SCOPE
The Barts and the London (BL) Military Medicine Society was started in order to bring more information about military, austere, battlefield and disaster medicine to all students who may be considering a career in the military as well as those who wish to fulfil an academic interest in the subject.
Much of medicine has arisen from innovations in the military sphere, including the tourniquet, damage control resuscitation and surgery, prehospital and austere medicine, reconstructive surgery and advanced trauma life support algorithms. Thus, if these fields interest you, military medicine and the innovation within it will enrich your knowledge.
We are a wholly inclusive society, and have no political or organisational affiliations outside of the student's union. We are open to any students from Queen Mary, Barts or any other University of London member institutions.
APPROACH
We aim to run several events throughout the year. These will include lectures and workshops from professionals across the military healthcare field including doctors, nurses, combat medical technicians, veterinary officers, radiographers, biomedical scientists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, healthcare assistants, dentists and environmental officers. If any of these roles are of interest to you, keep up to date on our talks and events via our social media, mailing list and QMSU website.
We also plan to provide social events that may include group meals and bar nights but also a taste of adventurous training with activities such as bouldering, hiking or kayaking. In addition, we aim to run workshops to help people find opportunities to learn more about army life such as the army officer training corps, university royal naval units or university air squadrons. Furthermore we will provide workshops to outline the process of applying and training to take on roles within military medicine as well as what options there are and how to boost your application. Finally, we intend to produce practical skills days and courses that will allow you to practise skills such as battlefield advanced trauma life support (BATLS) and damage control resuscitation.
OUTCOME
Our primary goal is that we, as students, gain awareness and knowledge of the careers available within military healthcare as well as the scientific and practical underpinning of the innovations brought into both military and civilian medicine from that field. In order to measure this achievement, we will provide attendees with certificates upon completion of feedback forms following each event. This feedback will allow us to improve and give members the opportunity to request particular topics or speakers that may be of interest to them.