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Screen then. So do you mind just letting me know when I should um start talking as well? We all like we are alive. Um Hi, everyone and um welcome to today's event. Um I hope everyone can hear us. Um Well, and we're really excited to have everyone with us today. Thank you so much for coming along. Um So um just in terms of for anyone who hasn't done anything or with student me aid yet or haven't heard about us before. So we're a student land community interest company and we aim to coordinate the redistribution of access medical supplies to individuals, communities or places in need by organizing projects. And most recently, we've done that with Lebanon. Um Our vision is to have everyone around the world to have fair and equitable access to healthcare and healthcare resources and also for future healthcare professionals to have an awareness and ability to have a positive impact on global health and sustainability. And what we really want to do is create a good sustainable network of donating and receiving organizations and have volunteers who are able to help this but also really raise awareness, interest and education on important global health, sustainability and developmental related issues. Um So, some of the things that we do is, as I mentioned, distribute medical resources to low income settings. We educate students in London about and nationally and internationally about global health and sustainability issues and really try and empower people and show them how they can make change. And we do a lot of research in the field of global health and sustainability issues and medical issues. Um We facilitate the equitable access to medical resources and healthcare in the UK and abroad. And most recently, we did this by hosting a series of webinars events for refugees who had recently arrived in the UK and showing them how they can access um healthcare through the NHS. We also talk host, talks and speakers in the field of global health and sustainability as um we are doing at the moment. Um And we also host an annual Global Health Acton, which happens every year in March and we'd love to see more of you there as well. Um We'd love to have more of you get involved with us from this event and onwards. So please do check out our website and sign up to our newsletter. And you can also follow us on our various social media handles, but we post quite regularly and we do a lot of quiz seriess, a lot of educational series and also post regularly about the event that we hold. Um So today we'll be hearing about the amazing field of global health and sustainability. And we have two amazing speakers who have taken time off their very busy schedules to join us today and have so much experience and expertise in the field. And also in the middle, we'll be playing a quick fun global health and sustainability based quiz and we'll have some opportunities to win exciting prizes from that as well. So we hope everyone's excited. Um And a quick thank you to our sponsors for this event as well, which are GK Medics, the MD U and past the M CS. And they're wonderful organizations who are supporting us doing the work that we're doing at the moment. So please do take a minute to um have a look at their website and engage more with the wonderful content that they create. Um And then moving on. So we'd like to introduce our first speaker for today, which is Doctor Brian Lee Han Wong. I'm sure he'll do a wonderful job of introducing himself and talking about all the wonderful things he does. But as a brief introduction, Doctor Wong is a consultant entrepreneur, global health advisor and strategist and a researcher interested in digital health, global health and pandemic prevention preparedness and response. Um Doctor Wong had a longstanding passion for meaningful youth engagement in global health and he founded the London who um which is the UK S first model who simulation um at the London School of tropical hygiene and medicine. In 2017, he also founded the UK model who um which provides a lot of amazing work and opportunities for students to get involved in global health policy advocacy and diplomacy training. Um So thank you so much, Doctor Wag for giving up your time today and I'll hand over to you now. Great. Thank you. Uh Let's see. Can you all see that? Yeah. Ok, great. Um Sorry about the weird zoom. I'm, I'm not using my, my regular computer. I'm I'm greetings from, from Geneva. Um I'm uh currently attending the, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy uh anticipated. Um So I'm, I'm not using my, my regular setup, but hopefully, um we won't have any tech difficulties. Um But yeah, thanks thanks to um uh thanks for the invitation to speak with you all today. Um As as mentioned, my name is Brian Wong. Um I will just kind of walk you through my, my journey in global health so far. Um For anyone who does know me, I, I love taking photos. So this will mostly just be a, a slide show of photos, but um hopefully, uh uh you'll be able to hear a bit about my journey how I got to where I am