Becoming the Support I Once Needed: Reflections of a Regional Lead

In this post, Ella Spencer- a 5th year medical student at the University of Nottingham- shares her experiences as a regional lead for Medics&Me, reflecting on building resilience whilst being a leader with ADHD and discussing what led her to understand the importance of widening participation in medicine.

One of the most memorable moments of being a regional lead was standing at the front of an assembly hall during my first school visit, speaking to hundreds of secondary school students around the same age that I was when I first decided that I wanted to study medicine. Looking out at the audience felt surreal, because it reminded me so strongly of the younger version of myself - the student sitting in assemblies wondering whether medicine was even a realistic possibility.

I will be the first to admit that I do not come from the “typical” medical student background. My family background is farming and mining, which is about as far away from medicine as you can get. At many points throughout my medicine

journey, I genuinely was not sure if I belonged in medicine at all.

Whilst representation in medicine is slowly improving, many of the insecurities I experienced have never been topics of open discussion. I did not see many people openly discussing being neurodivergent or talking about struggling

financially at university. And I definitely did not see many people talking about surviving adverse childhood experiences or trauma whilst studying medicine, so I had very few examples of how to navigate those challenges. I share this not for sympathy, but because I know how isolating it can feel when nobody openly talks about these experiences in medicine. I remember wishing that there was someone I could look at and think: “If they have been through something like me and succeeded, then what is stopping me?”. This is why widening participation work became so important to me.

Starting A Society

Being a regional lead has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my time at medical school, but also one of the most challenging. Starting a new society involved far more administration than I ever expected - paperwork,

recruiting committee members, advertising events, planning teaching sessions, organising outreach events, replying to endless emails, and trying to build something sustainable from the ground up. Nobody warns you how many emails

widening participation work involves.

At the beginning, I often worried that I was not doing enough. Seeing all the incredible things that other regional leads across the country were achieving sometimes made me question whether I was doing a good enough job myself.

Over time, though, I realised that leadership is not about trying to replicate exactly what everybody else is doing. Different universities, teams, and student populations all have unique needs. What mattered was building something

meaningful and sustainable for the students around us. For example, I had a friend who absolutely loved ophthalmology and could teach it far better than I ever could. That inspired a series we called ‘Introduction to Specialties’, where different senior students each taught a specialty they were genuinely enthusiastic about- explaining what the career involved, why they loved it, and teaching key conditions within that field. The success of that series reminded me that good leadership is not about being the best at everything yourself. Often, it is about recognising the strengths of other people and giving them the confidence and opportunity to share them.

Many of the most meaningful moments as a regional lead are not the largest events, but the quieter moments that follow. When students staying behind to ask questions that they were too nervous to ask publicly. Hearing students

say that they had never met somebody from a similar background in medicine before. Or later seeing students that we had supported go on to thrive in medical school.

Leadership Through Challenges

Balancing the role alongside medical school, placements, and life outside of medicine was not always easy. As someone with ADHD, I am still learning how to work with my brain rather than constantly against it. The challenges associated with being neurodivergent do not magically disappear because you take on leadership role. That said, I have started to recognise some of the strengths that can also come with neurodivergence, such as a greater capacity to empathise with students who may also feel different or out of place.

Part way through the year, I also experienced personal hardships that needed to take priority over both my studies and my role as a regional lead. For a long time, I viewed challenges as things that interrupted progress or pulled me away from where I “should” be. I often found myself falling into “Why me?” moments, focusing on everything that felt difficult, unfair, or overwhelming at the time.

However, at some point during this year, my perspective started to change.

One day, I found myself reflecting on some of the experiences and hardships that I had already managed to survive, and it dawned on me just how much resilience I had built over time without even realising it. The version of me from a few years ago would not have coped with many of the situations that I have now managed to walk through. Yet somehow, despite everything, I was still here, still standing, still studying medicine, still leading events, still helping students, and still moving forward even on the difficult days.

That realisation quietly changed the way I approached challenges. University deadlines, event planning stresses, and worries about whether sessions would go well no longer felt quite so overwhelming in comparison to some of the

things I had already survived. This does not mean that the stresses disappeared; rather, I started to understand that resilience is often built gradually over time through the experiences we never imagined we would survive.

Oddly, these experiences also changed how I approached leadership and medicine. When you have struggled yourself, it becomes easier to recognise when somebody else may be struggling too. It taught me that sometimes the

smallest actions, such as checking in on a teammate or reassuring a student, can have far more impact than we realise.

Over time, I stopped asking “Why me?” and instead started appreciating the “silver linings” within challenges. Not because difficult experiences are good per se, but because they shape who we are as individuals and influence how we understand, support, and empathise with others.

Advice for Future Regional Leads

If there is one thing I would say to future regional leads, it is this: think about what you wished you had as a sixth form student or as a junior medical student. Does that support already exist? If not, perhaps you could become that support

for somebody else.

Running Events and Teaching

Over time I learnt that you do not need to do everything yourself. Some of the best events came from asking peers what they were genuinely interested in teaching rather than trying to organise everything around my own strengths.

Asking volunteers about their interests allowed us to create teaching series that covered a huge range of specialties and topics in a much more engaging way. It also helped volunteers feel more confident and invested in the sessions they were delivering. Most importantly, ask students what they need rather than always trying to predict it. Some of our best event ideas and improvements came directly from listening to students themselves. As your team grows, try to gradually involve newer volunteers in leading events as well. At first, organising events can feel like all the responsibility sits with you, but over time you can start co-leading events and supporting newer volunteers to eventually lead independently themselves. Leadership becomes much more sustainable and enjoyable when it is shared.

Building a Strong Team

Building a reliable team is incredibly important, but it is also something that develops over time. During the first year, there is often a lot of guesswork involved in figuring out what roles people will enjoy most. As people gain experience, you may realise that someone who originally took on an administrative role actually loves volunteering at outreach events or teaching sessions. Allowing people to grow into roles that suit their strengths makes teams stronger and helps people stay engaged.

Outreach and School Visits

When organising school outreach, do not be discouraged if schools do not reply immediately. Emails often get missed or end up in junk folders, so persistence is important.

It can also help to:

• reach out to your old school

• contact schools within academy trusts

• speak to widening participation teams within universities for support

  
  

In my region we have had multiple new schools partner with Medics&Me and lots of new school leads, so what we have also found helpful is making a ‘regional hub’ community so that organising school visits can be more collaborative between the school leads, volunteers in the region and myself. This wider support network for outreach events aims to make volunteering feel more supported and less overwhelming for volunteers.

And finally, do not be discouraged if things do not feel perfect at the beginning. Some schools will not reply to your emails. Some events will not go exactly to plan. Sometimes balancing everything will feel overwhelming. But over time, you will gradually realise that you are building something meaningful, even through the small actions that may not seem significant in the moment.

Get Involved

If you are thinking about getting involved in Medics&Me, I would really encourage you to do so. I have really enjoyed volunteering with Medics&Me, from starting as a mentor to becoming a regional lead. Through these roles, I have gained valuable skills & experiences that will benefit my future career and portfolio, whilst also having the opportunity to become the kind of support that I once needed.