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UCL London response to COVID-19 Crisis

31 March 2020

UCL striving to impact the lives of Londoners and beyond in COVID-19 crisis

Professor Deborah Gill

Extract from UCL London:

In just these past few days, UCL has successfully placed its first medical student volunteers on the wards of the Royal Free Hospital. Djamil Damry, a final year medical student, has carried out his first shift on the frontline. Dr Deborah Gill, Director of the UCL Medical School said:

“We are humbled by the commitment and tenacity of our final year students who have literally walked out of their exams and straight into volunteering to help their future colleagues and patients. We now have almost two thirds of our final year students supporting the NHS in hospitals and general practices and an ever increasing number of more junior clinical students joining their numbers”.

UCL medical students have not only been busy responding to COVID-19 on the frontline but also volunteering for NHS staff non-medical needs. Through National Health Supporters, students are helping to alleviate pressures on staff including childcare, grocery shopping and pet sitting, enabling NHS staff to continue to work throughout the outbreak. 40 volunteering groups are currently in action across all four nations of the UK.

UCL medical students comprise many of these groups, 10 of which were initiated by UCL students. In the London regional groups our medical students are leading efforts here in the Capital. Connor Tugulu and Thomas Buckley, 4th year UCL Medical School students are the pair who were inspired to set up the first London group, motivated by a group of students in Edinburgh. Within hours of set-up, the group had nearly 4,000 members.

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