NEWS
UCL MEDICS ON THE COVID-19 FRONTLINE Written by Jack Walters; Photography by Johara Meyer and Interviewees
When Covid-19 first reached British shores in
February 2020, there were growing concerns that the NHS would be overwhelmed. Soon after, with Covid cases skyrocketing, the government plunged the nation into its first lockdown and urged Britons to “Stay Home, Protect The NHS, Save Lives”. Since then, over 340 UCL medic students have enlisted their support and joined the NHS’ ‘call to action’. The Director of the UCL Medical School, Professor Deborah Gill, explained to UCL how some students spent up to 20 hours a week offering support to the NHS and stressed that this was on top of their student clinical placement hours. “We are enormously proud of their contribution to the healthcare community”, Gill added. Many medics have spent the last twelve months working at the Whittington Health NHS Trust in Islington, three-miles away from Gower Street. Professor Carly Fertleman, a consultant paediatrician at the trust and a UCL Medical School undergraduate lead, described UCL medics as having played “an invaluable part” in the NHS’ response to Covid-19. Other students, including Priya Gopaldas, have been working just a stone’s throw away 4
from UCL’s Main Quad at University College London Hospital (UCLH). Priya explained that the Christmas-surge in Covid-cases prompted her “to get involved and give back to UCLH”. The fifth-year medic recalled for Pi Magazine her “daunting” first shift and explained how she followed nurses into the intensive care unit where more than 200 Covid-patients were waiting. “I was shocked at how ill patients were and found it incredibly difficult to process just how many people were dying.” However, she pointed out “the psychological burden was greatly eased by the friendly doctors and nurses who would go beyond their job description to offer support.” Priya was quickly tasked with jobs she had no experience of before, such as taking arterial blood gas . Since then she has performed this procedure over 100 times and said, “I now feel like an expert!” “The most complex part of the job was that, due to the ICU being understaffed, there was always something to do”. This included making hourly-observations, drawing-up medication, and even turning patients over to ease their breathing. But Priya also revealed that her work has
