Samuel Riggs | Editor
There’s something about Med Day that inspires a kind of localized mania. One day every academic year, it appears as though anyone who studies medicine goes absolutely mental, taking to the streets to aggressively shake buckets at passersby, participating in ridiculous activities, and in the process raising incredible amounts of money for charity. Last year, Med Day raised over €46,000 for their chosen services – if you look at this in comparison to Jailbreak, which raised approximately €37,000 and garnered national media interest, the accomplishments of Med Day become even more impressive, simmering quietly under the radar whilst achieving big things.
The day looks set to be bigger than ever this year, so we set out to discover what makes Med Day such a huge deal, and why it’s something that medicine students go absolutely crazy over.
“Some of the thrill of ‘training to be a doctor’ wears thin in the earlier lecture and campus-based years. But when the students start attending their clinical rotations, their altruism gets re-ignited.”
Speaking to The University Times, Dr. Lucy Balding, who is behind the Palliative Care Services, one of Med Day’s chosen beneficiaries this year, explained that med students are so passionate about Med Day because they can see a direct link between the money that they are raising, and the benefit it has on patient care in the hospitals they are training in, and will work in in the future. “Some of the thrill of ‘training to be a doctor’ wears thin in the earlier lecture and campus-based years. But when the students start attending their clinical rotations, their altruism gets re-ignited. I guess that translates into a very genuine connection with the cause, the fundraising: and that sincerity is palpable to those giving money on Med Day.”
A genuine connection, and the ability to see the effects of what they’re achieving on the lives of the patients they care for seems integral to the day. Danielle, one of the organisers of Med Day this year, expressed that “being able to give something back is incredible. We spend so much of our time in college in these hospitals. For me, in its 13th Year, Med Day has become somewhat of a well-known tradition, and every year goes from strength to strength.”
Anna O’Leary, Junior Sophister Medicine, added that this is because “most people in Dublin, especially in the city centre, know someone who has been through the doors of James’ Hospital. Compared to other faculty fundraising days the emphasis is very clear – we are fundraising for our hospitals, not an abstract cause which can be harder to inspire the public to donate their spare change to.”
Enthusiasm to participate, and genuine connection with the causes, as well a little bit of insanity.
That Med Day goes from strength to strength is not surprising, given that public response to the day is always overwhelmingly positive and generous. An emphasis on bucket-shaking and overall visibility is key to its continued success, and there’s a real sense of fun and playfulness about the day. Last year, three med students pledged to get a tattoo of the logo on themselves if they raised over €1,000 each. It was easily achieved, the tattoos were applied, and nobody batted an eyelid. This is par for the course on Med Day, it seems. Sarah O’Mahony explained that “it’s just a given that you go, and everybody wants to be there. It gives us a rare chance to be on campus. The social aspect is huge. Organised fun? We’ll be there!” There is a genuine feeling of enjoyment, compassion and generosity that emanates from the day, and all those involved. So what makes Med Day a success, overall? Enthusiasm to participate, genuine connection with the causes, as well a little bit of insanity seems to be the winning formula.
This year, Med Day is on November 7th, and is in support of Palliative Care Services, Infectious Disease Investigations, Prostate Cancer Research and Crohn’s Disease Therapy Research, all of which are based in St. James’s Hospital.
