Ysgol Feddygaeth,Prifysgol Caerdydd EDITION 21 - JANUARY 2016

DIAGNOSE THE PAST, RESEARCH THE PRESENT, REPAIR THE FUTURE

EMBRACING ATHENA SWAN

HARMONISATION IN PRACTICE

INSIDE:

EDITION 21 - JANUARY 2016


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I am hugely proud of the School of Medicine and its achievements in the last quarter of the year. Heartfelt congratulations to Professor Mike Owen and his team at the Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics for being awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize. This award is richly deserved and it’s wonderful to see their accomplishments in delivering real patient benefit in the treatment of mental illness recognised through this award.

This Learning and Teaching themed edition looks in more detail at the new harmonisation year of the undergraduate medical curriculum. Harmonisation, in year five, aims to support the transition from undergraduate medical student to Foundation Doctor and instil preparedness for practice. In the main feature we gain a personal insight into how harmonisation supported Foundation year one doctor, Mike Atkinson, through this important transition.

The ‘Meet the Team’ feature explores the work of the Admissions Team, under the leadership of Professor Dave Wilson, which is not as static as you may think. This edition’s ‘Making an Impact’ story highlights the work of Dr John Giddings and Professor Peter Collins in defining a standard of care for acquired haemophilia A (AHA).

We take a close look at the importance

As another New Year begins it’s time to reflect on another busy term that has seen the introduction of Year 3 of the C21 programme. As ever developing something new and implementing it is never without some hiccups but it is now up and running. Tremendous credit must go to the Phase 2 Team, led by Dr Rhian Goodfellow, that has managed the design and implementation of the new Year 3. Feedback so far is positive. Things do not stand still and the team are hard at work designing the new Year 4 that will complete this phase of C21 development.

At the same time the Institute of Medical Education is transitioning to the Centre for Medical Education as part of the Medic Forward project. Thanks to staff for their forbearance and support as the next phase of transforming medical education at undergraduate and postgraduate level is implemented in the School.

The second “edition” of MedDay, the medical student charity day, was held on November 13th and 14th. Throughout these two days of fund raising events across Cardiff the MedDay team (led

by Imogen John, a 3rd Year student) and their many volunteers (and ably supported by School staff) raised over £3000 for their chosen charities Llamau and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. In the same vein thanks should go to MEDICS RFC for the monies they raised by completing the 3 Peaks challenge that will be donated to the same charities.

Student and staff achievement were celebrated in December at the 2nd annual “SURGAM” (Latin for ‘I shall rise’) event. SURGAM 2015 was themed around “Giving Back” and as well as celebrating the fantastic academic achievements of medical and pharmacology students, the event focussed on the charitable and outreach activities that students have engaged in throughout the year. Outstanding teachers deliver education and the contribution of these was recognised in the Excellence in Teaching awards nominated by both students and staff.

Images featured on this page were all entries to the 2015 C21 Artwork Competition.

C21 UPDATEWelcome to the twenty first edition of ReMEDy

WELCOME

of Athena SWAN and discover how the School is building on its Bronze Award status. We also find out more about an exciting new project called ‘HealthWise Wales’ which hopes to involve everyone in Wales in improving the health and wellbeing of the population.

I hope you enjoy reading this first

edition of the New Year and I wish everyone a happy and productive 2016. I am very excited about the year ahead as we work to embed our One Team initiative within our new School structure.

Professor John BlighDean, School of Medicine

Helping Hand, Aysha Haththotuwegama

Dr. Who, Charlotte Maden

Medical Playground, Isobel Sutherland


VISIT US: WWW.MEDICINE.CF.AC.UKCONTACT US: 02920 746735

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Acquired haemophilia A (AHA) is an autoimmune disease where a person’s immune system starts to destroy one of its own clotting factors called Factor Eight (VIII). Factor VIII is necessary for blood to clot normally, so patients of AHA may bleed for no apparent reason and can suffer from severe or life-threatening bleeding.

AHA affects women as well as men and mainly affects older people with an incidence in the UK of 1.5 million per year.

To define international standards of care for AHA based on evidence, a programme of studies were initiated in 1996 by a Cardiff team, led by Dr John Giddings and Professor Peter Collins. These later evolved into UK and Europe-wide collaborations.

Two studies, the All Wales AHA study and the UK AHA surveillance study, formed the basis of UK national guidelines in 2006. These studies established the incidence, predisposing conditions, age distribution and long-term outcomes of patients with AHA in a well-defined, unbiased cohort of patients between 1996 and 2003.

Building on the work of these two studies, Professor Collins then established a European collaboration, called the European Acquired Haemophilia Registry, involving 93 centres from 13 countries investigating the optimal treatment of AHA. Treatment involves controlling bleeding with agents that help the blood to clot despite the low levels of factor VIII and also suppressing the immune system to allow factor VIII to return to normal levels.

