AN Abingdon medical student has won a national competition aimed at promoting professionalism among future doctors.

Charles Pope, a fifth year medical student at Cardiff University, won first prize for his workshop on honesty and integrity.

It followed a ‘choose your own adventure’ theme to pose a range of scenarios to show how difficult it can be for doctors when making important medical decisions.

The competition was organised jointly by the General Medical Council and the Medical Schools Council, and the student’s seminar beat nearly 20 entries from more than 60 medical students studying at 19 different medical schools across the UK.

The competition, which is now in its second year, asks medical students to develop a teaching session based on the GMC’s guidance for would-be doctors on how to achieve the required standards expected of them once they qualify.

As well as winning £300 shopping vouchers, Mr Pope was invited to present his winning session at the annual Developing Excellence in Medical Education Conference in Manchester in front of an audience of doctors, patients, employers, educators and representatives from the GMC and MSC.

He said: “It was good fun designing the teaching session, and I’m glad the judges enjoyed my submission.

“Honesty and integrity are vital when interacting with patients and colleagues, both as students and as doctors, as it forms the foundation for the trust patients put in us when we provide care.

“I hope my session is helpful for students to start thinking about the importance of honesty when on placement, as well learning the GMC’s guidance on the topic, which I’ve found very useful for my studies.”

Dr Colin Melville, the General Medical Council’s director of education and standards, who was part of the judging panel, said: “The standard of entries was very high with some exciting and innovative approaches which made judging difficult.

“Charles’s entry demonstrated clearly and imaginatively the importance of honesty and integrity that we expect from doctors.

“As well as being very engaging it highlighted important learning points and showed that whilst you control the decisions you make there may be unanticipated consequences.”

Fellow judge and policy advisor at Medical Schools Council, Clare Owen, added her praise.

She said: “We know that next to the large amount of clinical knowledge that students have to learn while at medical school, professionalism can sometimes seem less important.

"Charles’s entry demonstrates that its importance can be emphasised to students in a fun and relatable way.”