12 minute read
The Catecholamines Isabel Singleton
The Medical Society of Caterham School
Rosie Home The Wright Society is Caterham School’s prestigious medics society; founded in Summer 2020, I have had the honour of being the society’s second ever president, a role that I have found incredibly rewarding and enjoyable. The society is named after our patron, Dr Richard EP Wright MB BS (Lond); MRCGP, who, as well as being the school GP, is the Clinical Director of North Tandridge Primary Care Network. Our aim is to aid aspiring medics, dentists, and vets in the difficult process of applying to their chosen course, as well as promoting interest in the subject, and preparing the members for studying it in the future.
In the Lower Sixth, the focus in the society has been widening the breadth of the medics’ knowledge, particularly by weekly presentations. Each session a member of the society presents to their peers on a subject of their choice, which so far this year have ranged from general practice to heart transplants. In the latter half of the spring term the focus for the Lower Sixth will shift towards university applications, with several sessions being dedicated to preparation for the UCAT; the clinical admissions test all medics and dentists must take before applying. Meanwhile, in the Upper Sixth, the focus has been predominately on applications, particularly preparation for interviews. We’ve had sessions going through previous interview questions, as well as some on polarising ethical cases, all of which have been incredibly useful. Both the Lower and Upper Sixth have also been lucky enough to receive some inspiring talks from outside speakers: on top of multiple great presentations from Dr Wright himself, we were also treated to a session with Dr Ramesseur, an anaesthetist at St Thomas’ Hospital, who gave an amazing talk on his career in medicine.
My advice to anyone wishing to apply to medicine in the future would be to gain as much knowledge and experience within the career as possible; it is really important to demonstrate throughout the application process that you have a broad understanding of the medical profession, so it’s beneficial to start accumulating this early on. This can be done in many ways, but a good place to start is simply reading books; those such as This Is Going To Hurt and Do No Harm are great introductions to the career and really interesting reads. Work experience is also important, but this does not just have to be in a hospital; volunteering in care homes, for example, is a great experience to be able to talk about. No matter what you do to gain insight into the career, reflection is key; being able to talk about what your experience has taught you, and how it relates to being a doctor, is arguably more important than what the experience actually is. Ultimately, any activity that uses the skills required to become a good doctor, such as communication, teamwork, and empathy will be beneficial.
Overall, it’s been a great year for The Wright Society. Many of the Upper Sixth medics have secured multiple interviews, being able to put everything learnt in the interview sessions this year into practice. In addition, it’s been such a pleasure to welcome in the brilliant Lower Sixth, and watch their confidence and knowledge grow enormously over the past few months; I have every confidence the society will be in incredibly capable hands next year.
Book Recommendations
The books in the following list, from our science department teachers, provide a good introduction to different fields of science.
The Ancestor’s Tale:
A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life –
Richard Dawkins
The book follows the path of humans backwards through evolutionary history, describing some of humanity’s cousins as they converge on their “concestor”, the most common ancestor between species.
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever
Lived – Adam Rutherford This book explains the Out of Africa hypothesis: Homo sapiens originated from Africa and migrated to Europe and further. The author discusses genes for human traits, arguing that racial classification is a scientifically invalid concept.
Your Inner Fish – Neil Shubin This book explores the evolutionary ancestry of vertebrates by an author with expertise in palaeontology, genetics and embryo development.
On the Origin of Species –
Charles Darwin
A fundamental text in the life sciences. The book presents a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by descent through a branching pattern of evolution, with natural selection as the chief agent of change.
The Greatest Show on Earth –
Richard Dawkins Oxygen: The Molecule that
Made the World – Nick Lane Sapiens – Yuval Harari Homo Deus – Yuval Harari
Medicine
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death,
and Brain Surgery –
Henry Marsh
(Specialty: neurosurgery) A very informative book on the delicate work of a neurosurgeon and the struggles against bureaucratic limitations in healthcare. The documentation of outreach in Ukraine is particularly insightful to the role of professionals on a global scale.
Breaking and Mending –
Joanna Cannon
(Specialty: psychiatry) Follow a late medical student’s path to becoming a doctor, lined with emotionally charged and deeply reflective stories she encounters. It is a beautifully written short collection which will leave you relishing the hardships of a doctor-intraining, and in awe of the beauty hidden in everyday happenings.
