Aspiring Medics Visit Eton College

Once again, Eton College has kindly opened it's doors and invited aspiring medics from Charters Sixth Form to it's MedSoc lectures.

Below is an account written by Year 12 student, Justin, who clearly enjoyed the talk and benefited from the experience.

"Today, Aspiring Medics from Charters School visited Eton College, where Stephen B Holgate's findings and research on allergy and asthma were discussed. Holgate talked about personal stories that inspired him, specifically Ella Roberta Kissi-Debrah, who was asthmatic and died due to the devastating air pollution around her Lewisham home in 2013 - she was only 9 years old. Her mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, was impassioned by her daughter's tragic death and founded the Ella Roberta Family Foundation which played a major role in campaigning for the introduction of the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone). Rosamund won the Elf award in 2022 for her work to improve the health of children.

This whole experience was inspirational to me, how the impact of a single child caused such a difference. Something Sir Holgate said stuck with me specifically, "The reason you want to be in medicine, is to help others." The importance of ethics in medicine became evident throughout the talk, as he referred to many other heroic figures in medicine specifically in the development of asthma, such as Margaret Turner-Warwick who actually inspired Sir Holgate himself! Sir Holgate touched on the how connected medicine is in research, as in one of his many impressive studies he had multinational involvement from many countries such as China, Russia, Taiwan and many others.

In summary, Sir Holgate's talk was very inspiring as he not only talked about the science behind allergies and asthma but brought to light the human side of medicine and underlined, "how important stories are in modern medicine." Everyone from Charters appreciated his talk on asthma and allergies due to the environment and would love to attend others!

"Confidence is the courage to live out your convictions no matter what the crowd is doing" a quote that stuck with me from the talk."

-Justin Jung

Opportunities like this are just part of a larger support network that aspiring medics benefit from when they join Charters Sixth Form. Each year there is a dedicated group of students who are interested in pursuing a career in medicine and access to activities like the recent lecture at Eton College is why aspiring medics choose Charters Sixth Form!

If you know someone who is looking for an inspiring, yet nurturing, environment to complete their Key Stage 5 studies, our Sixth Form applications close on 12th December. They can use the button below to start their application, and begin to 'write their own future'.

Begin YOUR application today