today. Um And um I'll, I'll end with uh a couple kind of tips and, and tricks. Um So just a quick bit about me, I'm Canadian did my undergrad in biomed um and music at Ottawa, um went on to do uh a master's in epidemiology at the Lung School of Hygiene, tropical medicine. Um did my phd in cardiovascular science at UCL uh worked as a clinical epidemiologist for the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging. Um at the same time, uh and while I was at U CLI program, managed um UCLS Global Citizenship Program, um the Outbreak Infectious Diseases Strand um and was also as a trustee for, for Students of Global Health. Um And then pandemic hit as you all know, um during the last bit of my phd. So I ended up working for Public Health England um doing COVID surveillance uh on their um immunization countermeasures division. Um you know, couldn't be a, couldn't be a true epidemiologist without working during a pandemic on a pandemic. Uh So that, that was quite um quite an experience I was going into to care homes and to schools and universities and, and taking samples um monitoring the, the spread and spread of COVID and, and giving VAC um giving feedback to um the senior leadership at the JCB I, the joint committee on vaccination and immunizations. Um And then went on to do some work with the Lancet Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Features as their Youth Officer. Um And this was, this was all focused around um uh digital health governance um with a focus on, on young people's health and wellbeing and health features. Um And um sorry, this isn't a fairly old slideshow. So I'm just, I'm just kind of whipping through it. Um But, but we effectively uh consulted um a bunch of young people on what they wanted to see for the future of health and particularly digital health. Um And this was primarily uh this primarily fed into um uh our Youth Statement and cul to action which we published alongside uh our report. So, um young people really wanted uh to address equity. Um They wanted to make sure that um we were being consulted uh in every step of uh every uh digital uh digital health governance and policy making process. Um And we ended up publishing our report um which we launched two years ago at the World Health Summit. Um and it was uh called for a radical rethink on how we harness the power of digital technologies for future health and set out a new approach to digital transformations that promote equitable, affordable and universal improvements to health. Um That's a report. It's not moving. There we go. Um And we effectively had three main findings. As one is we had to, you know, address the digital determinants of health. Um We wanted, we called for a value based governance, value based framework for governing health features and that we should put young people at the center. As I mentioned, we published a statement and a call to action um alongside the, the report. Um And this was geared at different uh policy make, uh different stakeholders, including policy makers, um international organizations, private sector, civil society, um all around, you know, what we should be doing to govern um the digital transformations of health features and, and how we involve young people at, at every level um of governance. Um We also wrote um a couple of papers um that were published in the lancet uh calling for this very thing. Uh And we established a Youth for Health Features Network um which I encourage you to join um if you're interested in digital health and, and youth engagement in digital health. Um I then went on to do a Social Innovation Fellowship um because, you know, we, we talked about think Global Act, local. Um and what better way to do that than, than to, to tackle social um issues in your, in your community. So, I was based in London, um rolling out uh Digital Transformation in a group of GP surgeries um with first for health group in, in East London. Um And, and I also did some work uh with Kais and Saint Thomas Foundation uh Trust the charity um on their uh ED I strategy. Um So, equity diversity and inclusion um focused on uh veterans um and armed forces engagement. Um love, love to keep learning. So I ended up doing Harvard's um Global Clinical Scholars research training program. Uh And uh did some diplomatic training with the European Academy of diplomacy. Um And then I started working with Transform Health, which is a coalition um of digital health uh organizations and associations um focused on um advocating for different things uh um at the global level. So um I've worked on two things with them. One was around health data governance principles. Um And another on um advocating for more and better uh better coordinated investment for digital transformations of health. Um I then went on to, to work with Ida as their scientific community manager um doing some science diplomacy work. So I was um responsible for uh coordinating our network of hubs and partners uh around the world. Um It was all focused on digital health and A I research uh and development with a, with a focus on low middle