On 6 July,  seven current medical students from the University of Edinburgh will be accepting a posthumous MBChB degree on behalf of the Edinburgh Seven.  We spoke to each of them about the significance of the event and their ambitions for the future.

Caitlyn Taylor, Year 2. Originally from Dunbeath, Caithness.

What inspires you about the Edinburgh Seven?

I find it hard to study medicine now, with all of the resources and support that is available to me. I cannot begin to imagine how hard it must have been for seven women experiencing constant persecution. I find it humbling that throughout this they continued to fight for equal education rights for women. It has made me think a lot more about how I can better support the causes I believe in.

Why do you think it’s important that the seven are receiving their posthumous degrees?

On a fundamental level, the awarding of these degrees will hopefully help to right a historical wrong. In addition, I hope that we can continue the work of these seven remarkable women today.

It has shocked me how many people don’t know about the Edinburgh Seven and the leaps they made in allowing women access to higher education. I am sorry to say that if you had asked me about them a few years ago, I would have answered with a blank stare. One of the best things the awarding of these degrees will do is highlight the achievements of these women to a much wider audience. This could even be used as a platform by which to drive further change, eventually ensuring that everyone who wants to study medicine (or anything really) are given the opportunities required to do so.

What do you hope to achieve in your own career?

Within medicine, I am currently very interested in pre-hospital care/ expedition medicine, although it is very early days for me and I am aware that this might change. I hope to one day return to my home, in Caithness, as rural medicine is something that I am very passionate about and I think the sense of making a difference in a small community is unparalleled.

However, like Matilda (the member of the Seven I am representing), I am also interested in creative pursuits. I was quite surprised at the similarities between us. I use art to aid my learning in medicine, especially anatomy, and from what I have read, this is something that Matilda did too! I have loved music from a young age and hope that wherever life takes me, I will find a way to bring music along.

Representing the Seven: Caitlyn Taylor / Edinburgh Seven by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0