Murray Edwards welcomes Year 12 students to Medicine Taster Day
STEM outreach initiative opens doors for young women
The Medicine Taster Day is part of the Murray Edward’s She Talks Science programme, an increasingly popular outreach initiative that aims to provide life-changing opportunities and maximise the potential of high-performing young women with an interest in STEM. Addressing the gender gap that still exists in STEM education, research and careers, the free programme provides the perfect forum for students to explore their areas of interest and learn about the admissions process for studying at Cambridge.
This year, the aspiring medics had the opportunity to meet subject specialists, Clinical Fellows, admissions staff and current students who were available throughout the day to answer questions about studying medicine at Cambridge and life in college. They attended lectures on designing healthcare for women and children in low-resource settings and the mechanisms of memory and neurological diseases. During the 6-year medicine programme at Cambridge, students undertake a challenging combination of clinical school, tutorials and placements. The Taster Day provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how, for Murray Edwards students, the College provides consistent and stable academic and pastoral support throughout the programme and beyond into their clinical years.
Students said:
“Amazing, inspirational and motivational! Makes studying at Cambridge seem highly attainable.”
“The lectures were incredibly interesting ….. the tour confirmed that if I apply to Cambridge I’d apply to Medwards.”
“The talks, especially designing healthcare for women, fuelled my interest in global disparities and justice within healthcare.”
“Today has been amazing! I’ve met so many inspirational young women that truly make me believe that I can do it too!”
“I am so unbelievably glad that I came today. It has really opened my eyes to life at Murray Edwards and medicine at Cambridge.”
After lunch in the College’s beautiful Dome Dining Hall, students enjoyed guided tours around the College buildings and stunning gardens - a real-life glimpse of life at Murray Edwards College and Cambridge University.
Dr Andrew Bond, Director of Admissions for STEM subjects, gave helpful advice on the application process to Cambridge University, highlighting the importance of super-curricular exploration – free lectures, TED talks, webinars, articles – to effectively demonstrate passion and interest for a subject.
She Talks Science
She Talks Science is the College’s programme for high-performing young women with an interest in STEM. Our students often comment on how refreshing it is to study STEM subjects at Murray Edwards - where they are never the only woman in the room!