Passionflash Finals 2021

By Charles Middleton and Nadia Patel

The Passionflash competition invaded the thoughts of many students here at Salford, with incredible prizes of up to £250 in Amazon vouchers per year group, funded by the Salford Community for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Students from the School of Science, Environment and Engineering auditioned with a 2-minute Ted talk style video on a topic they were passionate about. Of the 30 auditions, just 18 were selected to go through to the finals – what a tough call for the judges! The finals took place on the 28th April 2021 as an exciting online event, allowing both student and staff to make the best out of a strange period in university life.

PassionFlash is likely to become an annual event that allows for development of a huge variety of skills. For more updates on opportunities like this, follow BiomedSoc on twitter @SocBiomed.

Public Vote winner

Aksa Ghulam stole the public vote with her dazzling transformation into an anatomically accurate human heart while sharing her personal story of spending her first days with a ventricular heart defect.

Level 4 winners

1st: Anna-Marie White – Bees and neonicotinoids (£250 prize)
2nd: Leanne Ashworth – Climate change (£150 prize)
3rd: Becky Owens – Lemurs (£75 prize)

Level 5 winners

1st: Adam Walker – Pleural mesothelioma, the sneaky secret assassin (£250 prize)
2nd: Aksa Ghulam – Congenital heart disease (£150 prize)
3rd: Nadia Patel – The future of gene editing (£75 prize)

Level 6 winners

1st: Michael Klunk – Extraordinary animal sounds (£250 prize)
2nd: Courtney Riley – Explaining genomics (£150 prize)
3rd: Angela Ouya – Decolonising education (£75 prize)

Missed out on the action? No worries! You can catch up on the full live event on YouTube:

Biomed book club: May 2021 update

By Megan Phillips and Marta Holowina

The Biomedicine society launched its very own book club! If you’re not already a member, it’s never too late to join. When you join the Biomedicinee society, you’ll be added to our Microsoft Teams page, where you will see all the updates about events!

Every month we will read and discuss a new book! This is a great chance to explore new ideas, ways of writing, and read books you might not have read otherwise. We might discuss controversial topics such as ethics and express our individual opinions. Being a student is a stressful experience (as we are sure you’ll know!) so reading is a great chance to have some much-needed downtime and lose yourself in a book! These fun and informal sessions are the perfect opportunity for you to meet like-minded people and explore exciting new books!

Our next book club meeting will be held via Microsoft Teams to discuss Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Keep up with our MS Teams page to find out the date of the meeting!

The book addresses end-of-life care, hospice care, and also contains Gawande’s reflections and personal stories. Being Mortal reveals the suffering this dynamic has produced.  Nursing homes, devoted above all to safety, battle with residents over the food they are allowed to eat and the choices they are allowed to make. Doctors, uncomfortable discussing patients’ anxieties about death, fall back on false hopes and treatments that are actually shortening lives instead of improving them. 

The ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life – all the way to the very end.

Atul Gawande

Suppose you haven’t already joined the Biomed soc. In that case, you can do this by going onto the student union website, searching for ‘Biomed society’ and filling out your membership form!  Once you’re part of the Biomed Society, you will be able to access these monthly meetings. Get ready for some discussion, debate and reflection!  We hope to see you soon!

The Biomed Book Club Bonanza

Exhilarating events: Recent and future

by Charles Middleton, Events Secretary

With a great finish to trimester 1 and 2, students have organised some extraordinary and enjoyable socials in such a short time span. The excellent collaboration between students and teaching staff have brought about several exhilarating events since the last issue of the magazine. New developments of the society have thrived rapidly by the remarkable efforts of the Biomed Soc!

The trimester one launch event brought about the true motivation and hard work from the inspirational community of the biomedicine society which initiated further successful events. Shortly after, at the Xmas Extravaganza event students and staff came together once more – and we even had our Alumni Danny Gaskin join the festive fun whilst also sharing his career story. The hard work and determination of everyone’s contributions was celebrated with lots of fun, games, and positivity throughout. Achievements were celebrated with an array of entertaining stories, a festive quiz, a scientific adventure, Christmas bingo, origami and even some exercise! The unforgettable joyful atmosphere was enjoyed with great attendance- it was a shame we were not all gathered in Santa’s grotto!