The European study led to the UK guidelines being substantially

changed and updated in 2013. The British Committee on Standards in Haematology, the UK Haemophilia Centre Directors’ Organisation (UKHCDO) and the British Society of Haematology have endorsed these guidelines. Of the 18 specific management recommendations on AHA in the 2013 guidelines, 14 are underpinned by evidence produced by the Cardiff-led research programme. The guidelines have been agreed and adopted by all 90 UK haemophilia centres.

The Cardiff-led research programme has also resulted in the production of two international guidelines, which have been adopted worldwide and are amongst the most cited papers in the field since 2009 (90 citations).

Examples of clinical guideline recommendations and treatment protocols based on Cardiff-led research

RECOGNITION AND DIAGNOSIS• Novel finding: Significant diagnostic

delay is common even after abnormal clotting tests have been found.

• New treatment recommendation: Laboratories should investigate abnormal clotting tests for AHA even if the referring clinician had not requested them and haematologists should directly inform clinicians of the implications of results.

• Novel finding: Fatal bleeding may occur up to 6 months after diagnosis if inhibitor is not eradicated.

• New treatment recommendation: Refer to specialist centres to start immunosuppression as soon as the diagnosis is made even if presentation appears benign.

TREATMENT• Novel finding: Combined steroids and

cyclophosphamide result in a higher stable remission rate than steroids alone and rituximab confers no additional benefit.

• New treatment recommendation:

Figure 1: Forearm bleed in a patient with acquired haemophilia caused by blood sampling. Early diagnosis is important so that invasive procedures can be avoided unless essential.

Recommended first line immunosuppression protocol changed between the 2006 and 2013 UK guidelines and rituximab to be reserved for second line therapy.

• Novel finding: There is a high incidence of relapse after immunosuppression has been stopped.

• New treatment recommendation: Longer (at least one year) and more intensive follow up is required in specialist clinics.

SAFETY• Novel finding: The two available

inhibitor bypassing agents are equally as effective for controlling bleeds but both are better than factor VIII.

• New treatment recommendation: Bypassing agents should be used as first line therapy to treat bleeds.

• Novel finding: Latrogenic bleeding is common following venepuncture, blood pressure monitoring and invasive procedures.

• New treatment recommendation: Venepuncture and blood pressure monitoring should be kept to a minimum and invasive procedures postponed until factor VIII level has increased.

These treatment guidelines ensure that patients with AHA receive the most appropriate treatment and care. The guidelines have been disseminated to patient groups, clinicians specialising in haemostasis and general physicians around the world. Professor Peter Collins states: “This programme of work exemplifies the importance of international collaboration to produce high quality evidence-based medicine in rare diseases. Good data underpins good decision-making. By gathering robust evidence, we were able to show how we could target and optimally treat patients with AHA.”

MAKING AN IMPACT: DEFINING A STANDARD OF CARE FOR ACQUIRED HAEMOPHILIA A (AHA)

Figure 1



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Getting into medical school is really tough, but the task of selecting future doctors from the applicants to Cardiff is even tougher. In the past, the job had been done by the sub-Dean for Admissions, with the sterling work over the past 5 years of Professor Aled Phillips and before him, Professor Geraint Williams. Recently, this has changed, with the establishment of a group of eight senior staff who, together, form the Admissions Group. This group is supported by the A-team, four staff who work tirelessly throughout the year running the administrative side of the admissions cycle. This has become more onerous: applications to Cardiff have risen by almost 33% from around 2,400 in 2012 to over 3,500 in the current year. This is against a national background of increasing competition for a place, at around ten applications per medical school place.

The publication of the Medical School Council’s Selecting for Excellence report last year1 means that the School needed to review its selection processes, based on the advice that we move towards a process that makes use of academic attainment with performance in aptitude tests and multiple mini interviews (MMIs). One key area of the report focussed on widening participation: with pull-out quotes such as “around half of UK secondary schools and colleges did not provide any applicants to medicine over a three-year period”, and then revealing that although 7% of UK school children are educated in the independent sector, 31% of trainees in year 1 of the Foundation Programme attended an independent or fee-paying school. In addition, the qualification reforms that are happening throughout the UK, means that welsh students will be applying for medicine with a different academic profile: they will be offering

the new maths/numeracy and English GCSEs together with the intermediate Welsh Baccalaureate.

This means that the Admissions Group is very busy with almost weekly meetings. We are dealing with the current cycle of applications and interviews and, at the same time, deciding what we would recommend in terms of changing the Admissions policy making sure that it remains open, equitable, non-discriminatory, is reliable, has validity and is consistent with legislation.

For this reason, the senior staff in the group are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds. Dr Rhian Goodfellow a Consultant Rheumatologist, is the Deputy Director of the C21 medical curriculum and is involved in all levels of the new course. Dr Frances Gerrard is a GP, Director for Community Based Learning and Lead for Primary Care Attachment. Frances is involved at all levels of the C21 curriculum delivery.

