Dame Allan’s Connect: Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

From the realities of medical school to the demands of a first year in veterinary practice, Dame Allan’s Connect brings together recent leavers and established professionals to share experience, build professional relationships and maintain connections with the school, while giving current pupils a valuable insight into their chosen careers.

How does the theory learnt in medical school translate into clinical decisions? What can a first year in veterinary practice teach you that a lecture cannot? And how do you prepare for the realities of working with patients?

These were among the questions explored at Dame Allan’s latest Connect session, which brought together Allanians at different stages of their professional lives, from current medical students to experienced clinicians, alongside pupils considering careers in medicine and veterinary medicine.

Connect is about more than a single meeting. It’s designed to keep recent leavers connected with the school as they navigate university and the transition into professional life, giving them opportunities to meet established professionals, exchange experience and build relationships that can support them throughout their careers.

Katherine Leonard, Development Manager at Dame Allan’s Schools, said: “The strength of the Allanian network is that it brings people together at every stage. Recent leavers have valuable experience to share with current pupils, while established professionals can offer advice, a different perspective and connections of their own.

“Connect creates opportunities for those relationships to develop, giving recent leavers access to a wider professional network while enabling them to stay connected to the school and support those following in their footsteps.”

For fourth-year University of Sheffield medical student Anna Sudlow (DA 2023), returning to school to speak to prospective medics offered an opportunity to share lessons she wished she had heard before starting her degree.

“Schools, understandably, are often very focused on helping pupils get through the doors, simply because getting into medical school is such a huge hurdle,” she said. “Applicants put so much energy into getting in that when they arrive, they don’t always have a clear picture of what studying and practising medicine actually involves.”

Rather than concentrating on admissions, Anna used the Connect session to explore the realities of studying and practising medicine, from managing competing priorities to recognising when to seek help.

She challenged pupils to work through clinical case studies in groups, considering diagnoses, treatment and the wider circumstances affecting people in hypothetical medical emergencies.

For Anna, returning to Dame Allan’s was not simply an opportunity to share her experience with prospective medical students. Connect also gave her the chance to meet established professionals whose work aligns with her own interests and to begin building relationships that could prove valuable as her career develops.

“Making the connections helps, and that’s how you get research opportunities and shadowing opportunities,” she said. “The pupils benefit by hearing something from someone who’s already at medical school. I benefit by getting to meet people who are already doctors and who do the things I’m interested in. We all help each other out.”

Among those attending were parent Simon Bomken, a Newcastle University academic paediatric oncologist who also treats children with leukaemia and lymphoma at the Great North Children’s Hospital, and Allanian Helen Doran (DA 1991), a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Recent leavers Amith Khartik (DA 2024), now in his second year studying medicine at Oxford University, Charles Mason (DA 2023), a third-year medical student at Newcastle University, and Megan Moody (DA 2022), in her fifth year at the University of Sunderland, brought their own experiences of medical training to the discussion.

For pupils, hearing from people at different stages of their careers helped make their own choices feel more tangible.

Year 11 pupil Leela said: “I’m pretty certain I want to go into medicine. Both my parents are doctors – my dad is an ENT surgeon and my mum is a radiologist – and it’s a career that really interests me.

“I found this event really interesting and helpful. I go to MedSoc at school and I feel supported here.”

Kemi, a Year 13 pupil applying to study medicine, said hearing from recent leavers had made the prospect of university easier to imagine.

“It’s hard to envision what medical school would be like, so it’s nice to hear about it from people who are actually experiencing it,” she said.

Veterinary surgeon Charlotte Stephenson (DA 2020), who graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2025 and now works as a farm vet in Northumberland, offered another perspective on the transition from education into professional practice.

Her presentation followed her journey from helping with lambing as a teenager to qualifying as a vet and taking on responsibility for cases in the field. She spoke candidly about the demands of her first year, from managing clinical records and client relationships to dealing with emergencies and making decisions under pressure.

Her account offered a practical reminder that qualifying is not the end of the learning process. Professional judgement develops with experience, and knowing when to ask for help is as important as knowing what to do.

For Katherine Medway, Director of Futures and Aspirations at Dame Allan’s Schools, Connect is an opportunity to help pupils move beyond an interest in a career and develop a clearer understanding of what it involves.

She said: “It’s important that pupils have the chance to ask questions they might not think to ask at a conventional careers talk, and to hear honest accounts from people who have recently made the decisions they are facing now. Connect helps them make informed choices about their futures and understand the range of opportunities open to them.”

The medicine and veterinary medicine session was the second subject-focused gathering in the Connect programme, following its launch with engineering last academic year. You might want to mention a future Connect here?

Find out more about Dame Allan’s Connect: ke.leonard@dameallans.co.uk