This is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay (Specialty: obstetrics and gynaecology) A humorously-told account of a junior doctor’s struggles, which eventually led to him leaving the medical profession. It reveals the dilemma of duty of work versus insufficient compensation a doctor in the UK faces.
Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
– Adam Kay
War Doctor: Surgery on the
Front Line – David Nott (Specialty: trauma surgery)
Being Mortal: Medicine and What
Matters in the End – Atul Gawande (Specialty: general & endocrine surgery)
Biochemistry
The Selfish Gene – Richard Dawkins Named the most influential science book of all time by the Royal Society, the book illustrates the gene-centred view of evolution. Arguing that the genes that are passed on are the ones whose evolutionary consequences serve their own implicit interest in being replicated, not necessarily those of the organism.
The Vital Question – Nick Lane Why is life the way it is? Cells rely on the electrochemical gradient set up across a membrane to power ATP synthase, producing ATP. Lane argues that such a gradient could not have arisen in ordinary conditions such as the open sea. Instead, life began in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
Foundations of Chemical Biology –
C. M. Dobson, J. A. Gerrard & A. J. Pratt
Have you ever questioned how much of the text in a biology textbook is completely true? Why do hydrogen bonds between amino acids form an alpha helix? This book delves into the intrinsic properties of biomolecules such as amino acids, sugar-phosphate derivatives, and phospholipids, explaining how their chemical structures allow them to perform the function. A great introduction to biochemistry.
The Chemistry of Life – Steven Rose Foundations of Organic Chemistry –
Michael Hornby & Josephine Peach Principles and Problems in Physical
Chemistry for Biochemists –
N. C. Price, R. A. Dwek, R. G. Ratcliffe & M. R. Wormald Bringing Chemistry To Life: from
matter to man – R. J. P. Williams
& J. J. R. Frausto da Silva
Nature via Nurture – Matt Ridley
Understanding Biochemistry:
Essays in Biochemistry –
The Biochemical Society
Chemistry
Molecules of Murder – John Emsley This book deals with naturally occurring and man-made molecules that are notorious murder weapons, looking at their chemistry, toxicology and effects on the human body. It also explains the techniques used by forensic chemists.
H2O: A biography of Water –
Phillip Ball
A book that explains what we do and don’t know about the strange character of one of the most essential and ubiquitous substances, water. Explaining its origin, where it can be found on other planets, and the different kinds of ice and liquid water.
The Disappearing Spoon... and other
true tales from the Periodic Table –
Sam Kean Periodic Tales:
The Curious Lives of the Elements –
Hugh Aldersey-Williams
Why Chemical Reactions Happen –
James Keeler & Peter Wothers A Guidebook to Mechanism
in Organic Chemistry – Peter Sykes Nature’s Building Blocks –
John Emsley
Engineering
The Making of the Atomic Bomb –
Richard Rhodes
An informative account on early nuclear weapons history and the development of modern physics in general, praised by both historians and weapon engineers and scientists alike. Written in simple language, it covers immense detail of the discovery of modern physics and multiple prominent events and projects of its application.
Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy –
Serhii Plokhy
On 26 April, 1986, the reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine exploded. A mere 5% of the reactor’s fuel escaped, but half of Europe was swallowed in radioactive contamination. This book traces a flawed nuclear industry, political pressures, and human errors that led up to the tragedy, and the humanitarian turmoil that was left in its wake.
