Rayan Kamal - student stories

What type of relationship did you envisage with staff/students before you began your project? Was your experience in line with this or different?

Prior to the StudentShapers project, I thought that whilst we would be working with staff members who design the Medicine MBBS curriculum, we would be told what to do. This meant that we would have limited choice and we were working with the aim of completing what staff members wanted us to do. However, I was really surprised at how much free roam we had. We were able to completely choose what topic we wanted to change and adapt (within Phase 1 of the MBBS, related to Professional Values and Behaviours). Whilst there were a few topics that required changing by the end of the project, we were otherwise told that any topic that we wanted to change or any topic that we felt was particularly close to home, we could engage in. Furthermore, I thought that originally, we would be editing Guided Online Lessons and mainly focussing on text editing, but we were tasked with doing so much more. It was really refreshing to try new things such as video editing and presenting to doctors and more senior staff. So, my experience with the Professional Values and Behaviours Team was really good and by far exceeded my expectations. 

Why did you want to work with staff/students on a project to enhance and develop the student experience?

I wanted to work with the staff of the PVB (Professional Values and Behaviours) team within Medicine because I felt that there were a few things that I would like to be changed if I were a student studying the course at the time. Having been through the modules over the past 3 years, I was aiming to make sure that current students would actively engage and enjoy the module, something that was not necessarily the case during my first 3 years.

I really wanted to make a positive impact to the lives of younger students to make sure that they could actively take part in a module that was both relatable and useful to them.

I really wanted to make a positive impact to the lives of younger students to make sure that they could actively take part in a module that was both relatable and useful to them. And finally I wanted to contribute to Imperial teaching and I felt that this would be a very unique way of doing so. 

How did working with staff/students as a partner help you reimagine and develop a new/different relationship?

I think my respect for module leads has skyrocketed immensely. I think this relationship is unique because both of us are trying to achieve the same thing, but the approach that we are taking is different. I think the main reason is that whilst the staff have been doing this module for years and are experienced in this field, we as students have been through the process recently, so this collaborative effort is unique in many ways.

I think this relationship is unique because both of us are trying to achieve the same thing, but the approach that we are taking is different.

Student-staff relationships in other aspects of university are very simple, in the sense that they are more senior and there are certain ways that you can approach them, whereas with StudentShapers we are more like colleagues.

What is the most important thing, skill or new perspective you have learnt during the project?

I think the most important perspective would be how much work goes on behind the scenes of module delivery and how much development and editing goes on. I think one of the most important skills that I can take away from this project is video editing. It was a completely new experience, but it was fun to try something new. Furthermore, I was able to practice many of the core skills required further in my profession and am hoping to take my StudentShaper  project further with the other student shapers who I worked with over the summer.