Fifth-year medical student Grace Wilkinson reflects on putting together the 2026 Medics’ Musical, Back to the Theatre.
On 8th-10th May, wewent ‘Back to the Theatre’ and put on the 2026 Medics’ Musical at Pleasance! Our cast were made up of 5th year medical students, with a band from all years. The show was fully written by medics, with songs from our favourite musicals re-written for our spooky 80s story.
At the heart of the musical is the goal to raise as much as possible for a local charity through the performing arts. Many of us will be familiar with the vital work of the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity and their “Child First, Patient Second” mission. Drumroll please… ‘Back to the Theatre’ raised over £5500! We’re so grateful to everyone who saw the show, bought raffle tickets or enjoyed our bake sale treats throughout the year. 
We decided to delve into the archives when we began writing ‘Back to the Theatre’ lastOctober… After meeting the MBChB class of 1985 at their 40-year reunion, we realised that by a remarkable coincidence they were the first year group to put on the Medics’ Musical with ‘The Sound of Mucus’ in 1982 followed by ‘DT’ (ET had just come out!). This inspired us to set our story in their graduating year, coincidentally the same as the release of ‘Back to the Future’.
Things were coming together… 2026 also provided a historic opportunity,as we are marking 300 years of the medical school. Our writing team connected with the historians in the Edinburgh Medical School 300 project ‘Learning from our History’ workstream to name our characters, honouring inspirational graduates from the 300 Faces campaign. The team also helped us research the motive for our ‘villain’. We uncovered stories of anatomical legacy and darker aspects of history, including the fight for women to study medicine.
From 1980s costume research to building all our props from scratch (including the elephant skeleton!), we have developed a multitude of new skills. Over 150 hours of rehearsals went into the musical. You can imagine what a commitment this was alongside studies and placement! It takes a lot of confidence to perform on stage, many of us for the first time. Luckily our skilled directors and choreographers were very patient when teaching us how to act, dance and sing.
Performing for family and friends was a very special experience. We were also delighted that the cast of the 1985 musical joined us for our first performance. We bonded over stories of studies and how our jokes about placement resonated… you’d be surprised how much we have in common! None of this would be possible without funding and we are very thankful to the University of Edinburgh’s Student Experience Grant for supporting the show and enabling us to donate all our proceeds towards ECHC.
The Medics’ Musical has given us memories that will last a lifetime and we can’t wait to reminisce at our own 40-year reunion… We hope next year’s 5th years will have just as much fun as we did continuing this wonderful EMS tradition and showcasing medical student talent!