Another recent event which took place was the Bioemd Soc spring social, where students had a chance to unwind with an origami session, played entertaining games like Among Us and Pictionary, and made some amazing memories! We want to offer a warm invitation to all students to come along to one of our socials – join our welcoming and friendly group! Everyone is most welcome! You will get the opportunity to make new friends, have fun and be part of a community. You do not need to travel anywhere too, so you can enjoy the advantages of being in the comfort of your own home or accommodation!

There are plans to get involved with raising money for charitable organisations, and students are planning on even designing an online Etsy store to sell handmade items and artwork pieces. This work will be funded by the Salford Advantage fund.

New exercise classes will be starting up soon, so why not join in? “I don’t think limits”, an inspirational quote from Usain Bolt may persuade you to give it a go! Broaden your horizons! We really do have something for everyone!

We have numerous ideas and several student-led events coming up in the pipeline for you to be involved in.

We are open to new ideas and feedback! We encourage you to actively contribute to these socials and get involved with the student community – other students have given us really positive feedback and had the opportunity to make friends despite not attending classes this year, and we think it’s important to remember that you won’t get this time back – so don’t waste it.

Our next social is May/June celebrating the end of trimester 2, and for most, the academic year. Look out for the poster!

Biomedicine society president 2020-21: Nadia Patel reflecting on the society

This academic year started off with a strong sense of confusion and uncertainty for many students, a sentiment that became apparent upon discussion with Biomedicine students in casual society meetings. The challenges that the pandemic posed were new and unprecedented: the seeming lack of proximity to the wider student community, inability engage in collaborative projects and the feelings of loneliness that came with this. Adjusting to this new form of university life through harnessing the power of technology was difficult at first, and called for an extraordinary form of grit and resilience. I am proud to say that these challenges paved the way for unparalleled growth for the society which has gone from strength to strength over recent months. We owe these achievements to wonderful diversity in the talents of Biomedicine students, and the invaluable support of academic staff.

Part of accommodating the restrictions imposed by the pandemic was finding (virtual) spaces to express ourselves and feel a sense of community, and if they didn’t exist, creating them ourselves. One such example is our use of virtual study rooms, where students continue to enjoy the company and support of other students whilst studying. Other initiatives include a Book club for invigorating discussions, our BioArt club to help relax and express creativity alongside a heavily technical programme of study, and online student socials for games and a good laugh. This is all aside from the launch of our most collaborative project yet: Bioscientist Magazine.

So yes, the year started off with the urgent need to adapt to and overcome challenges, but ended with a plethora of lessons, experiences and (online) friends, the main legacy of which is this very publication.

Biomedicine Society, it has certainly been a pleasure leading an exceptional team through this remarkable year. Here’s to the future!

Biomed Book Club Launch

By Megan Phillips and Marta Holwina

The Salford Biomedicine Society have launched their very own book club, and we’d love you to get involved! We’re looking for students of all literary abilities to join us. 

Every month you will be tasked with reading a thought-provoking, general interest book to discuss at the next group meeting, where we will explore new ideas, themes, and ways of thinking. Six exciting book titles with varied themes have been selected – these can be found on the club flyer. 

We hope that by joining our club, we can create a fun community for everyone to get involved in! 

The club is open to members of the Salford Biomedicine Society. If you haven’t already joined the society, you can do this by searching for ‘Biomedicine Society’ on the Student Union website, and completing a membership form. Once you’re part of the society you will be added to the Microsoft Teams group, where you will be able to access our video meetings and group chat. 

Last month, the book club discussed When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. We talked about the pressures of medicine, whether life begins at conception and what is truly valuable in life and death. 

Get ready for some discussion, debate and reflection!  We hope to see you soon!