Dr Sue Emerson also a GP, is the Phase 1 (years 1 and 2) Community lead and has experience of the new course and has an interest in widening participation. Miss Awen Iorwerth is a consultant surgeon in Trauma & Orthopaedics who teaches medical students and is interested in promoting welsh applications to the Cardiff course as well as the welsh language. Dr Derek Lang is the Programme Director for the School’s Medical Pharmacology BSc degree. In addition to many years of experience in the selection for admissions to this degree programme, Derek has been involved in the delivery of the new course. Dr Andrew Shore is a senior lecturer in Biochemistry and has wide expertise in curriculum reform, widening access and designing school and college curricula. Representing the Admissions team, Emma Walker is the team leader and as such is responsible for supervising the administrative activities and processes throughout the year. Professor Dave Wilson is the chair of the Admissions Group and has been heavily involved in the design and delivery of Phase 1 of the curriculum.

1. http://www.medschools.ac.uk/AboutUs/Projects/Widening-Participation/Selecting-for-Excellence/Pages/Selecting-for-Excellence.aspx

MEET THE TEAM: SELECTING MEDICAL STUDENTS FOR CARDIFF - THE ROLE OF THE ADMISSIONS GROUP

From left to right: Dr Rhian Goodfellow, Dr Derek Lang, Professor Dave Wilson, Emma Walker, Dr Frances Gerrard



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Athena SWAN Committee Members: Dr Paul Brennan,

Deputy Chair; Ruth Williams, Athena SWAN Executive Officer,

Professor Susan Wong, Chair.

In the School of Medicine, it is believed equality is better for everyone, and a diverse team is a better team. That’s why the School has signed up to Equality Challenge Unit’s (ECU) Athena SWAN Charter.

What is Athena SWAN?The Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 by ECU to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. The Charter is based on ten key principles including, ‘We acknowledge that academia cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of all’.

The charter was expanded in May 2015 to recognise work undertaken in other academic areas, in professional and support roles, and for transgender staff and students. The charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly.

Every year more universities are signing up to the Charter. Why? Research by Loughborough University in 2014 showed that Athena SWAN had a positive impact on changing the culture and attitudes within member institutions. Universities and departments that hold Athena SWAN awards are more advanced in addressing unequal representation than those that don’t.

Another key driver for participation is that the Research Councils expect that equality and diversity are embedded

into organisations and an Athena SWAN award demonstrates commitment to equality.

What Athena SWAN is notDiversity charters and ‘quotas’ are often misunderstood. Many people think that it is about positive discrimination. It’s not about feminism or being politically correct, but about making the most of all talent. This is not a tick box exercise, and it’s not just a ‘women’s problem’. It’s about changing the culture and levelling the playing field for all.

Action Plan to make the workplace better for everyone. For example, by surveying staff in the School, it was identified that many people wanted a mentor but didn’t know how to go about getting one.

A successful mentoring scheme was then piloted within the School benefiting all staff, though the majority of mentors and mentees were female. Mentoring is now being rolled out across the university.

Another success is the Celebration Lecture Series, with presenters from clinical and non-clinical backgrounds, as well as professional services staff. These lectures are a chance to hear of the journey these inspirational staff have taken through their working life. One of the most recent speakers was Professor Julie Williams, who is currently the Chief Scientific Advisor for Wales.

Since the School’s last application there has been an improvement of postgraduate research monitoring and success rates, the development of Post-Doctoral training and mentoring, and the School is developing a Workload Model.

What’s next?Progress will continue. Recently an undergraduate student group was launched, led by students, which will contribute to the Athena SWAN committee. In response to a recent all staff survey, a School Away Day will be hosted in the first half of 2016 and the programme will include Athena SWAN workshops. An Athena SWAN bursary will also be launched - details to follow soon!

Going forward the aim is to build a School where everybody has equal access to opportunity.

Keep up to date with the School activities via Facebook: facebook.com/AthenaSWANMedic

Email: [email protected]

Why commit to Athena SWAN?The School of Medicine is committed to this charter and is engaging both students and staff to improve equality across teaching, learning, research, and administrative support. In the School, there currently exists a female bias at undergraduate and postgraduate level and fewer females between senior lecturer and professorial level. The future aim is to tap into that lost talent.The School has employed a member of staff with dedicated time to coordinate Athena SWAN activities, and has held senior staff workshops on the importance and impact of Athena SWAN.

Plan of action The School currently holds a Bronze award, which is due for renewal in April 2016. The application involves analysing staff and student data, evaluating working practices and developing an

Who are ECU?ECU is a registered charity, funded through the UK higher education funding bodies and representative organisations. They provide a central resource of advice and guidance for the sector and work to further support equality and diversity for staff and students in higher education institutions across the UK.

EMBRACING ATHENA SWAN



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HARMONISATION YEAR - PREPAREDNESS FOR PRACTICE

Mr Michael Stechman, Director of Year 5 and Consultant Surgeon at University Hospital of Wales explains: “Harmonisation is all about supporting the transition from undergraduate medical student to Foundation Doctor and instilling preparedness for practice.”