income countries building capacity. Um They've recently rebranded as health A I. Um And, and they're focused now mostly on implementing digital um implementing A I for health. Um and, and working with who to um to help um countries implement their digital health and A I for health strategies. Um And what I do now is I run a boutique consulting firm. Um uh And I, I work as a consultant and I'm a strategic and technical advisor. Um A few of my clients are here. So uh I work with um who European Observatory and Health Systems and public CS um where I focus mostly on digital transformation of health systems. Uh We're doing some work around um telemedicine, telehealth reimbursement um digitally enable primary health care uh health workforce. Um And I do some work as well with find uh which is uh the foundation for innovative di diagnostics. Um And they're, they're the global alliance for um diagnostics. Um and, and uh they're, they're all around um developing and implementing affordable, easy to use, cutting edge diagnostic technologies to tackle diseases of poverty. Um And they, they work a lot uh with partnerships uh on diagnostics in both public and private sectors. Um So, right now, I'm supporting their work with um Africa CDC to roll out the region's digital transformation strategy. Um And we're focused on um connected diagnostics um and trying to rule that out across the region. Um I do some work with STI which is the Center for Indonesia's Strategic Development initiatives. It's a civil society organization and think tank based in, in Indonesia. Um And they're um helping um the Indonesian Ministry of Health off the back of the G 20 presidency to roll out its primary healthcare strategy. Um I do some work with startups as well. So with the JVR, they're a digital mental health startup that, that delivers C BT cognitive behavioral therapy using VR headsets. Um And uh I also do some strategic advisory with, with Global Co um and, and we um we advise our clients on, on multilateral health uh issues. Um But obviously, this didn't happen overnight. Um I, it took me a while to kind of build up to where I am now and, and I'll just talk you through a little bit about how I got into global health. Um So, firstly, you know, uh it was mentioned that I, I did model who simulation. So my first kind of foray into global health um was back was oh man, decade ago now um back in Canada um where I attended my first model double two simulation. Um I was always interested in, in model UN and um had had attended one in my first year of UNI and they were all like, what are you doing here? You're a, you're, you're a health student. Um You know, shouldn't you be everyone here is doing, you know, uh international development or um political science. So, what are you doing here? Um And then I found out about that there was a health focus one that, that emulated the um the World Health Assembly. Um And uh after my, my undergrads, um I ended up uh applying, as I said for a master's um at the London School. Um So that, that was a big kind of eye opener into global health. And um this was immediate II I had my uh course immediately after Ebola. So um London School was getting a lot of attention. Um A lot of press uh They just won like the Times Higher Education Award. A lot of really interesting people were passing through, um you know, Prince Harry Bill Gates, so on and so forth. It was the only time I, I joked, the only time I actually wore like a shirt to class, um uh dress shirt to class every, every day because you never know who you're gonna meet. Um But, but it was a really great eye opener and, and a great opportunity, a great platform for um exposing myself to the world of, of, you know, public health and, and uh in all its um variety. Um And as mentioned that, that led me to, to bring the model of elect simulations to um to London School because, you know, we're taught a lot of theory in, in public health training. Um But, you know, I, I was finding that we, we were missing a lot of training on the soft skills, so, policy advocacy, diplomacy. Um So, yeah, that, that led me to establish blo who back in 2017, um our theme was on global mental health. Um We went on to do this subsequently uh a few years in a row. Um That's 2018 I established UK model who, which is a network for um training uh young people, students, young professionals in, in policy advocacy, diplomacy. Um And, and it's kind of the, the parent organization of, of law who um we did another one in 2019, obviously COVID happens and then we took a, a bit of a hiatus. Uh And last year, we ended up doing one on the fem of pandemic preparedness response and recovery, which is still um a very topical uh agenda item in, in, in, in global health. Um Today, um As you, as you have probably will have seen, there's some other simulations that happened, Sheffield, Paris and Berlin Copenhagen in the States um and other kind of platforms. Um The organizers just mentioned, you know, hackathons. Um uh So I think, you know, social entrepreneurship, hackathons case challenges, these are really great