Electronic Precinct - Nov 1997

Top Prize for Liverpool medical students

Two former students from The University of Liverpool, who are now junior doctors in Liverpool hospitals, have been awarded the prestigious Sir John Ellis Student Prize by the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME).

Vanessa Holme and Dharmintra Pasupathy won the award after carrying out a study into a new form of student-based learning and investigating medical students' attitudes in both England and Sweden. Students were asked about their views on the medical profession, patients and illness, interest in medi cine and the relevance of their medical course to becoming a doctor.

The study is the result of a joint elective project during their final year of study in The University of Liverpool Medical School, with full support provided by the Department of Health Care Education. It was aimed at examining the various attitudes in Sweden and Liverpool via a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 196 students spread across the first, third and fifth years from the Medical School at Liverpool, and a similar number at Linkoping University, Sweden.

A summary of the research findings indicated how the new medical undergraduate curriculum at The University of Liverpool will provide students with more positive attitudes towards working in the medical profession.

Glennys Parsell, Lecturer in the Department of Health Care, said 'This research shows that the new medical course at Liverpool is excellent preparation for a career in medicine.'

The two former students received their prize at a conference in London in September and presented a paper on their findings on the following day.