“Already we are seeing the positive impact of harmonisation evidenced by the results of the Foundation Induction Survey, which effectively demonstrates that Cardiff students feel better prepared when they begin their training as a Foundation Doctor, particularly in the areas of prescribing; working an on-call rota and operating within multi-disciplinary teams.”

The focus of the whole harmonisation year is to equip medical students with not only the knowledge that they need but also the experiential understanding that can’t be taught in a lecture theatre and is crucial to become an effective foundation doctor. This learning is achieved through core teaching blocks and

a series of apprentice-type clinical placements including the Senior Student Assistantship.

Clinical placements take the form of a Primary Care Attachment and a Junior Student Assistantship in secondary care. Both focus on working within clinical teams and learning and practising ‘on the job skills’.

The 8-week Primary Care Attachment provides experience in the management of patients with chronic diseases,

including psychosocial issues. Students are assigned on a one-to-one basis with a GP in a Wales-based practice in either rural or urban areas and through supervised patient consultations and case based discussions, have the opportunity to experience the full range of primary care diagnoses.

The 8-week Junior Student Assistantship focuses on unscheduled acute patient care in hospitals. Within clinical teams, students are encouraged to be on-call and see acutely unwell patients who present with a myriad of symptoms to both medical and surgical teams. In doing so, they gain practical real life experience of the initial management of these patients, taking on their care on the wards as a diagnosis is made, and a



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particular course of treatment followed.

The Senior Student Assistantship is a 7-week placement, unique to Cardiff and Swansea Medical Schools at present. For the majority of students this means that the last couple of months before graduation will be spent working in the same hospital and often the same ward to which they will be allocated as a Foundation Doctor. Medical graduates therefore start their training as a Foundation Doctor, with a feeling of preparedness, as they are familiar with the hospital and the wards, they know the staff and how to get tests ordered, for example. These assistantships also help students to identify and learn about their individual boundaries of competence and when to ask more senior clinicians for help and advice.

Assessment during Harmonisation takes on a multi-faceted approach whereby students complete their remaining written assessments, prepare for and sit the national Situation Judgement Test (SJT) and the Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA), and also learn to recognise the value of obtaining regular constructive feedback on clinical work through Supervised Learning Events (SLEs). SLEs allow medical students to be observed by a practising clinician whilst interacting with a patient, performing a physical examination, presenting a case or carrying out a particular clinical skill such as inserting a cannula or urinary catheter or writing up a fluid chart. The assessor then provides feedback to the student with the aim of instilling confidence and improving performance in the future, if appropriate.

Harmonisation SLEs align to Foundation SLEs so that Cardiff medical students not only know what to expect in their Foundation programme but they have experience of managing the administrative aspects of SLEs and their own electronic portfolio (ePortfolio). Cardiff is one of twelve Medical Schools that use the Undergraduate Medical ePortfolio, which is very similar to the NHS Education Scotland (NES) Foundation Portfolio. This is powerful for students as they learn the importance of engaging with a portfolio, can use it to track their performance from Student to Foundation doctor and, if they wish, use

it collate evidence of their professional development. This is especially useful if they are applying for training jobs as junior doctors.

Michael says: “The course will continue to evolve, implementing innovative and improved methods for teaching medicine and aligning to national standards.

“In the Cardiff harmonisation year, you learn to become a doctor by being a doctor.”

Dr Mike Atkinson explains a typical day as a foundation doctor:

“A typical day can take several forms. You might be working on your usual ward with your team, or you could be working ‘on-call’. This usually involves clerking

and assessing new patients or carrying an emergency bleep and responding to emergency calls. Having kept a record of cases and completing Case Based Discussions during the Harmonisation year is perfect preparation for a day of clerking whilst the final year teaching on acute scenarios become reality when it’s your turn to hold the Cardiac Arrest bleep. If you’re on-call for new admissions, you will likely see patients both from General Practice and from the Accident and Emergency department. Having spent 8 weeks in General Practice during the Harmonisation year becomes invaluable in appreciating the whole patient journey.

A normal day on an inpatient ward usually kicks off with sorting out problems, which have occurred overnight, before preparing notes for the daily ward round. New patients should be highlighted and the sicker patients prioritised. Surgical ward rounds are often short and could be done by 10 or 11 am whilst medical rounds usually grind on until lunchtime or later. I gained plenty of experience of both as a medical student so was well-prepared for the pace of the some of the longer ones. Once the patients have been reviewed and plans have been discussed

and set by the senior doctors, it is up to the juniors to set about completing the list of jobs in order that patients are investigated and managed efficiently. Jobs include taking blood and performing other clinical skills, requesting scans which sometimes need to be discussed with a senior radiologist, making referrals for reviews by others specialties, and updating patients’ friends and relatives.

