Curriculum brought to life by medical student

Third year medical student Hannah Cowan worked in partnership with Yvonne Proctor, Year 6 teacher at Tredegarville Church in Wales Primary school, to identify ‘alcohol awareness’ as an area which would benefit from the development of an innovative educational resource within the health and well-being theme of the current curriculum.

Hannah developed a short film highlighting key messages about alcohol and its effects and 3 fun and interactive activities. Great fun and learning was had by all.

Video raising awareness and highlighting key messages about alcohol and its effects

Yvonne Proctor, Year 6 teacher said: “The pupils have a better understanding of the dangers of the over use of alcohol. So does the teacher! The pupils, who come from a deprived area of the city, also benefitted from learning about a young female in a professional role, and the existence/purpose/ accessibility of further education.”

This was part of Hannah's 'Student Selected Component' (SSC) project. In all years of the MBBCh programme there are opportunities for students to explore in-depth areas of medicine which are of interest to them.

They choose their speciality, location and tutor and work with them to design the project, meaning they will be undertaking study tailored to them.

Student selected components can include any activity as long as there is a medical element to it. So, whilst many students choose hospital based projects, others have worked with homeless societies to see how common illnesses are managed, at military bases to immerse themselves in services healthcare and some even create e-learning modules to be used by students around the world.

If you would like a MEDIC Ambassador to deliver a one hour alcohol awareness session in your school please contact medicambassadors@cardiff.ac.uk

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