News from Imperial: Imperial Immersion Week 2024

On 4 March 2024, the Imperial College School of Medicine had the pleasure of once again hosting medical students who flew in all the way from our partner medical school – the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore.

The visiting LKCMedicine students joined a range of classes from Phase 1 and 2 of the Medicine MBBS curriculum and got a taste of the wide variety of ways we teach medicine here at Imperial.

Their educational journey spanned diverse terrains. They joined some traditional lecture-style large group teaching on Urology as well as a cadaveric anatomy tutorial in the historic Human Anatomy Unit at Charing Cross Hospital. They also had the chance to experience newer styles of teaching including the innovative ‘Stabbed To Stable’ tutorial, in which they, in teams alongside their ICSM peers, unravelled the intricate web of physiological responses to a major haemorrhage. They also explored the challenges of first aid in extreme and remote environments in an interactive outdoors session.

The students also had a cultural immersion with guided tours of the Medicine Gallery in the Science Museum in Kensington, and the fascinating Pathology Museum in Charing Cross Hospital, which houses 1,600 pathological specimens dating from as far back as 1888.

This year the Imperial Immersion Week coincided with ICSM’s inaugural Raising and Giving Week offering the visiting students opportunities to engage in charitable activities alongside our students and faculty including a vintage clothing charity sale, a student and faculty quiz night and auction, and our flagship ‘Circle Line’ event.

Throughout the week, members of the Students’ Union committee socialised with LKCMedicine students, taking them on a scavenger hunt through Kensington to show them the area. On Tuesday, we took them to one of our favourite minigolf spots in Putney, and treated them to a cheeky Nandos. These fun activities provided opportunities for networking and cultural exchange between students from both institutions.

Programmes like these go beyond simple academic exchange; they foster a spirit of camaraderie, collaboration, and mutual learning. It is always exciting speaking with our counterparts from LKCMedicine and comparing what is common across cultures and continents. We all really enjoyed meeting everyone and we look forward to working with them more in the future, both as students and as future doctors and leaders!