opportunities um to kind of foster innovation. So, um I this has kind of fostered my passion for entrepreneurship and innovation. Here is just some examples of, of some of these hackathons make aon case challenges that I've taken part in some of which are still running. Um So, uh and then there's also a bunch of global health fora um that, that you can take part in as well that, that, that got me involved. Um And, and kind of further rooted in, in global health um the Global Health Cafe, which now is part of UK model who um there's a global health film festival that happens um every year. Um And I think film is a fantastic medium for, for conveying stories um who hosts a bunch of things like the Human Resources for Health Forum. Um I recently attended the, the G7 G 20 Health Partnership uh meeting. Um And um there's also the gash time forum, which is a European health policy forum. Um We also recently had this uh symposium on the feature of health systems in the digital era, which was in Porto. Um last month, there's the World Health Summit, which I'm going to from Geneva um in Berlin that happens every year. Um And there's also things outside of um outside of the global health for that, that kind of link in as well with global health uh agendas. So, uh this earlier this year, I was in Costa Rica attending Rights Con um because there's a lot of focus around digital health rights. Um I didn't get around to populating the slide, but as I said, I'm, I'm currently in Geneva for this Science Diplomacy um uh Science Diplomacy Forum, um which is, which is talking a lot around, you know, um and how do we anticipate um future, you know, threats to society and, and what's the role of science in communicating to diplomats and policy makers um to, to address these issues? Um Of course, you know, I couldn't have done this alone. Um I had a lot of amazing mentors along the way. Um I'll just drop a few here. So, uh Amde Gill, he's, he was my former boss at IDA, one of our former commissioners. He's, he's now the UN Secretary General's Tech envoy. Uh S is a, an amazing um nurse. Uh Well, Janitor turned nurse turned um phenomenal researcher and advocate for, for Global Health. Um And, and the Lena Kick Bush on the right uh is the, the queen of global health. She's, um, she's written the book on Global Health Diplomacy. She's our co-chair um for the Lancet uh ft Commission. Um I think networking also plays a massive role. Um II, I quite like this quote, you know, your, your network equals your net worth. Um And, and, and really, you never know who you're gonna meet uh along the way, um whether they're gonna be, you know, part of your journey right away or, or, you know, 5, 10 years down the line, I'm still in contact with, with people. Um That I, that I've um that I met over a decade ago. Um And um of course, you know, friendships and community, um you know, I, I really wouldn't be where I am without um you know, friends and, and the community that, that global health has brought uh along the way. Um And obviously, you know, going from roleplay to reality, my, my first kind of um foray into the real World Health Assembly was through the, if MS A um the International Federation of Medical Students Associations um where I uh was, had the pleasure of being part of their um delegation uh back in 2018, um we had a youth pre World Health Assembly. Um This is my first World Health Assembly to my most recent World Health Assembly. Um And as I, as I said I was part of the delegation. Um thought it might be cool to show you some slides of what it looks like inside the World Health Assembly. So here's uh what the plenary room looks like. Um where you've got all the delegates um uh sitting there all the member states um with little sign in the back translators up top. Um um Here's the committee rooms where, where delegates split up to discuss different health issues. Um I had the pleasure of delivering a statement on maternal infant, you know, child nutrition. Um At my first World Health Assembly, there's also a bunch of side events that happened. Um I Cogan this one on, on fighting fake medicines. Um A couple of years back um There's a thing that they do called Walk the Talk um which uh is, is all around being NC DS um through physical activity um who also has what's called the executive board meeting. Um I was part of the, the I MS A delegation to that one as well. Um And that's kind of where um a small select group of countries uh each year set the set the health agenda for um global health uh which is then discussed with the World Health Assembly. Um And in the past couple of years I've been attending the, the UN General Assembly as well, um which is kind of like the World Health Assembly, but on steroids because it's not just health you've also got development, environment, everything. So everyone's very passionate about every single stg um not just STG three. And of course, you meet quite a lot of highlevel um individuals. Um So I, this year I met, I met, I met with Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, uh all the bri who's the