Hi there! My name’s Sorna and I’m one of the publicity managers for the BAME Medics Society. We are a new society that was formed this summer during the increased media attention around the Black Lives Matter movement worldwide, and are made up of a core committee and around 102 members. We currently have links to the Race Action Group and the Edinburgh Medical School, and are looking to become a registered EUSA society!
What we do
We’re made up of self-identified Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic medical students at the University of Edinburgh – we aim to address the experiences, worries, and wishes of BAME students within the medical school. Our society advocates for greater education and discussion around issues of race and privilege within medicine, and also provides support for BAME students. We have three main goals in mind: furthering education, liaising with staff for change, and building community!
In terms of furthering education, we look at organising talks and events (all online this year!) on important topics – we supported the Association of Women Surgeons in putting on a talk on racial disparities in surgery, and are looking into hosting a talk next semester on race in oncology, as well as co-hosting events with BAME societies from other medical schools. We drew attention to pioneering black doctors on our social media throughout Black History Month, and are creating a series of learning points from talks, events, and books that our members have engaged with. Some of our members are also on the medical school’s race action group, and liaise with staff to promote change from within the university – currently one of our main interests is improving the reporting systems within the university, and encouraging students to speak up when issues arise.
An important part of our society is bringing BAME students together and empowering them to succeed socially and academically at the university. We’ve introduced a BAME medics mentor scheme, where 4th-6th year students have been buddied up with 1st and 2nd years to help provide a better sense of belonging, and a space to discuss their issues and learning without prejudice – we hope this will go some way towards addressing university race attainment gaps. So far mentors have gone on walks, met for coffee, gotten cheesecake, and had lovely zoom calls with their buddies! Our socials have included a movie night and a pub quiz, through which we really aimed to bring people together throughout this trying year. We’re looking forward to bringing you more content and opportunities soon!
What inspires us?
We’re inspired by anyone speaking up about BAME experiences in healthcare, advocating for change, and having difficult conversations. That not only goes for the activists we repost on our social media, or famous authors of bestselling books, but also for any student among the medical school that shows up for this cause.
If our society were a drink, what would it be?
For some reason I think our society would be a fresh glass of mango juice – refreshing, wholesome, and very sweet!
Our favourite society-meet up place
Our favourite meeting place/activity is just chatting to each other during meetings on zoom, sharing our thoughts and having a good ol’ laugh about ridiculous things that are happening – as soon as we’re able to though, I think we’ll all be scrambling to meet outside for picnics and potlucks!
Fancy getting involved?
To join, find our group on facebook –
Find us online:
Private Facebook group BAMEmedics@edi
Public Facebook page @EdiBAMEmedics
Instagram @bame_medics_edinburgh
