Marguerite O’Riordan is an Aston medical student. She is in her third year of involvement with the BMA, currently serving as the BMA MSC Deputy Chair of Conference. She is also the co-founder of Political Medics UK (@medicalpoliticsuk), an organisation set up during her scholar year (2022/23) at the Healthcare Leadership Academy (HLA). She was also previously involved with the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK (UAEM UK).
She shares her wisdom on confidence, leadership, her work in medical politics, and how she manages spinning all these plates!
Y: Who are you and what do you do?
M: I am a 4th year medical student at Aston Medical School in Birmingham.
I have a keen interest in medical leadership, having been lucky enough to acquire a couple of leadership roles over my time at medical school. My main interest is medical politics, global health and health inequities in a nutshell!
Y: How have you managed to develop these interests, and what groups have you worked with?
M: It all began in second year as a BMA rep – that got me into the medical, political sphere. I was lucky enough to be elected to the national executive committee for BMA students in 3rd year. That brought me into medical politics, thinking about systemic factors affecting our health systems – the kind of things that have a massive impact, but we aren’t taught about in medical school! This year, we are more aware of it because of the strikes going on.
I was also on the national committee for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK (UAEM UK), so during that committee, I used my connections within the BMA to pass a motion at that conference regarding pandemic preparedness. That really got me interested in global health and health inequalities in general. On placement, you don’t even need to be part of these kinds of committees to spur your interest in these things.
There are lots of socioeconomic factors that influence people’s health, we have probably all heard about the social determinants of health, and that’s quite obvious when you go on placement.
When you go into your clinical years, you become aware of these systemic factors. I was lucky enough through these roles to spur on these interests further.
Y: The role in the BMA sounds interesting. What does these roles entail?
M: As a rep, going to meetings. The BMA is a very privileged organisation, and they always cover costs! It was all online due to COVID.
In third year on the executive committee, this took up more time, but it was more fulfilling. Getting to meet the really passionate, engaging reps and executive committee members, people you don’t get exposed to often during your general medical school cohort. It’s inspiring!
Roles in the executive committee include chair and deputy chairs of certain portfolios, like education issues, welfare, and widening participation. Whereas I ran for a non-portfolio role, which meant that I got to choose what policies that were passedthat I got to work on. I chose telemedicine and global health. That’s how I got working with UAEM UK, amalgamating the two aims from two different roles.
These roles do require some extra time. But it’s Parkinson’s Law – time expands according to how much time you give something. You can do just as well on your exams if you have extracurriculars – it’s all about time management! I got better with my time management simply because I had to.
Y: What’s coming up this year?
So last year I was non-executive, non-portfolio, and then this year I am the deputy chair of the conference that’s happening 31st March-1st April. People did say, oh will you go for a specific portfolio this year? But to me I felt like it’s good when these types of roles have fresh people in them.
Conference was the first main event that as a med school rep I really enjoyed and found engaging. I wanted to get involved in conference this year a bit more actively because it’s a really good time for someone to come in as a delegate. They might not even be an elected rep in their med school, they’re just a delegate whose brought a motion forward and it can be a real starting point for somebody becoming very active in medical politics and so on.
Y: What are the biggest challenges of the role that you’re in now? Of course, aside from the time management, like balancing, obviously quite intensive studies.
M: I suppose luckily enough, even though it’s a national role, I haven’t found it too challenging. Like, to be honest, I found a local role I had last year more challenging than this one because we’re quite privileged in that we have a whole committee. There’s myself, the chair, and four very proactive agenda committee members. If you’re involved in a BMA committee, there is a group of people qualified in policy, who form a secretariat and they provide a lot of advice on different issues.
One challenge was getting reps engaged. So if we’re chairing this conference, we’re essentially in charge of all the reps across the 30 medical schools in the UK, making sure that they get out advertising about the national conference, get their whole med school engaged in submitting motions, and getting delegates from their school to come to the conference.
So that was a challenge, but it was a collective effort. We only recently finished that bit of the job and it’s really thanks to the large team we have working with us. Another thing is that we had to do, which was challenging, was recruit speakers. And because it’s a national event for the BMA, which is essentially the principal professional body for all doctors and med students, you can’t just choose any name. It has to be a well-known person who does interesting things, that would appeal nationally.