digital health and innovation director at who and, and Justin Trudeau, um who doesn't need an introduction. Um I also had the pleasure of, you know, because of um I was realizing as I was in these spaces that there was not much um meaningful youth engagement and, and meaningful youth engagement has been one of my um passion projects to try and institutionalize meaningful youth engagement to global health governance processes. I was um involved in setting up the, the World Health Organization's Youth Council um which officially launched earlier this year. And it's a formal mechanism for, for wo to consult young people on health issues that matter to them um For, for young people to advise who senior leadership on um on these matters um really contribute to um advocacy work um And um continue on wh os projects. Um There's also the, the elate program which um I've had the, the pleasure of getting involved with the Canadian one. So that, that means that um a member state sends a youth representative um to the World Health Assembly, they act on behalf of their country, um which is which is really cool. Um And they deliver statements, they um the Canadian delegation um often does every year, a youth youth um round table for all Canadian youth that are in Geneva um to consult them on, on matters that involve um matters that concern Canadian youth. Um And recently double the bureau has set up their youth for health network, um which is like the Youth Council. Um but at, at the European level, um and, and I was back, I was involved in this, we, we launched in Tirana Albania um last year. Um And um here's some, some photos from that. Um I've also been involved with as for so the Association of schools of public Health in the European region, um They do a lot of amazing work um to coordinate public health schools across Europe. So, during COVID, I was involved in their task force, which was, which was amazing um on COVID-19. So we had the opportunity as young people to lead projects on um various, you know, pandemic related topics. Um So my, I I was, I was mostly focused around the, the vaccination subgroup and um public health erosion subgroup um contributed to a bunch of reports, publications. Um And we've now established recently a, a digital public health um task force um which links in with some of Astra's work on, on revamping core, core public health curricula across Europe. Um We recently had our deans and directors retreat where Um I was, I was awarded um uh an early career research excellence award. Um but, but this is where we launched our work uh on professionalizing um the public health workforce. Um and, and kind of our revamp of, of the public health curricula um in Europe um have also been involved with IFA, which is the um European Public Health Association. Um It's their, their digital health section. I, I'm on their steering committee. Um And, and we're really focused around, you know, uh defining um digital public health priorities uh in Europe. Um And there's also the young Federation of World Health uh world Federation of Public Health Associations. Um But all that to say, you know, global health is a journey, there's no kind of one track path um to get, you know, to, to, to a certain position. Um I always get asked, you know, how, how do you get to what you do? Um And it's, it's, it's, it's really kind of, you know, there's no straight line, it's kind of like squiggles. You've, you've seen that, that, that um image. Um And it, it really is a journey of finding out, you know, what you like, more importantly what you don't like. Um As I said, you know, I'm always supplementing my learning. I, I'm always learning doing phd number two now um on, on public health workforce development, it's my, my gift back to the public health community. I'm trying to integrate digital health skills into public health training. So that's done in conjunction with A for. Um So I'm realizing that as we're entering the public health workforce, a lot of people don't really have um haven't been formally um trained in, you know, with, with respect to digital. Um And because I'm in increasingly intersecting with private sector and industry, I've, I've decided to, to do um an MB A as well. Um So I'm halfway through that. Um Wish me luck. Um But yeah, as I said, global health is a journey, here's some kind of takeaways that, that, that uh I'll leave you with. Um I mean, as I said, networking has been, has been really, really crucial for me um to, to kind of figure out um a and to learn from um people that are in the field. Um You know, there's a lot to say, you know, I think cold calling is, is totally fine. Um You'd be surprised, you know, how many people actually respond um on linkedin. Um I have a policy that I, I never act, I never say no um to a meeting or, you know, to, to a coffee chat um When, when someone reaches out because you never know um what you're able to give, what they might be able to give you. Um I think there's a lot to be said around, you know, interdisciplinary collaboration. Um I think public health as a field has