Alumni Newsletter 2017
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Welcome to the second Selwyn Medical and Veterinary Society Alumni newsletter! We hope that this annual update of the news and events occurring at Selwyn will be of interest to you. As always, we are keen to hear about the diverse paths people have taken after leaving Selwyn’s grounds, so please feel free to email us (jg732@cam.ac.uk, aenj2@cam.ac.uk) if you would like to know more or be involved in the society. This year in particular, we have already welcomed back two alumni, who have delivered thought-provoking and enjoyable talks to our members. Jiali Gao and Aeisha Johnson (Co-presidents 2016-17)
Contents
Election of new committee
Events
Summer Placements
An update on the Selwyn Medical Elective Fund
A new fund to support Veterinary students
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Committee for 2016-17 Voted in at the annual garden party by our members, this year’s committee are: Medic President
Jiali Gao
jg732@cam.ac.uk
Vet President
Aeisha Johnson
aenj2@cam.ac.uk
Treasurer
Simon Brackley
smb202@cam.ac.uk
Secretary
Bishani Wickrama
bsw27@cam.ac.uk
Welfare
Sohini Pawar
sgp22@cam.ac.uk
Events Michaelmas Dr Ewan Harrison from the Department of Medicine gave our first talk this year on 13th October. He discussed his work on the evolution of Staph aureus in humans and animals, how this had been affected by antibiotic resistance and how a ‘OneHealth’ approach to antibiotic use, involving cooperation between the medical and veterinary profession, was necessary. The talk was preceded by a pizza social, which needless to say, was well attended. Also during the Michaelmas term, we welcomed back Dr Geraint Morton (1994), a Selwyn alumnus and consultant cardiologist, who gave us a clinical perspective on heart failure. Aside from quizzing us thoroughly on what we’d learnt, he demonstrated how we could apply this knowledge in a clinical setting. All who attended found it engaging, entertaining and very useful. A staple of the society’s event list is of course the Michaelmas Dinner. This year, our musical entertainment featured a parody of Disney’s ‘Let it Go’ and we discovered the joke-telling abilities of 3
the fellows in our midst. It was highly enjoyed by all who attended, as I think was evident from the how late everyone stayed! Lent We began this term’s calendar with a talk from our very own Dr David Chivers about his work in monkey conservation, aimed primarily at the Veterinary students. As well as learning a great deal about the sad situation currently ongoing in eastern Asia, we were also treated to many imitations of monkey calls! We invited a number of students from other colleges and had the opportunity to show off Selwyn at formal hall afterwards. Just recently, we also welcomed back Dr Mahiben Maruthappu (2006), another Selwyn alumnus, who drew from his experience working as a Senior Fellow to the CEO of the NHS to discuss with us the future of the that very organisation over the next 5 years. A highly interesting and thoughtprovoking discussion followed. Last week, we also had our Lent Term Dinner, where we awarded prizes ranging from ‘keen bean’ to ‘cutest bedside manner’ and produced a roaring rendition of ‘Oh I just can’t want for part II!’ to the famous tune from the Lion King.
Summer Placements As always, our members kept busy over summer with a diverse range of activities. A selection of experiences are listed below:
Chanuka Ranmuthu, one of our second year medics, taught English at an orphanage in Sri Lanka. Sohini Pawar, now a third year medic, worked at a dispensary in India, distributing free medicines to the poor. Simon Brackley, also a third year, worked in the Department of Medicine, with Dr Paul Upton, a fellow of Selwyn, researching the effect of smad9 knockouts on endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Jiali Gao, also a third year, worked at the Centre for Trophoblast Research on the spleen phenotype of Mtrr knockout mice, which are a model of folate deficiency and show transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. 4
Selwyn College Medical Elective Fund Those of you have contributed to this fund, and indeed those who have yet to do so will be as thrilled as I am that we have hit the £50,000 mark and now have enough income from the investment to offer some £250 to a number of clinical students annually to help with their electives both abroad and at home. Some other colleges are more generous than we can be so our plan is to continue to build up the fund to a higher level. Please do consider helping us if you can. We have changed the rules for allocation of the fund so that any student can apply by a closing date – now 31st January each year – which is much fairer than a first-come, first-served previous arrangement. We will arrange a date during the Michaelmas Term for the current six recipients to present their experiences and will publicise this so that any alumni can join us and hear how the students have put the funding to good use. If any of you have any thoughts or ideas for fund raising then please do contact me. Finally we often feel that we lose touch with Medical Students after they qualify and we rarely find out what aspect of medicine that pursue. It would be good to have a central register and maybe this is something that we can start. What branch of medicine did you choose? Best wishes Bob Whitaker (1957) Fellow, Anatomy Supervisor and ex-Paediatric Urologist, Addenbrooke’s Hospital
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New fund to support Veterinary students Studying to be a vet is an expensive business so we are pleased to announce the creation of The Jamie Netschert Fund as an endowed fund that will provide Vet students with much needed grants to support different aspects of their studies. This might include help towards EMS/elective costs or grants towards necessary equipment or specialist clothing for example. The Fund has been established in the name of the late Dr Bruce ‘Jamie’ Netschert who died at his home in Virginia, in November 2016. Jamie studied at Selwyn from 1975 and retained a close interest in the college throughout his career. He went on to run the Clifton-Centreville Animal Clinic in Centreville, Virginia. The fund has been established by Jamie’s wife, Donna, who would be delighted if other Veterinary alumni wanted to contribute to the fund so that more students might benefit in the years ahead. Donations can be made via the Selwyn alumni website www.selwynalumni.com/pages/online-giftoptions or by phoning +44 (0)1223 767 844 Alumni in the US can make 501(c)(3) donations to the fund via Cambridge in America via the Selwyn website or directly https://cantabny2.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/giveonline
Jamie Netschert and his wife Donna in Cambridge in the 1970s
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