When you’re in a committee like that, even though it’s great that it’s big, it can also be challenging in terms of ideas clashing. The BMA is very much a democratic organization, so everything came down to voting. So we ended up recruiting the speakers quite easily. Hopefully fingers crossed now everything, we’ve got most of the work done now and it’ll all materialize eventually in March.
Y: For students, reading this interview, and thinking I want to do what she’s doing right now, what skills are important to get into the role and what kind of skills do you end up developing?
M: I think to be honest, in terms of skills going in, before I have started med school, if I’d imagined a role like this, I would’ve thought, oh, the person doing it has to be a natural at public speaking, a natural at organizing people, a natural leader. Whereas I wouldn’t count myself as any of that.
think the first thing is to dispel any imposter syndrome you have and look at these roles that might seem big or challenging as just another opportunity you have, that you’re lucky enough to be able to take advantage of, given that you’ve gotten into med school in the first place. So, I wouldn’t say you need to have many additional skills – but you obviously have to be good at working with people in a team.
You obviously have to be disciplined to work through medical school, even if you’re not doing any extracurriculars. We’re all very busy, and you have to be on top of things. You can feel like you’re working nonstop but not be on top of things. So, you have to really be time committed and develop time management.
But I think if you, by virtue of the fact that you’re in medical school to begin, people should be able to go for a role like this. From that point of view, I would just tell anyone who is eager and wants to develop leadership, team working, wants to get a different perspective on our healthcare system, to simply go for it. Then, in terms of what you get out of it, I think you become a lot more confident in public speaking, which is something, that I didn’t realize until I was in med school, is important!
Like today I needed to do a case presentation in front of doctors and students. Even on a ward round, presenting something to the consultant and the team can be intimidating. So, it makes you a lot more proficient and confident at that. It makes your time management get even better because it can feel like you’re spinning plates if you’ve got all your placement commitments, study commitments, your extracurricular commitments, but you get used to working under pressure and working very well under pressure.
I think it also just gives you a different perspective on how our health system works because you’re not just doing the role itself. You also become immersed in the whole sphere of medical politics, the things that are going on, that maybe other people wouldn’t become aware of, or be able to talk at great length about, until they’re doctors. I think it really matures you, in terms of your journey as a med student.
Y: You also have a connection with the Healthcare Leadership Academy and you’re one of their scholars.
M: That’s an amazing organization. I was probably happier getting accepted into that, than I was getting into medical school because I was really surprised! But again, it’s another thing that I had great imposter syndrome about going for. I didn’t think I was going to get it at all! And I had the attitude when I was applying that, if I didn’t get it this year, I’d apply the following year.
But luckily I did. In medical school, again, just like medical politics, you don’t really get that much exposure to leadership. You could obviously run societies, take on society roles, but in general we don’t have enough exposure to real leadership roles. The Healthcare Leadership Academy (HLA) makes you take on a scholar project, so you come up with it yourself.
You can also collaborate with somebody, and it allows you to put leadership into practice. Similar to the BMA, you are immersed in a group of passionate, determined individuals, who I would say see the world differently. They all have very strong ideas and are very determined to put their projects into action.
It’s making these lifelong connections, people who will help get past whatever troubles you have implementing change, or whatever it is you want to achieve, through the HLA with your project. They’re very encouraging and it’s a very positive atmosphere where, whatever change it is you want to bring about in healthcare, it seems very possible with this group of passionate people.
Y: What do you do on the project – how often do you meet? Is it for people who already have a project in mind?
M: It varies. For example, I’m sure you’ve probably heard of Melanin Medics. So some people will already have projects. For example, Melanin Medics, the girl that came with that project, Dr Olamide Dada, she already had it in place before she was a scholar. Then as a scholar, she developed it further.
So even though the Healthcare Leadership Academy is a leadership course, you don’t just learn about leadership. They believe the best way to go about becoming a better leader is to implement it in practice. So that’s why a large part of your time with the HLA, during that year, is coming up with the project, perhaps building a team and holding events, etc, whatever your project aim is. You also have a number of contact days with your cohort of about a dozen people.