evolved so much so that, you know, you can't, um you can't just focus in your own silo. Um You know, especially in w with what I'm doing around digital health. As I said, we're engaging private sector a lot. We're engaging um engineers so and so forth. Um I think always be on the lookout for opportunities. You never know what's out there. Um And, and I think um linking back to the networking more, um Let your, let your network know when you are looking for opportunities because sometimes things will cross your path. That will be perfect, that won't be good for you, but it might be perfect for someone else. Um I talked about this whole think Global Act local. Um Don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. I know it's really cliche but, but I mean, I think really putting yourself out there um makes a huge difference and, and kind of helps you stand out. Um As I said, I've got this kind of yes policy, but particularly when it comes to opportunities. Um I think it's, it's, it's real, you know, that it's saying yes to things has, has gotten me quite far um with where I am now. Um But then, you know, kind of, on the contrary, being, being realistic about what you can, you know, meaningfully participate and contribute to um and not kind of, you know, overburdening yourself or spreading yourself too thin, which leads me to, you know, making time and prioritizing um your, your time. Um and, and prioritizing, you know, your, your, the things that you wanna focus on. Um And I would say, you know, also claiming your space and making yourself heard. So something that I, I always advise people is to, to really develop a niche for yourself, be, be really proactive and, you know, develop your own personal brand and presence. Um And then, you know, pay it forward. Um is, is what I always say as well. Um But yeah, I'll just leave you with a quote from, from Margaret Chan, you know, remember the people behind every number is a person who defines our common humanity deserves our compassion. Um And, you know, as young people, global health is not a perfect system. Um Multilateralism is not perfect. Um Have a look at this Forbes article that, that um I was interviewed in by, by Ma Pa who's, who's an incredible um uh incredible author and, and professor uh at mcgill. Um But, but he's, he's really a champion and advocate for involving young people um and, and giving space and platforms to, to young people. Um And yeah, thanks for your attention. Hopefully, that was helpful. Um Again, it was just a, a bit of my journey um but feel free to, to reach out, follow me on, on socials um and happy to take questions um if there are any. Um Thank you so much, Doctor Wag. That was really insightful. Um We have quite a few questions already. Um So one question we have is my dream is to set up community clinics and hospitals in poor and war torn countries like Afghanistan and increase development in health and other sectors there by setting up an organization. So do you have any tips on where to begin? What sort of events I should go to, how I can find mentors or any other tips? Really? Yeah, I mean, that, that's, that's a great question. I mean, I think begin by, by seeing what's already out there. Um I mean, there's, there, there's a lot of really great initiatives that, that do focus on um on, on conflict and health. Um I think, you know, ha have a look locally where you are um to see, see who's doing uh initiatives and, and if there isn't one, you know, you can set something up yourself, I think have really have a good team around. You have um ha have a sense of what again, what other people are doing so that you do have um your own niche. Um And um as I said, cold calling gets you quite far. If you, if you are seeing something that is done in, in a certain setting that, that you might be able to replicate, reach out to them, get a sense of what lessons they can share from, from their experience in setting up so that you might be able to, you know, kind of overcome any barriers that, that they might have had. Um and, and particularly for, um for, for war torn stuff, you know, I mean, look at, um IC RC, look at um like the Red Cross, look at um UN HCR. Um and, and there's a bunch of other, you know, trauma, trauma focussed uh organizations out there. So hopefully that helps. Um Thank you so much. Um Going off your answer, we've got another question which says, how do we approach the different areas in order to find our niche? So I find that there are so many interesting areas, for example, health economics, epidemiology, pharmaceutical policy, et cetera. So don't know where to start. Excellent question. I mean, I, I think you just to start somewhere honestly. Um And as I said, you'll find out what you like. Uh And again, most importantly, what you don't like. Um and sometimes you might end up coming back around full circle. Um You know, as I, as I said, I, I initially started doing stuff around um non clinical diseases, lifelong health and aging. Um then went on to, to work on infectious diseases. You never know what happens in the world. Um