Lunch is often combined with a teaching session or multi-disciplinary team meeting (MDT). MDTs are a great opportunity to learn more about your specialty, as well as getting a taster of pathology and radiology. The afternoon is usually spent looking up blood test results and documenting these in the notes, chasing reports from previously requested imaging, updating plans based on new results, reviewing patients who become more unwell as the day goes on, and more discussions with patients’ friends and relatives. Things can get quite chaotic if you’re looking after a few patients so it’s essential to keep a good list to keep track of everything. Thankfully, the time I spent shadowing the F1 post I was due to take up during the Senior Student Assistantship was brilliant preparation for life as a junior doctor. At the beginning of the placement I was largely observing and trying to work out how the ward operated, but by the end I was essentially working as an additional junior member of the team.

Occasionally you might spend some time attending clinics, either observing or seeing a few patients, or assisting during operating theatre sessions. Loads of aspiring surgeons get the opportunity to develop some basic surgical techniques such as preparing and cleaning the operation site for surgery, suturing, and knot-tying. In addition to a large quantity of clinical work, most people partake in audit projects and teaching.

The Harmonisation year is fantastic preparation for starting work as a junior doctor. Students gain broad experience in Primary and Secondary Care, and the placements are long enough to settle in and begin to function as a junior medic. Whilst my first few weeks as an F1 certainly had ups and downs, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined thanks to the experience I gained as a final year student.”



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MEDIC ISMAKING an IMPACT

“Our research is identifying crucial pathways and mechanisms that allow us to distinguish between different sub-types of rheumatoid arthritis, using experimental models that mirror human forms of the disease. Agents that manipulate the activities of these pathways may also serve as potential therapies for future development.”

2C21 Facebook Page - Innovative Social Network Ms Caitlin Golaup, C21 Facebook

lead administrator, has been named within the top 50 most influential higher education professionals using social media by JISC, a charity championing the use of digital technologies in UK education and research.

The C21 Facebook page is one of the most influential platforms of communication within the School. The page is used as an adjunct tool in medical education and is estimated to reach over 70% of the School’s 1,400 medical students. Innovative content, thought provoking articles and other posts keep the content relevant and interesting to students. Research has highlighted that:

• 42% of students studied topics further due to posts on the page;

• 47% attended an academic event advertised on the page;

• 62% of respondents reported feeling either more or much more satisfied with the medical course as a result of using the page.

3Phoenix Project forging ‘lifelong friendships’ with children in Cardiff and Africa

Two schools thousands of miles apart are using technology to help pupils learn about one another and develop a lifelong partnership between the two schools. Children from Grangetown Primary in Cardiff and Van Rhyn Primary

in Namibia in south-west Africa will meet via regular video link ups in order to share information about their schools and different cultures.

Grangetown primary teacher Louise O’Brien said: “We were very grateful when the Phoenix Project approached our school and asked us if we would like to link with a school in Namibia.

“This is going to be a great learning experience for both schools where we can develop a real understanding of each other’s cultures.”

4 National Teaching FellowshipDr Stephen Greenwood has received the UK’s most prestigious

award for excellence in higher education teaching by the Higher Education Academy. Dr Greenwood’s National Teaching Fellowship recognises his contributions to curriculum design, quality assurance and in leading and coordinating activities that enhance the learning experience through teaching or supporting others.

Speaking of the award, Dr Greenwood said: “I am extremely pleased and honored to have had my work recognised with a National Teaching Fellowship. It is a very prestigious and exciting award, which will make a significant difference not only to my own career but the life of the School of Medicine and the university as a whole.”

5SURGAM (I shall rise) The 2015 SURGAM event was a huge success featuring

inspirational talks, student displays and awards celebrating the achievements of MEDIC staff and students. At this event, the Royal Humane Society presented year 1 medical student Victoria Floyd-Ellis with a Certificate of Commendation. This national award was presented in recognition of Victoria helping a

The School of Medicine has a successful track record of contributing to society through its Research, Learning and Teaching, and Innovation and Engagement activity. Efforts by many staff and students highlight a rich variety of ways in which the School is engaging and benefitting society. Here are just ten recent examples:

1Fresh insight into rheumatoid arthritis offers hope for transforming patient care

A team of immunologists at the School have tread new ground in describing how an immune system protein – interleukin -27 – regulates the inflammatory process in lymphoid-rich rheumatoid arthritis, which causes the characteristic symptoms of swollen and painful joints. Dr Gareth Jones said: “In all forms of rheumatoid arthritis, it is widely understood that early intervention offers the best chance for clinical remission. The sooner treatment begins, the more effective the therapeutic response is likely to be.



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pensioner, who was lost after walking out of Bridgend’s Prince of Wales Hospital on 9 February 2015.

Dr Jeff Allen, Year One Director said: “We are all extremely proud of Victoria for recognising that the elderly lady was in distress and then going out of her way to help her.

“Her actions demonstrated great courage and compassion, everything we look for in our young doctors.”

6 Cardiff-Leuven Partnership – driving innovationThe agreement between Cardiff

University, a top 5 UK University for research excellence and impact, and KU Leuven, a world top-100 university, is geared towards boosting funding for research, creating new research collaborations and offering more opportunities for students and staff to study and teach abroad.