You’ll have two cohort directors who have their own experience in leadership. It’s very consistent and it allows you to build momentum with your projects, throughout the year. For example, I’ve collaborated with an F3 down in Bristol. She’s in the Bristol cohort and we both have an interest in medical politics. We’ve come up with Political Medics UK. It’s very new, we came up with the project back in October.
Our main aim is to engage medics with medical, political issues and systemic factors affecting our healthcare systems. Also, to educate them via an e-learning course, which we’re currently building. We are piloting a teaching program in an NHS trust too, which we hope to extend nationally once we do research into its impact.
We also use social media posts – a cheeky plug there, to follow @MedicalPoliticsUK
! We host talks with people who have a lot of experience in the medical political sphere. The HLA has been very helpful – at every meeting we all can give constructive criticism on each other’s projects. Also very helpful in terms the connections and the direction of it.
We were thinking of starting off nationally, very early, having talked with some very experienced people there. Now we’ve changed that a little bit, we’ve recruited over 20 student champions from across the UK that are known as Medical Political Student Champions. We hope that a certain number of them will end up setting up their own local medical political chapters!
We can’t just be national simply because we say we are, we need to have strong grassroots organisation and chapters before that. Another cheeky plug, if anyone’s interested in joining the National Executive Committee we’re currently forming! That essentially would allow momentum to build next year because we give specific director roles, be it social media director, marketing director, etc. It means that our development is more sustainable in the long term and who knows what it’ll end up developing as fully!
We’re still working on with the overall vision and direction of the organization. We’d hope that it wouldn’t just be an educational thing. Even though that is a big medium-term goal, in terms of a national teaching program and an e-learning course, that we would become large enough for medics to have a platform to use their voice, without necessarily having to be elected to committee.
I feel, at the moment, that a lot of medics don’t feel empowered in the medical political sphere, unless they’re elected to a BMA committee, for example. Whereas, we believe that simply by the fact that you are a doctor or you are a med student, you should be able to voice your opinion and impact change, without needing to be elected. That’s another long-term goal of ours.
Y: Did you feel like you were supported by your medical school or by the people around you to make these steps?
M: It’s very separate to my own medical school. I have recruited a student champion from my medical school, but it’s very much been the HLA. The lovely thing about the HLA is that it’s formed by a lot of well-known people, but they’re also approachable and helpful.
Even the founder of it, Dr Johann Malawana, he’s appeared on the news, he was the head of number of committees previously, but he’d already proactively approached us without us even reaching out to him, about further direction and the year. They’ve got various type of think tanks and policy exchanges. It’s been, in terms of support, strictly the HLA. The great thing is that all the cohorts are very small.
I’m in the London cohort and there’s only twelve of us. We have three cohort directors, they’re available anytime you want them. You have a mentor, and your cohort’s very helpful! It’s not only the small ratio, but also the group of people. They’re all very approachable, passionate, there to support you, they all want you to succeed!
You learn a lot because it is a scholarship, we do have a lot of resources. By the end of the year, you can become a fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management and it opens further opportunities to do a PGCert or a Masters, the following year. It’s an amazing organization – I fully recommend anyone to apply and go for it!
Y: Could you think of any role models that you’ve had on this journey, from being a BMA rep going on to the HLA?
M: I was lucky that when I set up the Medical Women’s Federation chapter in our medical school, last year, I did it with another girl in the year above me, Akshara Sharma. We met through that – we had women in leadership events, etc. We met a lot (albeit virtually) of very inspiring female doctors who were leaders in their own right. One example, in particular, would be Dr. Fizzah Ali.
But to be honest, I wouldn’t think of a specific role model. I think the main thing really has been the people I’ve gotten to engage with. They’ve been so supportive and encouraging. You think when you’re entering, for example, a big executive committee, within the BMA, that everyone’s going to be way more successful than you. You feel imposter syndrome and intimidated.
But they’ve all been so encouraging and supportive and it’s all collaborative working. I think it’s not even in terms of looking at a superior as a role model; every committee I’ve been involved in, be it the BMA, the HLA, etc, everyone’s very encouraging and supportive.
