Student placements
From Winter 2020, SCCT hosted 21 students from the University of Sheffield over three years.
Students from Sheffield Medical School came to us on research or community placements, and they took on a variety of Covid-related projects.
Supervision for the students was provided by members of the SCCT team. The students worked hard and made a significant contribution to SCCT’s output, as well as sharing their work in webinars. All of these are recorded and still available to view on our website.
Students chose their own topic to research and all of them presented on the webinars, which were open to the public. They had regular supervisions with SCCT team members to ask questions and seek guidance. All of their work with us was carried out online, initially to comply with lockdown restrictions, and later because this was the most efficient way for us to support them.
We decided to host the students after being approached about doing so by the University. We felt it was a valuable opportunity to involve the next generation of medical professionals in our work and to share the medical and public health experience of our members, particularly in relation to working with “hard to reach” communities. We were also eligible for a payment from Sheffield University for supervising students on their attachments. The income raised in this way has been used to pay staff employed by Heeley Development Trust and Darnall Well Being to manage the administration of the wider SCCT activities, maintain an intranet site, manage the social media accounts and update the website. Some of the funding has also paid for equipment and research into ventilation, filtration and maintenance of clean air environments for people working in community settings. More recently, we have given bursaries to other students working on projects linked to ventilation and reducing health inequalities.
One of set of students even won a prize for the best presentation of their cohort! Best Group Presentation was awarded to Matilde Farinha, Dania Al-Hashimi, Jack Anderson in October 2023.
Feedback from students
We sent a survey to all the students who had been on placement with us. Everyone who completed it said that they had a positive experience with SCCT and that their time with SCCT had either “some” or “a lot of” influence on their future career choices.
“It was the first time I was able to be independent in planning and presenting research. I believe my time on this project helped my confidence in designing a study and presenting my research. I had a lot of support from Tom, as well as the other members of SCCT, and they were very enthusiastic in helping and suggesting ways we could improve our work further, for example by providing medical articles/podcasts. I was also given the opportunity to interview people which has also helped develop my confidence in this.”
G – on placement in 2022
“Participating in SCCT makes me realise the importance of giving back to society as medical personnel. Further from SCCT, I participated as a volunteer in Ghana for two months for my elective to join as an outreach eye screening and surgical team, to bring eye care to the hardest to reach society. From there, I continue to have passion for public and global health.”
J – on placement in 2021
Full list of student projects undertaken with SCCT
2023 – Matilde Farinha
2023 – Jack Anderson
2023 – Dania Al-Hashimi
2022 – Kiran Randhawa
2022 – Emma Johnson
2022 – Sanjana Mehrotra
2022 – Merrie Woodcock
2022 – Ben Whitelaw
2022 – Rohan Patel
2022 – Joel Jong
2022 – Adrianos Boutsias
2022 – Jack Adams
2021 – Abigail Dixon
2021 – Sana Habib
2021 – Louis Woollven
2021 – Sreya Thomas
2020 – Andzelika Duda
2020 – Jonathan Sheridan
2020 – Alexander Hunt
2020 – Alicja Krahelski
2020 – Thivakar Sri Kandakumar
Government Miscommunication & Vaccine Hesitancy
The Application and Future Use of Telemedicine
The experiences of healthcare workers with Long Covid
The effect of social media on the public perceptions of, and response to, the Covid-19 pandemic
The impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on UK undergraduate students
SCCT Reflection and Beyond 2.5 Years
Covid 19, Alcohol Use and the effect on a local support group
Covid-19: How our relationship with the environment spawns disease
Why has the Covid-19 pandemic had a disproportionate impact on black and minority ethnic members of society?
What have we learnt about Covid vaccines?
What treatments are there for Covid-19?
Molnupiravir – is it really a game changer?
What may be some of the possible causes of Long Covid?
A snapshot of the experiences of Long Covid in the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities
What are some of the neurological problems associated with Long Covid?
Long Covid – what treatments have been shown to be the most effective?
How viruses affect humans
Principles of vaccination
Testing for Covid-19: What’s the science behind the tests?
Covid-19: True or false? Myth-busting
The Role of Genetics