An Imperially good time

By Louise Lo Woon Theng​, Class of 2021

Twenty-one Year 2 classmates and I went to London from 4 to 10 March for the annual LKCMedicine-Imperial Student Exchange. This exchange reinforces ties between the two partner schools at the student level and encourages cross-cultural and shared academic learning experiences.

On Monday, 5 March, we were greeted a the lobby of our hotel by Imperial Faculty of Medicine Head of Learning Resources Dr Mike Barrett and Collaboration Project Administrator Miss Roxy Hughes who gave us a tour of the South Kensington campus. After that, we headed to Charing Cross Hospital, where many lessons are conducted.

There we had the opportunity to meet Dr Karim Meeran, Imperial Faculty of Medicine Director of Teaching, who surprised us with an endocrinology pop quiz. After the mental exercise, he shared his thoughts on the National Health Service (NHS).

The highlights of the first day, though, were the anatomy-related activities. We visited the Pathology Museum at Charing Cross Hospital, which has a vast array of potted specimens from both diseased patients and forensic pathology cases.

A book with comprehensive back stories and detailed explanations for each potted specimen helped us learn more about what we saw. We also joined the Imperial Year 1 students for a dissection class focusing on the cardiovascular system. This was a novel experience as none of us had performed a dissection before as we use pre-dissected plastinated human specimens back at home.

We ended our first day with a welcome reception at the Union Bar where we interacted with both students, lecturers and staff from Imperial.

On 6 and 7 March, we attended a Team-Based Learning (TBL) exercise with the Imperial Year 2 students to compare how TBL is done at our two schools. It was interesting to note that they used scratch cards as opposed to online ones, and that they do not have an Application Exercise. We also participated in two practical sessions about the respiratory system with the Year 1 students to learn how to test for different lung conditions in the clinic.

After that, we went on a tour of the Queen’s Tower, a historical tower in the middle of the Imperial South Kensington campus. It has humongous bells that are rung during royal anniversaries and the Imperial College Degree Ceremony. It was a physically tiring tour as the seemingly never-ending staircase narrowed the higher up we climbed. But the view at the top made it all worthwhile. Carved into the stone blocks encircling the ceiling of the top floor were the names of all the builders, clerks and architects involved in the building of the tower.

The next day, we explored the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital via a treasure hunt, where we followed clues to unique artworks around the hospital. After that, we were treated to a fun revision session. Roughly based on the rules of the game Taboo, we had to describe a medical term related to infectious diseases, medical specialties, signs and symptoms or anatomy, without naming the actual term, while our team mates had to guess. We ended the day singing along to the well-known tunes of the musical Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

After a day of fun and games, it was time for more learning. We were given the privilege of participating in a teaching ward round discussing HIV cases at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, led by consultant physician Dr Mark Nelson. Clinical fellow Dr Casper Rokx shared with us his research on how he and his team are trying to find a cure for the disease. Afterwards, we sat in on an x-ray meeting where doctors from various departments came together to discuss their patients.

We were honoured that Chief Executive of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Mr Karl Munslow-Ong and Chairman of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett took time out of their busy schedules to have lunch with us. Over lunch, we chatted about the differences between the NHS and Singapore’s healthcare system.

After lunch, we joined a grand round where doctors discussed how best to break bad news to patients. This involved a role playing session where we were grouped into pairs and pretended to be either the patient or doctor. It reminded us greatly of the Integrated Clinical Practice sessions we have at LKCMedicine.

To give us space for reflection, we headed out for a stroll along the Thames, which included a visit to the oldest surviving operating theatre. It was intriguing to see vintage medical devices and learn how surgeries were conducted without anaesthesia in the past. We ended with a stop at the Gordon Pathology museum at Guy’s Hospital, the largest medical museum in the UK. There was even a body mummified only in 2011 so that scientists can study the preservation process.

On the last day of the exchange, we joined the Imperial Year 2 students for a psychology lecture, before heading to a feedback session about the exchange. Our visit ended with a farewell social activity at the H bar at Imperial, which was another great opportunity for us to bond with our Imperial counterparts.