Student Storyteller, Mona Eskandaripour provides an insight into the very first Edinburgh Medical School 300 event of 2026.
On 15 January 2026, 300 students and staff, alongside our special guests and industry collaborators, gathered against the commanding backdrop of the Large Event Space at the Edinburgh Futures Institute to launch our commemoration of three centuries of Edinburgh Medical School. There were animated poems that brought out tears; tartan-laced scrubs that elicited awe; VR headsets that incited a queue; and canapes that vanished faster than I could sniff them out
This showcase was the culmination of almost two years of work that brought students to the forefront as we shape the future of Edinburgh Medical School. Of the many novel inspirations featured that night, I want to highlight two in particular: the poetry anthology and the new Edinburgh Medical School tartan.
Poetry over three centuries, in collaboration with the Scottish Poetry Library
I love literature, but I never really connected with poetry in school. I understood it as a musical cousin to other literary media, but it was never the form I sought out for myself. So, when I was given the chance to collaborate on a poetry anthology with the Scottish Poetry Library, I figured, “What better way to get exposed than with the experts?” Over the course of many months, we gathered in Crichton’s Close – one of those inconsequential Edinburgh alleys you might never venture down unless you were absolutely sure of where you were going or hopelessly lost. In the Scottish Poetry Library, we gathered poems from the past 300 years into a short anthology that conjured the evolving relationship with health and medicine in Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, a brilliant idea (possibly mine…) was put forth to include a poem from a current student, about what Edinburgh Medical School 300 signified to them. We made the call, the entrants sent us their submissions, and then we sat down to pick one winner to publish. What then ensued was the most polite disagreement I’ve ever been a part of as each team member championed their favourite poem. As a testament to the quality of work that was submitted by these medical students, scientists, and academics, we ultimately selected three poems which each evoked a unique and critical sentiment embodying Edinburgh Medical School. A huge congratulations to Maria-Ariadna Ghiuta, who captured the depth and breadth of celebrating the past 300 years with musical clarity; to Dr. Charlotte Squires, who proudly articulated the strong legacy of women who have paved our present; and Dr. Nina Young, who beautifully evoked Scottish anti-syzygy in the complex and contradictory experiences of a medical student.
If you’re curiosity has been peaked, this booklet will be handed out at future Edinburgh Medical School 300 events, including alumni reunions and the 2026 graduation, as a reflection of centuries past to remind students, old and new, of how far we’ve come and where we might go next.
Special thanks to my co-editors, Dr. Marti Balaam, Dr. John Gillies, Dr. Gavin Francis, and Samuel Tongue.
Finally a tartan for the medics, in collaboration with Edinburgh College of Art
Tartan is the epitome of Scottish identity (according to me, a non-Scot). So, how could it be, that after 300 years, the medical school didn’t have one? Others must have shared my disbelief, because last Spring, a competition brief was sent out to students at Edinburgh College of Art. It called for the creatives amongst us to test their hand at designing a new Edinburgh Medical School tartan. But it wasn’t just about looking good; the tartan had to tell the story of the school with every thread.
Well, the artistic minds delivered! 14 amazing submissions were entered, each with a singular look that incorporated unique combinations of Edinburgh Medical School history. All that was left to do was to choose. So, on an innocuous September afternoon, representatives from the worlds of medical education, tartan, textiles, and students gathered to select the winner. The tartans were printed on foam boards and exhibited on easels around the room. The stakes were high; as we ambled about, internally deliberating, there was a sense of gravity and permanence in our impending choice. Our selection necessitated more than a beautiful tartan with which to decorate new merchandise; its accompanying story had to reflect the historical journey of our school – the good and bad – while symbolising the new direction we hope to launch over the next several centuries. So, we debated and struggled and advocated and voted and voted again, until finally, one emerged victorious.
Congratulations to Minty Warner! Fateful #14, saved for last, captured the traditions and history of Edinburgh Medical School in a pleasing plaid, while providing a fresh look to drive us forward.
A couple of weaving jokes later, we disbanded under a strict oath of secrecy. No one was to breathe a word about the tartan or even to think about it for fear of discovery before the grand reveal on 15 January. And it was grand. To see the tartan first displayed, as a representative of our past, present and future, in the stately rooms of Edinburgh Futures Institute, where the previous generation of doctors practiced, you could understand how the tartan is a symbolic catalyst for 2026, weaving our way towards an idealised future for the college.
So, please prepare yourself, because this tartan will be everywhere! You will see the checkered red, yellow and purple colouring the new Edinburgh Medical School 300 merchandise, adorning our future events, garnishing the 2026 graduation ceremony, and highlighting the new Edinburgh Medical School student scrubs. I hope you like it!
Special thank you to Collette Paterson and Shirley McLauchlan from the Edinburgh College of Art for supporting us as we brought out tartan aspirations to life.
As the night wore on, the energy in the room was palpable: excitement for what the committee had accomplished, relief that the hard work was a success, and anticipation for what comes next. I manned the poetry stand, handing out our small anthology, as I chatted to students and alumni. The energy was infectious – the curiosity, the incredulity, the knowledge that something was transforming within the school after 300 years of tradition. I don’t know what people expected of us, but if the feedback we received is to be trusted, I can confidently say, we delivered. As the night came to a close and guests walked out, sporting their new tartan lanyard, poetry book, and tartan scarf, the EMS300 team was buzzing. We knew that this is only the beginning of what we have in store, because for those that know, ‘We are just getting started.’