Things might change and, and require a certain skill set. Um Or you might find something else interesting um for everything then went digital. So that's what kind of moved me to the digital health space. Um And now I work on I use digital as my kind of foundation um to then enter things like mental health or NC DS or reproductive sexual health uh and rights and, and so on and so forth. So I think start somewhere um have a, have um the reason I didn't do public health in general is because I wanted um uh uh uh you know, a concrete skill set. So that's why I chose epidemiology. Um And then I use that as, as kind of an avenue to enter um other spaces. Um I don't, I don't do too much quantitative data analysis anymore um cause I was good at it but, but I, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did, you know, health policy, um governance, that kind of stuff. So, yeah. Um Thank you so much. Um Another question is for anyone who is pursuing a medical degree at the moment and is quite passionate about clinical medicine, but also really wants to get involved in global health and all those related arenas. What, how would you advise going about? Yeah, that's, that's a really tough one. I, I can't relate because I didn't do medicine but um a lot of my close friends did and, and they, a lot of them still struggle with this kind of paradox of, you know, do I go down the clinical route or do I go public health? Um And, and some people end up, you know, kind of ditching clinical altogether. Um, I think, you know, the people that are the most grounded, uh that I work with that. Iwh are the ones who, who actually stuck out clinical training for, for a couple of years, um, actually practiced and, and have, you know, concrete on the ground experience that they can then draw from, um, you know, as, as they then go into policy uh and governance. Um, but while you're in your studies, I mean, there's, as I mentioned, there's, there's quite a few different organizations um that you can get involved with, um, you know, um there's uh students for Global Health, um which is the national member organization of, if MS A uh the International Federation of Medical Students Associations. Um There's a lot of kind of opportunities through there to, to get involved with um with advocacy, with policy writing, um getting to attend highlevel meetings as part of a delegation, um delivering statements, things like that. Um There's also um a bunch of, uh if you're interested in surgery, there's um organizations that, that do um global surgery. Uh I think what I think it's called Life Boxx. Um And there's also ways to kind of pursue uh global surgery. Um There's a program at Harvard, um that was set up by Paul farmer. Um, uh, and, and is run by Key Park. Um So there's, there's a few avenues to, to do that. Um There's also, um, some of my friends have gone the, the public health um residency route. Um So, you know, you do your med, you do your med med school training, you go into um your public health residency. Often you can take a year out or, or one year of that program is doing a master's in public health. Um You then work for uh a national public health agency like Public Health England or, which is now called UK HS A. Um uh and, and you can do that, you can go down the field epidemiology route. Um So there's, there's quite a, quite a lot of opportunities to, to stay involved in and still stay clinical um If you want. Um Thank you so much. Um Another question we have is will there be another London um who this year or next year? Yeah. So I think the plan is to do it spring next year. So stay tuned. Have, look at the websites. Um I, I'm not super involved anymore but um they, they, they run uh an academy program which um which, which is all focused on, you know, training again, policy advocacy, diplomacy skills. And then um you can put them into practice when you, when you go to the simulation um which again should be spring next year but, but stay tuned on our, on our channels um UK model. Who dot org? Thank you so much. Um Do we have time for a couple of more questions? Doctor on, do you need more. Is that wonderful? Um So another question we have is um hello, the work you're doing is truly inspiring. I've recently graduated from my Masters in Global Health. How do I get into opportunities and what opportunities exist that bridge the gap between research and policy to have impactful change? Yeah, really, really good question. Um I mean, I think unfortunately the the job market is quite tough and um global health is, is fairly hierarchical. So, I mean, it is really all about who, you know, it's all about timing. Um and, and all about, you know, following job alerts. Linkedin's fantastic who career page um internships are a really great avenue to, you know, stepping stone um towards um you know, building concrete skills that you can then leverage to either do consultancies or um to get staff ros um and uh as for um opportunities that, that, you know, bridge gaps between research and policy, I think, you know, um like what I'm doing now around science