Understanding Flight –
David Anderson & Scott Eberhardt
How to Build a Car – Adrian Newey
Concluding Remarks
Mr Dan Quinton
The Moncrieff Society started over 50 years ago here at Caterham School to showcase the best in science above and beyond the curriculum, and today the Society is still flying high with those same founding principles. I took over the reins over 20 years ago and renamed it “The Moncrieff-Jones Society” to acknowledge the massive contribution of its founder John Jones. The MJS has been a big part of my life here at Caterham and is therefore very dear to my heart. I have heard many times the foolish argument that some people in this world are scientific and others are creative. There is no one more creative than some of the pioneers in science who must devise ways and design equipment to test the hypotheses they are investigating. I would argue that scientists are amongst the most creative people on the planet. Lockdown and Covid were not able to stop our lecture series - we just adapted and went online which provided opportunities for pupils from our partner state schools to attend – from Oxted, Warlingham and the London Academic of Excellence in Newham. It has been wonderful though this year to return to what MJS does best - live lectures by outstanding students. Thanks to science we live in an extraordinary technological age, but also a dreadful world of Twitter sound bites, where ill-formed, selfappointed armchair gurus give their opinion about anything and everything, without really knowing or understanding the facts, or only having superficial knowledge having read the first article that appears in Google. The brave students giving lectures at the MJS meetings not only make me very proud, but also give me hope for the future. They receive no help from staff in their research and normally must present a 30-minute talk before then being grilled by a large audience for another 40 minutes. They teach themselves a vast array of material outside any A level specification and then have to understand it all if they are to survive a MJS lecture. The trendy buzz phrase ‘Independent Learning’ has crept into education in recent years. Although as scientists we loath trendy jargon, the MJS has been doing just this for the last 50 years – a Moncrieff-Jones lecture surely must be the ultimate in ‘Independent Learning’. In delivering an MJS talk pupils are showing a skill the top universities around the world are looking for in their undergraduates. We live in an age of science. There has never been a better time to study science and I am jealous of all our students leaving to go to university to study science degrees at this time. How I would love to sit in on their lectures. Finally, I must thank Jason (President) and Rainis (Vice President) for the incredible job they have done leading the society over the last 12 months and taking it to new heights. The quality of talks this year has been truly exceptional. I look forward to welcoming them back here anytime. They will always be a part of the Moncrieff-Jones Society.
Past Moncrieff-Jones Society Presidents & Vice Presidents
Past Endorsers of the Moncrieff-Jones Society
2007-2008
President: Luke Bashford (University College London) Vice President: Edd Simpson (University of Leeds)
2008-2009
President: Tonya Semyachkova (Balliol College, Oxford) Vice President: Raphael Zimmermann (University of East Anglia)
2009-2010
President: Alex Hinkson (St Catherine’s College, Oxford) Vice President: Alexander Clark (Robinson College, Cambridge)
2010-2011
President: Oliver Claydon (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge) Vice President: Sally Ko (Imperial College, London)
2011-2012
President: Glen-Oliver Gowers (University College, Oxford) Vice President: Ross-William Hendron (St Peter’s College, Oxford)
2012-2013
President: Rachel Wright (St Peter’s College, Oxford) Vice President: David Gardner (University of Nottingham)
2013-2014
President: Holly Hendron (St Peter’s College, Oxford) Vice President: Annie-Marie Baston (Magdalen College, Oxford)
2014-2015
President: Ollie Hull (Merton College, Oxford) Vice President: Cesci Adams (University of Durham)
2015-2016
President: Thomas Land (University of Southampton) Vice President: Emily Yates (University of Birmingham)
2016-2017
President: Hannah Pook (St John’s College, Oxford) Vice President: Vladimir Kalinovsky (University College London)
2017-2018
President: Kamen Kyutchukov (University College London) Vice President: Natalie Bishop (University College London)
2018-2019
President: Daniel Farris (University of Exeter) Vice President: Rowan Bradbury (University of York)
2019-2020
President: Michael Land (University of Warwick) Vice President: Ben Brown (Bristol University)
2020-2021
President: Alex Richings (Imperial College London) Vice President: Max Fogelman (University of St Andrews)
2021-2022
President: Jason Cho (University College London) Vice President: Rainis Cheng (University of Hong Kong)
Dr Jan Schnupp Lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford Dr Bruce Griffin Professor at Surrey University, specialising in lipid metabolism, nutritional biochemistry and cardiovascular disease
Dr Simon Singh Popular author and science writer including the book “Trick or Treatment” Dr Mark Wormald Tutor of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford Dr Alexis Bailey Surrey University, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology Leader of the Drug Addiction Research Team
Dr Nick Lane Reader in Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London Mike Bonsall Professor of Mathematical Biology at St Peter’s College, Oxford Dr Max Bodmer Marine Biologist and lecturer at Lincoln and Nottingham University Dr Jansen Zhao Senior Researcher in the Computer Science Department at ETH Zürich Mr Shahnawaz Rasheed Consultant Surgeon at The Royal Marsden and Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London Mr Mark Hitchman Managing Director at Canon Medical Systems