One term, I remember one girl in the BMA used was ‘we rise as we climb’. So, as they’re moving up the ranks, they help you, and you help somebody else to rise up the ranks as well! It’s a collaborative effort, getting everyone to succeed. It’s the atmosphere in the organization – all super passionate, determined and want the same for you.
Y: You’re in your fourth year of medical school now. What is the onward trajectory for you, beyond graduation? Do you think you might move into a more management kind of sphere?
M: It has been something I’ve been thinking about. Before I came into medical school I thought, if I become a doctor, that’s it. That’s all I need to do and that’s going to be fantastic and what else would I want to be doing?
Since, I’ve realized it’s really to do with the fact that you see, on placement, or through becoming more immersed in these organizations, the social determinants of health and the systemic factors that affect both the populations we care for and the healthcare systems. You begin to realize that, even though it’s great being a clinical doctor, when you’re dealing with patient to patient, you’re affecting change just on one person at a time.
Whereas if you do go into management, be it, as a portfolio-type doctor, I suppose you could combine it. If you go into public health, management, being clinical director, or even something more political, you can then affect change at a more systemic/national level, and you can have a more widespread positive effect.
I don’t think I’d ever veer fully away from medicine because I find that personal doctor-patient relationship, even as a medical student, very fulfilling. But I’m certainly considering taking a portfolio career slant, even though it’s quite difficult – it’s hard to do it whilst you’re training. If I decide to specialize, it would be quite a number of years before I’d get to probably acquire a role like that, even though it is possible with less than full-time training now.
But I would definitely be looking towards more of a management role simply because I feel that as fulfilling as being a doctor is, there’s so much more you can do at a widespread level by taking on these type of management roles. But in terms of specifically, that’s yet another thing I need to decide about my future!
Y: Could you recommend any resources that people might be interested in at home to help make these decisions?
M: I think it’s more about talking to your peers. When you’re on placement, chances are, especially in a hospital, a couple of those doctors will have portfolio careers. For example, I was just on psychiatry and my psychiatrist was the clinical director for his area! You’ll find them when you’re out on placement.
It’s good to join the Faculty of Leadership and Management, or become involved in (if your school has) a leadership and management society. They hold great talks and there’s the potential to go up to these people after the talks, to ask them how they got involved, and what their role involves.
It’s about, as opposed to resources, just getting out there, talking to doctors on placement or in your university. Trying to get involved in things like the BMA, the HLA. If your school doesn’t have a leadership and management society, why not set it up yourself and bring that flavour of medicine into your medical school?
Y: What does your role with Сonsilium Scientific involve?
M: I’m a research intern at Consilium Scientific. At the moment, I’m the project manager for a paper looking into clinical trial transparency at major European & international funders. It was through UAEM UK that the founder of TranspariMED got in touch with me to run this project. It focuses on monitoring the policies in place for those applying to these funders, looking at parameters such as the need to publish results on a public trial registry & protocol as the study is happening, timely publishing in an open access journal, monitoring these applicants after the reporting and publishing of results.
There was a case a number of years ago that highlights the crux of what we’re trying to achieve. Studies on metformin showed that there were many trials suggesting that it led to a higher chance of Alzheimer’s, however these results weren’t openly published/weren’t been completed; mainly only the studies that disproved the correlation were completed and published.
This publication bias is worrying – subsequent studies since have showed very little risk, but it proves how a lack of trial transparency in research can be potentially dangerous, along with a waste of public money and data.
Y: Finally, is there anything you wish you had done differently? Are there any difficult lessons you learned on this journey?
M: Be more confident of yourself. This year, I feel that I am more confident because of various things I’ve done now, but last year, when I would give something like a talk, I’d always felt really nervous!
I think it’s natural in those situations anyways, but I think you should just look at these opportunities as rare, really valuable, opportunities, that you get because you’re lucky enough to get into med school in the first place. Simply enjoying them, as opposed to, in the moment, feeling very nervous or that whole imposter syndrome type of thing. Enjoy the roles more, I would say!
MedicDiaries: Melissa Torkizadeh, Consulting Intern/> 
