charles shepherd
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Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.
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I should add that this is only available to UK medical students.
It would be interesting to know if any of the overseas ME/CFS charities have any similar award schemes.
Obviously I have limited cognitive function at the end of a long day. I read, but apparently I do not fully comprehend under these circumstances.HoweverI think this award is much more specific/limited than any of the scenarios you mention. It's very small - 2 x £250 ($385) - covering travel and expenses to the UK Research Collaborative Conference for two students.
This sounds like an excellent plan indeed! Exposure to real ME research and researchers could make all the difference in how these students view ME.But, on the whole, I think it will expose the two selected students to a much higher level of science than is typical in UK medical schools. Crucially, this years conference will feature the likes of Dr Montoya (as a keynote speaker) and Dr Øystein Fluge (Rituximab):
I am also in favor of this valuable intervention. We need all the awareness-raising we can get, especially among UK medical students.So I'm still in favour of this small but useful intervention by the MEA. I still believe it will help to raise awareness in a useful manner.
Obviously I have limited cognitive function at the end of a long day. I read, but apparently I do not fully comprehend under these circumstances.
Yeah, but what are UK medical schools going to teach these medical students about ME? How do you avoid spending the very limited funding available for ME to support a medical student who just ends up being another doctor who believes ME is a psychosomatic illness? It's not like there's anyone at any of the UK medical schools who has treated ME patients biomedically (as opposed to psychiatrically) or even knows anything about it. You can't even require that they do their internship in a real ME/CFS specialist medical practice if they have to train in the UK.
At least NOVA Southeastern University has Drs Klimas and Rey who treat patients and train medical students. Stanford University has Dr Montoya. Supporting medical students who train under those doctors is likely to produce a doctor who will benefit the ME patient population. Who is going to train these UK medical students? What will they teach them about ME at a UK medical school? I'd like to think this would be of benefit to our UK patient cohort, but I don't see how it's going to work. Wouldn't it make more sense to fund someone to train under Klimas or Montoya and then require that they return to the UK to practice?