Medical and Veterinary Fund
The Medical and Veterinary Fund was set up with donations from Fellows and past medical and veterinary students at Churchill College to support the study of medicine and veterinary medicine in Churchill College and the welfare of students studying these subjects.
Activities supported include: prizes for examination performance, purchase of medical books for the library, travel expenses (eg for projects abroad and electives), teaching costs and research expenses for Fellows and students.
The prize money was particularly valuable after my third year, because it helped to fund a trip to Dublin, where I presented the work from my previous summer project to the annual Physiological Society conference. My second project was only partially funded, so it made a big difference at the time.
In addition UK and EU (currently) medical and veterinary students are eligible for Cambridge Bursaries during their undergraduate studies and NHS Bursaries for the 5th and 6th year of medical studies. The College contributes about 45% of the cost of the Cambridge Bursaries awarded to our students.
However, we would like to be able to provide more bursaries for clinical veterinary and medical students. There is a particular need to provide more support for these students as they start their clinical training when they have already had loans and parental support for three years.
Support for electives
The Elective Studies Student Selected Component of the Cambridge medical course occupies seven weeks between Year 5 and Year 6. During this placement, students may study at home or abroad, following a clinical or research area of their own interest. The Elective is an important and enjoyable part of the course. The College would like to be able to provide additional funding for these medical electives, and an expanded Medical and Veterinary Fund would be an ideal manner by which this could be achieved.