QE contemporaries Joseph Masters and Priyank Patel have amassed a remarkable collection of accolades during their medical studies.
The pair, who were both at the School from 2004 until 2011, have won no fewer than eight awards and scholarships between them, with a record of success that began as early as their very first term.
Joseph and Priyank are at ‘Barts and The London’ (The London School of Medicine and Dentistry), which is the medical school faculty at Queen Mary University of London.
Priyank has passed all three years of his medicine course so far with distinction, which means he is in the top 10% of students in the year. He is intercalating this year in Medical Education, having completed the third year of the medicine course last year, which was his first clinical year. (UK medical students are permitted to intercalate, that is take a break from studying from their main medical degree, in order to pursue a separate but related research degree, normally for one year).
“This year, as part of my Medical Education BSc, I am undertaking a research project evaluating the current patterns and practices of educational supervision in postgraduate medical education in England,” he says.
Joseph intercalated in Neuroscience last year, gaining his BSc, and has now started his first year of clinical medicine. “I am thoroughly enjoying the clinical placements and the more practical side of things, which gives me the opportunity to apply the knowledge built in the first two years of the course,” he said. “I’m looking to pursue a career in academic neurology, combining research with clinical practice.”
After their first-term examinations, both OEs secured recently established scholarships that are awarded according to a combination of merit and financial need – specifically, for the top two medical students whose household income was less than a certain level. They are worth £3,500 for each of the five years of the course, subject to the holders’ satisfactory progress each year.
Joseph won The John Abernethy Scholarship, which commemorates the founder of the Barts Medical College, who lived between 1764 and 1831. Priyank gained The Dean Rees Scholarship, which is named after Dame Lesley Rees, the emeritus Professor of Chemical Endocrinology and Consultant Physician and the first female Dean of the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, who led the College to its merger as part of Queen Mary University of London in 1995.
The pair also won merit-based awards from a City of London livery company, The Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers, to support their year intercalating.
In addition, Priyank has gained these awards, based on his academic performance over the past three years:
- James Knott Family Trust, Intercalated Award.
- Barts and The London Alumni Association Intercalated Award.
And Joseph has won the following:
- Association of British Neurologists’ Intercalated Degree Award – which is awarded to just two medical students nationally.
- A merit-based award from the Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust, again for his year intercalating.