First medical lecture in Welsh
23 January 2017
The first ever Medical lecture in Welsh was delivered on Monday, 16 January, at Cardiff University.
The lecture on bone health was delivered by Dr Awen Iorwerth, Clinical Lecturer at Cardiff University, to a full lecture theatre, with simultaneous translation available to non-Welsh speaking students.
Sara Whittam, Development Manager, Welsh Medium Provision at Cardiff University’s Medical School, funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, explained: “As part of our ongoing development of Welsh medium provision at the Medical School, this lecture was a wonderful way to raise awareness amongst all our students of the use of the Welsh language and the importance of bilingualism within Medicine..."
“Over 200 students were present and the feedback has been very positive. Many of our students wish to learn Welsh, and are willing to attend Welsh for All classes before going on clinical placements.”
Following the lecture, Nia Williams, one of the Welsh speaking medical students commented: “It was an experience that made me very glad to be Welsh. Being able to demonstrate my mother tongue to my friends from overseas was fantastic.”
Another of the students, Alexandra Cawthra, added: "The lecture was definitely a unique experience, I know a lot of people were intrigued to see what it was going to be like! I think it was a great step forward for the Welsh language and I'm glad I was able to experience it to prepare me for any future encounters of dual language events."
Dr Awen Iorwerth also organises the South Wales Conferences for the Medical Society and appeared on the S4C programme Doctoriaid Yfory / Tomorrow’s Doctors - a major TV documentary series that looks at how a leading School of Medicine is preparing a new generation of doctors for the ever-growing demands of the NHS. Greenbay Media were filming the Lecture for the second series of Doctoriaid Yfory.