In September 2015, the partnership held its first workshop entitled “Calcium signalling and dysfunction in disease”. Ionic cell signalling mediated by calcium changes plays a fundamental physiological role, the dysfunction of which is relevant to neuroscience, immunology, cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Following this event, potential research collaborations including joint PhD studentships are being explored to catalyse strategically important research links between the two Universities, and help consolidate the recently signed Partnership Agreement. These collaborations should be further enhanced through the Cardiff-KU Leuven Partnership’s Staff Mobility Fund.

7UK join the UNESCO Bioethics programmeAdvances in the life sciences

have raised concerns about the social, cultural, legal and ethical implications of such progress. The UNESCO Bioethics Programme plays a key role in setting standards in this field, provides unique multicultural and multidisciplinary intellectual forums, advises and builds capacity on a regional and national basis and takes part in education and awareness raising of bioethics. Twenty-three years after the UNESCO Bioethics programme was established, Professor Baroness Ilora Finlay, on behalf of Cardiff School of Medicine, is to be an UNESCO Chair in Bioethics. UNESCO Chairs in Bioethics facilitate regional cooperation between universities and UNESCO in bioethics education. This historic appointment marks the inaugural introduction of the United Kingdom to the UNESCO Bioethics programme and was celebrated at an event in October 2015.

8Towards improving pneumonia diagnosisThe School of Medicine has

received a major grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a new tool capable of rapidly diagnosing pneumonia.

Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death in children worldwide, accounting for 15% of all deaths of children under five years old. Although the condition can be treated by antibiotics, delayed and ineffective diagnosis means that only one third of children receive the antibiotics they need.

The award of $100,000 to a team led by the Dr Bastiaan Hoogendoorn is part of a $100 million dollar initiative called the Grand Challenges Explorations. It funds individuals worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mould in how persistent global health and development challenges are solved.

9Queen’s Anniversary PrizeThe Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics has been

awarded the UK’s most prestigious academic award – the Queen’s Anniversary Prize. Its research has, since launching in 2009, made giant strides in discovering the genetic underpinnings of a range of diseases from Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia to bipolar disorder and ADHD.

Vice Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan said: “In the six years it’s been operational, the Centre has gleaned insights to some of the intractable mental health illnesses.

“The internationally-renowned team has translated ground-breaking findings into real patient benefit, helping to cement the University’s world-leading position in mental health research. This prize is a well-deserved reflection of that success.”

1 Inspiring Science CareersThe Life Sciences Challenge ran for the third time

in 2015. It is run by postgraduate students, who wanted to share their enthusiasm for understanding the natural world with pupils in Wales, in the hope of inspiring them to consider scientific careers.

Professor Julie Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser, awarded prizes - teams from Dyffryn Taf High School and Ysgol Plasmawr were the 2015 winners. The finalists toured laboratories and met a number of PhD students and post-doctoral fellows who explained their own research.

Feedback was positive, highlighting that whilst the quiz had been challenging it had also been great fun. From left to right - Professor Llewellyn Roderick (KUL), Professor Ole Petersen (CU), Dr Demetrios

Santiago (KUL), Professor Tony Lai (CU), Professor Geert Bultynck (KUL), Professor Jan Parys (KUL), Professor Alan Williams (CU).



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MEDIC people

REMEDY TALKS TO HOLLY KIRK, ALUMNUS; RACHEL PRICE, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT; EMMA MITCHELL, POSTGRADUATE STUDENT AND KEITH HART,

MEMBER OF STAFF, TO ASK THE QUESTIONS WE LOVE TO KNOW THE ANSWERS TO!

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO FIRST THING IN THE MORNING? HK Has to be the sound of the kettle boiling! I can not function without the first cup of coffee. After that, I go through phases. James Bay has to be the current favourite. RP The Radio 1 breakfast show. We always listened to it on the bus to school, and I still listen to it now. EM This may sound weird but I enjoy listening to PS4 gameplay walkthroughs, as I find it sets me up for the day and makes me feel like I can tackle anything!KH The Today programme. I want to be the first to know if we’re about to nuke Russia. (There is a theory that if the Today programme fails to broadcast our submarines will release Trident.) I also have much bruv-luv for John Humphries and a bit of a crush on Sarah Montague.

AS A CHILD WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?HK A pilot. Purely for an excuse to travel the world. I was persuaded otherwise by my chemistry teacher and have never looked back! (Although wouldn’t mind a light aircraft pilot’s license in the future!)RP I always wanted to be an equine vet - I loved horses when I was younger.EM At first I always wanted to be a vet but this progressed to palaeontologist later on. From there I don’t know how I got to where I am today, but the wealth of variety in nature that is produced by just the 4 DNA bases, amazed me and I think drove me to study genetics and end up in science.KH A vet. Actually, to be precise, I wanted to be James Herriot.

