Award-winning project supports medical student mothers and fathers

Nell and five-month-old Edith revising for pathology finals

A programme supporting medics who are pregnant or parents has been recognised with an award and is to be written-up as a model for other universities.

A ground-breaking initiative that provides practical information and peer support for medics who balance their studies with parenting has been voted by students as ‘Project of the Year’ in the Imperial College Union Awards 2016.

The Imperial College School of Medicine Parents’ Group was founded in 2014 by medical student and mother Nell Freeman-Romilly working with her personal tutor, child psychiatrist Dr Sharon Taylor, and the support of the medical school.

Nell became a first-time mother in 2011 whilst at medical school and has drawn on her experience to establish a support network for other parents and parents-to-be with Dr Taylor, as well as implement a range of new interventions and services.

“I found out I was pregnant in my second term at Imperial,” explains Nell.

“When I am uncertain I try and feel a sense of control by asking questions. This time I asked hundreds—about how I would be able to keep the baby, how I would stay at medical school, how would things be OK?

“I was delighted about the baby—but devastated about the prospect of not being able to complete the course I loved, at the university I was so proud to be a part of.

“Soon after my daughter was born, a pregnant medical student contacted me with many questions of her own. I realised I could use what I had learnt to help other student parents.

“After returning from maternity leave, my personal tutor Dr Sharon Taylor and I set up the Imperial College School of Medicine Parents’ Group.”

Nell and Dr Taylor conducted an initial survey of all medical students at Imperial to identify those who were pregnant, considering or planning to become parents, or those who were parents already. Following this they held a focus group to clarify their specific needs and unique challenges.

“The stereotype of students is that they are young, carefree and unencumbered,” says Dr Taylor. “But for students who become pregnant and are parents, there are significant challenges regarding role transition and conflicting demands of childcare, partner relationships, academic studies and peer activities.

“The demands of the undergraduate medical curriculum, including both formal study and rotation placements, increases this pressure and the predicament of medical student parents may look insurmountable.

“Areas of concern include financial, organisational, academic, social and emotional matters. In areas such as financing or childcare, where the university cannot directly help, they can be ameliorated by access to accurate information through the university and peer networks.”

Their research process identified a need for five major pieces of work to better support the medical student parents: the need for written information covering frequently-asked questions, for example information on money matters and childcare options; a programme of guest speakers to share information about post-medical school training as a parent, including part-time working; presentations from doctors with experience of being a parent; information about foundation year training post-application as a parent; and a support and information network via both face-to-face meetings and social media.

“The aim of the Parents’ Group is to provide both practical information and peer support,” explains Nell.

“We developed an FAQ with the support of Dr Becky Salter, a personal tutor and paediatric A&E consultant at St Mary’s, based on the concerns of student parents which was informed and validated by the university’s welfare department. Four doctors at different stages of their careers have come to discuss their experiences as parents and are providing mentorship for interested students.

“We have formal meetings twice a year and run virtual meetings on our Facebook page where members post questions for others to answer. I also host revision sessions via Skype with group members so we can have the same benefits of group study as other medical students, without the expense of paying for evening childcare.”

Dr Taylor has previously been recognised for her commitment to student welfare, winning a personal tutor award in 2014 and the President’s Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Excellence in Pastoral Care in 2015, whilst Nell also received prizes for ‘Outstanding Service’ and ‘Contribution to College Life’ at the ICU Awards.

The duo are now in the process of submitting a paper for publication in the hope that best practice can be shared more widely.

“Co-writing a paper discussing how we developed Parents’ Group seemed a fantastic opportunity to widely share the answers to the hundreds of ‘middle of the night’ questions I once had racing through my head,” says Nell. “We hope that it can be used by other medical schools to support student parents nationally.”