Inspire Student Journal Autumn 2023

Hi! Welcome to the Autumn 2023 issue of the INSPIRE
Student Health Sciences Research Journal.
This issue has been written and peer-reviewed by students, with the editorial board being made
up of students from the universities of Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, and Plymouth, the journal’s founding
institutes. The INSPIRE Journal was created as part of the INSPIRE scheme, which aims to provide
medical, dental and veterinary students across the UK with the opportunity to participate in and
incorporate research into their future careers.
Student Health Sciences
Research Journal
Editors
Moyowa Arenyeka
University of Plymouth
Thomas H Butler
University of Plymouth
Sanay Goyal
Cardiff University
Caroline Gu
University of Exeter
Kelly Jiayi Gu
Cardiff University
Meg Ireland
University of Bristol
Gayathri Kannan
Cardiff University
Nell Marquess
University of Exeter
Mimi Mostefai
University of Exeter
Ethan Randal
University of Bristol
This year has been a politically turbulent time for the NHS, its staff, and medical students alike.
The recent walkouts from staff represent the largest and most disruptive industrial action in the
NHS’ history, with some contracts still being disputed. Ethical questions are raised as to whether
deprivation of care is the correct way to enact change, but what is for sure is that industrial
action is not taken lightly by NHS workers and comes from a place of desperation. Is this acute
understaffing and consequential reduction in the quality of care warranted to treat the chronic
understaffing that undermines patient safety? The government’s reaction to the issues has
included varying back payments and single-digit pay increases. A more radical long-term solution
has also been proposed for the issue of NHS staffing that will affect future medical students. A
plan has been put forward to double medical school and adult nursing training places by 2030,
a proposed apprenticeship scheme and a 50% increase in GP training places. There is no doubt
that change is needed in the NHS, and hopefully these will help the many persisting problems.
Furthermore, the shortage of NHS appointments is creating a two-tier system as the oral
health gap widens. Post-COVID, those who can afford private care, especially in children, are
experiencing significantly less tooth decay.
Within the veterinary community, we have also faced many challenges this year, with the
ongoing shortage of veterinarians working within the UK. To address this, two new vet schools
have opened at the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Aberdeen. However,
it is uncertain whether simply producing more vets will be the solution to this problem. With
more vets leaving the profession every year than entering it, we may have to look more deeply
at the working environment and address the problems leading to veterinarians deciding to leave
veterinary medicine. Additionally, we have seen the recent changes in Extra Mural Studies (EMS)
requirements for vet students graduating after 2020, with a reduction from 26 weeks to 20 weeks
of placement. EMS is an area of continual discussion and plays a crucial role within our learning.
However, with the recent reports of abuse during placements, it will be crucial for vet schools to
discuss implementation of better safeguarding measures to ensure vet students have positive
experiences on placement. Although we have faced some challenges this year, we have also seen
some great improvements within vet schools, with many working to re-build community after
the pandemic.
We hope you enjoy reading the INSPIRE Student Health Sciences Research Journal – the articles
have been written and peer-reviewed by students throughout 2023.
Best wishes,
INSPIRE Student Health Sciences Research Journal Senior Editors
Would you like to get involved with future issues? Send us your research papers,
reviews, opinion pieces, interview ideas, artwork, and creative writing via our website
www.inspirestudentjournal.co.uk. Sign up to be a peer reviewer by emailing your details and
areas of expertise to inspirestudentjournal@gmail.com.
Phoebe Sussmann
University of Bristol
Amirali Ziaebrahimi
University of Plymouth
Managing Editor
Michelle Harris
Contact
inspirestudentjournal@gmail.com
Website
www.inspirestudentjournal.co.uk
Design
Cris Sutera
www.crissutera.co.uk
COPYRIGHT
All articles in the INSPIRE Student Health
Sciences Research Journal are licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0
International License. To view a copy of
the license, visit https:// creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ legalcode. The
copyright of each article belongs to the
author(s) of the article, and a citation should
be made when any article is quoted, used
or referred to in another work. All articles
included in the INSPIRE Student Health
Sciences Research Journal are written and
reviewed by students, and the Editorial Board
is composed of students. Thus, this journal has
been created for educational purposes and all
content is available for reuse by the authors
in other formats, including peer-reviewed
journals.
FRONT COVER
A pencil sketch by Shen Sheh – see page 39 for
more information.