WHO ARE YOUR HEROES AND VILLAINS?HK Tough question. Having recently cried for the umpteenth time at the end of Armageddon I’d have to say Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis’s character) for saving the earth and for sending his daughter’s love back despite a good game of straws. This would be up there with the heroes of this world. I have far too much faith in people to believe anyone would be a true villain, simply misguided!RP My Geography teacher, Miss Pilling, is a hero of mine for inspiring me to backpack and travel the world! Villains – all rude and ignorant people.EM I can honestly say that my parents are my heroes as without their support and encouragement, I would not be here today and I can’t thank them enough. Whereas my villains would have to be, at the moment, Welsh Bin Men as they seem to have a great distaste for my bin as they never seem to empty it!KH Heroes: Fred Sanger. A biomedical genius who won two Nobel prizes and turned down a knighthood because he didn’t want anyone to call him sir. Richard Curtis. Living proof that the pen is mightier than the sword.Villains: Investment Bankers; in short anyone whose first reaction to a global disaster is, ‘how can I make money out of this?’

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING WHAT WOULD IT BE?HK That everyone is born with the means to fulfill their full potential. I think there is so much promise in the world

but not always the support or resources for some to achieve their goals.RP Gender inequality.EM I think I would make the internet free because the internet contains knowledge and I believe knowledge should be free to all.KH May sound obvious, pathetically naive even, but the resolution of the Middle East situation would enable us all to focus on saving the planet, or, more precisely, our descendants who will have to live on it.

WHAT IS YOUR SECRET AMBITION? (Just between us)HK To own a little cake and coffee shop. Such a great little way of bringing a bit of happiness to the world.RP I would love to be able to dance – but my friends will tell you that that’s not happening any time soon!EM The female James Bond, obviously!KH To publish a humongously successful novel.

WHAT DOES THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEED MORE OF?HK Costa coffee machines. No hesitation there, there’s definitely a theme in my answers don’t you think?RP Free buffets, they are always amazing!EM I feel the School of Medicine needs more communal areas for Postgraduates to socialise. So maybe a large common room for all the PGR students on the Heath campus.KH Communicators. I’m always shocked at how little we all know about what goes on in the other buildings we share.

Having completed my FP1 year in the Royal Gwent hospital Newport, I have recently completed my second year of the foundation programme in Withybush hospital, Haverfordwest. I am currently on a year out of training exploring options for the future and am working for 6 months as a locum SHO in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Hywel Dda Trust.

Holly Kirk



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In my experience communication skills are much underrated

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU OFFER MEDICAL STUDENTS TODAY?HK To practice getting the balance between work and life right. It’s a tremendously difficult skill to master, but practice makes perfect and also makes more well rounded, well rested and happy doctors. I’d also say to work out early what style is best for you in learning, e.g. reading/ visual learning and stick with it. The learning never stops but the more efficient it is, the easier it’ll be in the long run.

RP Why is Jeremy Hunt Health Secretary?!EM Why do we always fire at Will? He must have a lot of holes in him by now!KH How much money Vinci have made from our car parks.

HOW DO YOU RELAX?HK I get to the coast. Recently I bought a paddle board and now think it’s the next best thing since sliced bread. RP I really enjoy cooking, going on day trips or watching a good film. A good night out with the girls is also always a winner!EM A Netflix binge is my ideal way to relax and if there’s really unhealthy food there too, perfect!KH I’ve invented a new sport; it’s a cross between rambling, foraging, jogging and trail running. I head into the Beacons with my faithful dog Bofur (I know) and collect natural objet d’art to fashion into sculptures that nobody wants.

IF YOU COULD TURN THE CLOCK BACK, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?HK I take quite a while in making most decisions in life so wouldn’t really change too much after much thought other than wasting too much time on thinking some things through! You can never win eh?!RP I would have probably liked to learn another language, or tell my younger self not to take life so seriously!EM I would go back and tell my younger self to enjoy herself more and let her hair down once in a while! I feel like I didn’t make the most of my teens as I should have!KH Focus. The really successful people I know chose one path and stuck to it. I have spent too much (albeit enjoyable) time looking sideways.

WHAT IS YOUR BEST HOLIDAY?HK Following an elective placement in Fiji, I went on to explore a few countries over that side of the world which turned into a 3 month exploration in total. I had the best time ever, met some of the most humble and inspiring people ever and managed to get to the last Lions rugby test in Sydney in 2013, now how could you ever beat that?RP I went travelling around South East Asia with one of my best friends from

university after we graduated in 2013. We had the best time, in such an amazing part of the world. I cannot wait to go back.EM My best holiday was for my 21st birthday. For the first week I spent the week in Northumberland with my family and then for the second week my boyfriend came up to see me and we stayed in a little cottage in a really quaint village. It was a lovely holiday to celebrate such a milestone in my life.KH Villa Ikaros, in the hills above Rethymnon in Crete, with the family; sunshine, sleep, swimming, reading, great food and more sleep.

I’m a first year PhD student working in the Department of Child Health at UHW and at Biosciences. The aim of my PhD is to find out which bacteria in the gut microbiome of premature infants are producing proteases and then investigating whether these proteases are compromising the integrity of gut

epithelial tight junctions. I’m currently new to

Cardiff as I completed my Undergraduate and Masters degrees in Genetics at The University of

Leicester.

