12 minute read
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
from 2024 RCSI Alumni Magazine
by RCSI
RCSI’s flourishing societies encourage fun and friendship, and enrich personal and professional development. Alumni share their stories
During Freshers’ Fortnight, as brand new RCSI students file into 26 York Street, each is invited to join up to 52 societies, a number that has grown over a decade from a very healthy 29.
The goal of a student society is to enrich student experience, foster cultural exchange, and build valuable skills beyond the academic curriculum. As well as offering opportunities for personal growth, friendship and fun, being a member of a society is often the first step towards creating a valuable post-graduation network of professional contacts.
In her first year at RCSI, DR SIMRAAJ POWAR-MINHAS (Medicine, Class of 2018), an Ontario-based GP with a special interest in dermatology, eagerly signed up for multiple societies that aligned with her interests, and then became involved in several: “I attended meetings and events to gauge their activities and purpose. Over time, I gravitated towards roles where I could contribute effectively,” she says. Powar-Minhas’ commitment to RCSI societies reflects the adage, “Ask a busy person” – the dizzying schedule that ensued would floor anyone other than a high-achieving, highly organised and hardworking student. As Paediatric Society Co-President, she organised annual Teddy Bear Hospital events and peer-led tutorials on paediatric clinical skills to prepare students for exams. As Red Cross Society Treasurer, she was responsible for managing all monetary donations, transactions, and balancing the budget. As Student Association Vice-President and Academic Advisor, she shared with younger students the skills they required to achieve their potential in an international programme, through academic support and guidance. She also became Orthopaedic Society Public Relations Officer and found time to write a monthly column for RCSI’s DiveRCSIty newspaper, while participating in the activities of at least five other social and cultural societies.
There was plenty of fun, too, and outlets for talents such as dancing and singing, says Powar-Minhas, providing a much-needed balance to the rigours of medical education, offering avenues for stress relief and socialising, which, she says, were crucial for maintaining wellbeing during her time at RCSI. “I was Dance Society Vice-President and, as I am of Punjabi background, a member of PIBS’ [Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Society] Dance Team, and a member of Music Soc, singing and playing the piano. The friendships forged within these associations endured after graduation, and became a valuable professional network and a source of support.”
The flourishing of student societies at RCSI, from the career-focused to the cultural, is viewed as a hugely positive development by RCSI faculty and staff and is wholeheartedly supported. There is a dedicated Societies Coordinator in the Student Services Office and a smart Student Life HQ online hub, a useful tool for students to keep track of the activities of so many societies, with a very useful real-time calendar of events so students can see what is happening today, tomorrow and for weeks to come. In one week in March, there were 26 activities or events planned, including one day with no fewer than nine events.
Why so many societies? “It’s reflective of the student body,” says Jackie Knowles, RCSI Societies Coordinator at the Student Services Office. “Students at RCSI are over-achievers, they are career-focused, and they thrive on having their hands in a lot of pots! Sometimes a society is founded because students want to develop a professional interest in a certain field. Others might develop a society which shares and promotes their culture.” (The Canadian Irish Medical Society, for instance, hosts an annual Canadian Thanksgiving Potluck, which gathers a strong Canadian community and helps alleviate homesickness.)
Jackie continues: “Students come to us with a proposal for a society, we consider if there is a gap, we allocate a budget, then students get to work on a committee and a constitution. Committees pour their hearts and souls into their societies to cater to the needs of their membership. In the process, they develop skills like communication, teamwork and project management, in an atmosphere of respect, collaboration, scholarship and innovation.”
Career-focused, professional societies, such as the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS), draw keynote and panel speakers for their events from the alumni body, providing students with a unique opportunity to meet leaders in the fields in which they may want to eventually work. Cultural societies are hugely important. With more than 100 countries represented among the student body at RCSI, students can gather with others from their special place on the globe, manage homesickness and celebrate traditions from home. Performing arts societies are all about building confidence – to act, dance, sing, play an instrument. Taking up a role on a committee and working at events helps develop and hone a student’s organisational and leadership skills, easing them out of their comfort zone and generally making them a more rounded individual, a very important goal of a modern medical education.
Powar-Minhas agrees: “The increasing emphasis on holistic development and well-roundedness in medical education has likely contributed to the rise in the number of active associations. Medical schools recognise the importance of nurturing qualities such as leadership, cultural competence, and teamwork alongside clinical skills. Students are encouraged to engage in extracurricular activities that cater to these facets of personal and professional development. Membership of these societies not only enhances our CVs but also facilitates personal growth and community engagement.”
Since joining the Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) a national organisation whose role is to provide a national forum, information resource and support mechanism for societies in Ireland’s Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Education, RCSI has brought home 13 BICS National Awards.
“Being part of BICS, which promotes the sharing of ideas and the implementation of best practices,” says Knowles, “has elevated the standard of our societies in line with other universities like UCC, University of Galway, UL, Maynooth and more, which contributes to an improved student experience for RCSI students. Our successes at the BICS will put us on the map at RCSI, in addition to the many other prestigious awards that the university receives every year.”
