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UCL Medical School student wins gold in London viva competition
2 July 2024
Medical School student, Salsabeel Kazi, received the Gold Medal at the 2024 University of London Gold Medal MBBS viva competition - making this the fourth year in a row that UCLMS has won the top prize.
The University of London Gold Medal MBBS vivas have been running since 1903 (dentistry since 1995). Each year, London medical and dental schools nominate their top performing students in their final examinations to take part. The students are questioned by experts external to the London universities covering core specialties such as General Medicine, Surgery, Obs & Gynae, Clinical Pharmacology, Emergency Medicine, and Psychiatry.
During the competition, candidates receive face-to-face questions from a panel of examiners, testing their knowledge in a variety of areas of medicine. The winner is decided based on the answers the candidates give to these questions.
The winner receives a Gold Medal and a cash prize of £500, with the runner up receiving the Betuel Prize in Medicine or Dentistry and a £200 cash prize. The UCL winner’s name will also be added to the honours board at the Royal Free Hospital.
Salsabeel Kazi beat 23 candidates from Imperial, Queen Mary, St Georges and Kings to win this year’s medal. The runner up was Lucy Seddon from Kings.
Speaking of the award, Dr Kazi said: "I feel incredibly honoured and grateful to be graduating from UCL Medical School with the University of London Gold Medal. I was initially nervous to partake in the viva but the Faculty and my friends and family were very supportive and encouraging."
"The viva itself was challenging but my clinical years at UCLMS had taught me how to stay calm under pressure, follow a structured patient-centred approach and demonstrate my clinical reasoning."
"I would like to thank the incredible doctors and medical staff who work at UCL and its associated hospitals for their teaching and mentorship. I would also like to thank and congratulate the UCLMS class of 2024!"
Professor Faye Gishen, Director of UCL Medical School said, "We are incredibly proud of Salsabeel's exceptional achievement, from a cohort of around 1750 medical students eligible for the University of London Gold Medal. This makes four wins in a row of the Gold Medal for UCL. Congratulations to all our graduating UCL Doctors."