Emma Mitchell

I am currently a third year medical student, from a small town in Wales known as Llandeilo. I previously studied

Biomedical Science, also at Cardiff University, so have

got to know Cardiff well over the years. I enjoy scuba diving, walking in the Brecon Beacons, and generally being

outdoors.

Rachel Price

I’m a lecturer based in the Centre for Medical Education, but in a former life I was a research scientist involved in molecular biological research, first in Bristol, then in Oxford, arriving here in 1998. Research themes have been varied, ranging from protein engineering to tissue typing (for transplantation) to cervical cancer. My roles now include lecturing to medical students, facilitating case based learning, leading the Young Adult unit and the roll out of our new timetabling app MyTT. I am thrilled to be part of the innovative, exciting and successful C21 team.

Keith Hart

WHICH BOOK DID YOU RE-READ MOST AS A CHILD?HK I am not much of a reader. It’s an effort to get through one book for me let alone re-read it. Sorry to disappoint on that question.RP According to my Mum, it was a book called Winne the Witch. I absolutely loved it apparently!EM It has to be “Sabriel” by Garth Nix. I loved all the books in this series but this one really stood out for me as I could empathise with the lead character.KH The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. No doubt my family and friends would say I’ve always been a bit of tree hugger who is ‘off with the fairies.’

WHICH ONE QUESTION WOULD YOU REALLY LIKE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO?HK Is there life beyond our planet, if so would David Attenborough narrate the discovery and exploration of it? I think that might be a two for one there.



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Editor: Sarah Hatch, School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XNThe Editor wishes to thank all contributors to this edition of ReMEDy.

The Editor reserves the right to edit contributions received. Whilst care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information, this cannot be guaranteed.

Views expressed in ‘ReMEDy’ do not necessarily reflect those of the School. Feedback and items of interest relating to the School are welcome and should be sent to [email protected]

Cardiff University is a registered charity, no. 1136855 Desig

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CARDIFF UNIVERSITY TO LEAD ON EXCITING NEW RESEARCH PROJECT FOR WALES

HealthWise Wales is an exciting new project, led by a team of researchers at Cardiff and Swansea Universities, which hopes to involve everyone in Wales in improving the health and wellbeing of the population. It is a partnership between the public and the scientific community in Wales and is funded by Welsh Government. The project will be officially launched on 1 February 2016.

HealthWise Wales aims to recruit and follow up 260,000 participants

aged 16 and over, to form a register of potential participants for research studies. By collecting information on lifestyle, health and wellbeing from the people living in Wales, the project aims to study the environmental and biological causes of disease, and test the effectiveness of interventions and policies aimed at improving health and wellbeing.

To sign up, please visit www.healthwisewales.gov.wales, where you will be asked a few simple questions about your lifestyle, health and wellbeing. This information, along with details of your routinely collected NHS records, will allow HealthWise Wales to answer research questions such as “Why are some people in Wales healthier than others even though they live in the same area?” or “Why are people admitted to

hospital in Wales and is there anything we can do so less people need to be admitted?”

Participants will be contacted every six months or so to answer new questions or update their information. They may also be contacted and asked to take part in new research studies, although they are under no obligation to do so.

Dr Shantini Paranjothy, Scientific Lead for the project, said: ‘This is a truly exciting opportunity to shape the focus of health and care research in Wales. Our collective information can make a real difference and improve health, wellbeing and the provision of health and care services for future generations.’ For more information please email [email protected] or call 0800 9 172 172.

The postgraduate research mobile app, designed to make the life of a PGR student and potential applicant easier was launched on 5th October 2015, the first day of PGR induction week. The app provides the following services:

PGR MEDIC students: • Register as a student• An automatically populated

calendar of events with monitoring task due dates and important training dates

• Push notification enablement options

• Ability to add PGR calendar to student’s personal calendars

• Notify students of tailored targeted events, reducing the volume of untargeted emails

• Receive instant notifications regarding training, change of venue, news etc

• Access to a wellbeing quiz that signposts to appropriate support services depending on individual results

• Direct contact with the PGR office.

Applicants:• Register as an applicant

• Receive instant notifications of new funding opportunities

• Apply for a studentship• Upload supporting documents for

a studentship application• Contact supervisory team of a

project directly• Direct contact with the PGR office.

Harriet Quinn-Scoggins, 2nd year PhD student, has downloaded the app and says: “The app is good. I think it is really beneficial that after completing the wellbeing quiz, links are provided for further support should you wish to pursue it – and that you can decide not to record your results. The upcoming events function is very handy, though I would suggest student deadlines are made to stand out more to users.”

The MEDIC PGR app can be downloaded for free at Google Play and the App Store. For further information please email: [email protected].

INNOVATIVE POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH (PGR) MOBILE APP LAUNCHED

harmonisation in practice - cardiff university · 2016-04-04 · have endorsed these guidelines. of...

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