DR WED AL ATTAS (Medicine, Class of 2020), an Emergency Medicine Core Specialist Trainee in the Mater in Dublin, was President of the Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA): “Our association focused on entertainment, bringing students together, introducing diverse middle eastern cultures, providing comfort for students. I remember students joining committees of a cultural society that was different to theirs. A lot of growth comes from engaging with different cultures, especially in an open environment where each person can bring a new perspective to things and collaborate. We held amazing events and created fun performances. But we also had goals to delve deeper: we hosted a successful panel discussion regarding the stigma of mental health illness in the Middle East and we made the society a safe place for Middle Eastern students to share concerns, whether educational or psychosocial.
“MESA was a means to channel my creativity, and to socialise with a variety of students, which made college more memorable. Being a part of a society taught me about myself and the kind of team member I am, my leadership style – all of which is useful to me today. Not to mention the friends I made to whom I am still close and probably wouldn’t have met otherwise!
“ There is a sense of belonging when you’re involved in a society. It allows students to not only make friends but to get a chance to bond with others over subjects they all enjoy. It also stimulates innovation and creativity and opens students to areas of interest they might not have considered before. Seeing successful societies encourages students to develop other societies. And Student Societies services at RCSI were approachable and encouraging, which plays a huge role in the success of a society.”
DR SUZANNE MURPHY (Medicine, Class of 2020), who is in her first year of the StAR MD programme looking at novel therapies for the treatment of glioblastoma, and working part-time in Temple Street as a neurosurgery registrar, founded the RCSI chapter of the AWS. She had attended an AWS meeting when the American chapter visited RCSI, and was envious of the association’s medical school chapters in the US.
“I looked to see if there was anything similar in Ireland and when I found there wasn’t, decided to start one myself, dragging all my friends with me! I was extremely lucky to have amazing support from RCSI from the get-go, particularly from Professor Deborah McNamara who became our association President. Although I started the group, it would not have been so successful were it not for the wonderful committee of people I had around me including two of my best friends, Dr Laura Staunton and Dr Katie Nolan (both Medicine, Class of 2020).
“We didn’t want to compete with hugely successful, well-established organisations like SurgSoc. Instead we wanted to be a ‘safe space’ where all students, regardless of how they identified, could come and learn about being a surgeon. We wanted to promote surgery with a positive focus on why you can and should consider it as a career. We had literally hundreds of students sign up.
“At the end of our first year, we received the Best New Society Award. Professor McNamara won the AWS Olga Jonasson Distinguished Member Award in 2019. I was delighted to win the Patricia Numann Medical Student Award in 2020 for starting the chapter. I was also thrilled that we were able to hold the first ever European student AWS conference in 2020, with Professor Averil Mansfield as our keynote speaker. The association was a big motivation for me to keep moving forward and working towards my goals, as I saw all these fantastic women out there doing what I wanted to do. I met paediatric neurosurgeon Ms Taffy Mandiwanza when she graciously attended our speed mentoring event. I am lucky now to work alongside her in Temple Street.
“We are in the process of setting up a graduate chapter of the AWS in Ireland and we hope we can replicate the success of the student organisation on a national scale. When we started planning the graduate chapter, we reached out to some of the original members and found them as enthusiastic and supportive as ever.
“I think the increase in societies is down to the increased awareness of how important it is for doctors, and therefore medical students, to be well-rounded individuals. Medical school is hard but it is also one of the best times of your life.
Student societies allow you to try new things, meet new people and really find your tribe. Joining a society can be intimidating: there is that feeling when you walk into a room that all the other people already know each other, but taking that first step forward is so worth it – the payoff is just huge.”
DR HAROLD LEE (Medicine, Class of 2023), a FY1 doctor in the NHS in the UK, puts the rise of active societies over the past decade down to the openness of the university to providing opportunities for students to promote what they enjoy. He was President of the Southeast and East Asia Society (SEASOC) while at RCSI. It was the only Asian society at RCSI at the time, though many more have since been founded.
As a growth mindset is behind everything that happens at RCSI, expansion was on the cards: “Initially, the society was the Penang Medical Council Society, specifically for Malaysian students who completed junior medical years in Ireland and senior medical years in Penang. I joined the society in my first year at RCSI and had the idea of expanding PMCS into an Asian cultural society, in line with CIMSA [Canadian-Irish Medical Student’s Association] PIBS [Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Society] and CAS [Caribbean/ African Society], to promote Asian culture within RCSI and encourage cultural exchange with societies within or outside RCSI. In short, the aim was to provide a platform for Asian students to widen our circles. The society was renamed SEASOC. Over the years, we organised all sorts of initiatives and events including International Food Night and cultural activities. For Asian students far from home, the society provided the chance to celebrate Asian festivals. In 2019-2020, we held the greatest number of events of all RCSI societies, and were nominated one of the top three societies of the year (we ended up coming second).
“SEASOC was a great platform for getting to know people and I remain close to some of my committee members. Student societies are meaningful, not only during your college years but also in the years after you leave.”
Dr Powar-Minhas concurs: “Student societies are integral to the medical school experience. They offer avenues for personal growth, cultural exchange, and community engagement, enriching the educational journey and shaping well-rounded healthcare professionals.” ■
