Hello everyone! My name is Rishabh, I’m a 2nd year student originally from India but I have been brought up in Malaysia. As an avid neuroscience enthusiast, I am keen to lead BrainLeeds forward and expand upon the many great initiatives we have started in recent years. I strive to revitalise a strong passion for the clinical neurosciences, neurology, neurosurgery and neuroradiology amongst all Leeds Medical Students through the fantastic events and networking opportunities I aim to put forth as president.
Over the past 4 months, I have stepped in as Vice President of Oncology Society, co-ordinating the Worsley-Award Winning Interactive MDT Case Based Discussion with Cutting Edge and XPosure, and organising the society’s first national collaboration with Oxford Cancer Society featuring approximately 20 presentations from Leeds, Oxford and Cambridge medical students at every stage of training. This demonstrates my capability to lead a society, chair meetings, organise large-scale initiatives as well as my proactiveness, time management, organisation skills and diligence needed as president.
Previously, I had served as one of the national teaching series/conference co-ordinators, helping to establish the society’s first national teaching series inviting renowned speakers from Queen’s Square Institute of Neurology, the past NANSIG chair (the national Neurology and Neurosurgery Interest Group), past InciSioN (International Surgical Student Network) chairs and the Association of British Neurologists, garnering upto 40 students attending across the country. I also helped plan and run the society’s first national conference, featuring our first interactive EEG workshop and a surgical skills workshop run by BBASS, with over 50 participants from students as far as from Glasgow. As the preclinical representative last academic year, I helped significantly boost the outreach of our society, attracting attention regionally from nearby neuroscience societies as well as being publicised on the national British Neuroscience Association page. In both these roles, I was a reliable member of the committee, always willing to step up to challenges and fill in the gaps whenever other committee members needed help and being there from the beginning to help the society grow, demonstrating my commitment and dedication to BrainLeeds.
Aside from this, I have also represented Leeds nationally and internationally in neurosciences, being the regional Neurology/Neurosurgery lead for the past 2 years and one of the youngest core committee members of NANSIG over the past 6 months, in partnership with ABN and SBNS. In these roles, I have provided others with multiple opportunities to gain research experience through multicentre audits, and have helped organise professional nationally accredited cranial/spinal surgery workshops. I also helped co-ordinate NANSIG’s first international conference focusing on careers in neurology, neurosurgery and neuroradiology in affiliation with the SBNS/BIASP (British-Irish Association for Stroke Prevention) and accredited by RCS Edinburgh, with over 15 industry sponsors, 300 participants and speakers from across the country, Europe and even Asia! I have also attended numerous professional teaching series at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the RCS Surgical Skills Day, BSNR Student Day, ABN Careers Day, hoping to bring back those connections to BrainLeeds events to provide everyone with the same opportunities to connect with experts in the field in a more accessible way.
Given the academic nature of careers in neurosciences, I am keen to introduce the society’s first journal club, allowing medical students, foundation doctors and registrars/consultants in neurology, neurosurgery and neuroradiology to present their research or any interesting landmark papers for discussion, equipping students with the basic research skills needed to conduct their own projects. I also hope to establish collaborative group studies with those interested, to promote interest, skills and knowledge in appraising/reviewing studies and engaging with academia whilst allowing members to better engage with committee members and form connections that will last them through medical school. After making considerable efforts to attend/present at student neuroscience conferences across the country (e.g. KCL, Glasgow, Plymouth, Hull York Medical School, Edinburgh) and beyond (e.g. the Hong Kong Student Association of Neurosciences), I am determined to use these connections formed to run exciting regional/national level workshops on practical skills (e.g. craniotomies/burrholes, VR neuronavigation, lumbar punctures, aneurysm clipping, spinal surgery techniques such as Transforaminal Interbody Fusion) in collaboration with other local societies (e.g. Oncsoc, Cutting Edge) and beyond.
Considering my past experiences working in a multitude of different societies, in academia/research as well as my insatiable passion for the neurosciences, I am confident in my ability to lead and support the new committee to new heights, inspiring the next generation of neurologists, neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists within Leeds Medical School.
Thank you for reading my manifesto! Hope you will give me the chance to demonstrate my skills and put them to best use by voting for me as president, so that together we can make BrainLeeds more nationally popular and recognised!