diplomacy, um really being able to translate, you know, science into policy and, and into, to, to language that policy makers and diplomats understand when they go into negotiations. Um I, I've seen that, you know, come, come to fruition um the work of the observatory, um the European Observatory that, that, that I work for um it's, it is all around, you know, collecting synthesizing evidence um and um making sure that translates to, to policy um and, and, and to bridge that, that gap. Um And yeah, that, that's what I would say. Um And, and, you know, continue reaching out to people. Um if you see people who are in roles or hiring for roles that, that you're interested in, definitely reach out to them. Uh Especially if it's, um if it's, you know, who, um they, they, there's often, you know, they often advertise things that unfortunately they already, they already have people f um for, but uh having a good idea of, you know, kind of the skill sets that they recruit for um is, is really helpful for, for them, you know, knowing how to develop yourself, um knowing what kind of volunteer uh or paid opportunities you should be pursuing what kind of skills you should be developing. Um so that you can then step into those roles. Thank you so much. And our last question is um about you mentioned meaningful youth engagement, how that's been something you're really passionate about and have been continuing to um implement. Um especially in, I think, again, focusing a bit more maybe on medical schools and medical students. It's just not something that's put much focus on at least in British medical schools at all. But it's something that medical students and future doctors can really have an impact in the field. So how do you think we as students could maybe increase engagement? But also do you think medical medical schools themselves should be maybe implementing more in terms of. Yeah, I mean, I think that that's a good question. I think, you know, there's, there's increasingly more and more medical schools that, that are, you know, realizing the importance of global health. So I think they, they are um you know, there, there are increasing numbers of programs that, that, that offer, you know, a global health module. Um At least ones that I've seen across, across Europe, um ones that, that offer ations that you can do, uh you know, a master's during your studies. Um I think a lot of the, the people that I interact with on the Youth Council, as I mentioned, some of them are, are med students. Um And, and I think again, they're, they're quite grounded when it comes to bringing the clinical perspective. Um health workforce is a massive um discussion, massive, talking a massive um topic uh in, in global health because um as we saw with the pandemic, you know, human resources for health were, were massively uh overwhelmed, inundated. And, and um right now are one of the, the biggest barriers to, to health system strengthening. So I think med students bring, bring a lot of perspectives. I think um uh you know, as, as med schools, med school should definitely be offering, you know, more um more f more opportunities or, or at least giving space um for med students to then, you know, go, go and pursue um things like global health um opportunities conferences. Um uh And I've, again, I've, I've increasingly seen um med schools do that. So, um yeah, thank you so much. Um I think that was our last question. Um Thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it and it was such an insightful talk and um it was really wonderful getting your thoughts and all our questions as well. Thank you so much for sure. Um And feel free to reach out. Um You've got my contact info. I also send it um by mail to the organizer. So, so feel free to reach out if uh if anything lovely to, lovely to meet you all. Thank you so much, doctor. I really appreciate it. Take care. Bye. Thank you. Um Hi, everyone. So we'll just be playing a short quiz in the meantime um before we um move on and um just give me a second to share my screen um 12. Um So we'll be playing a short cahoot quiz. Um If everyone, if I, if you don't have the app, you can use the QR code on the screen um to join the quiz. Um If anyone's having any issues with doing that, um Please do put it on the chart and we will, we can definitely help you out. But yeah, we'll, we'll just give everyone maybe a minute just to um get on to the, get on to the app or the website and then we'll give everyone a code and then hopefully we can get started soon. Wonderful. Hopefully everyone can still see um my screen if you just, yeah, use the um pin or even the QR code and we can join um a quick thing to keep in mind is that um we'll be hosting this quiz over the three weeks. Um And um the player with the highest score at the end of the three weeks will be able to win an Amazon voucher for 25 lbs. Um So please try and remember the username you use if you're going to be joining us in the subsequent weeks and um we'll add up all the points. So we'll just give everyone maybe a minute or so to um join in, just give it maybe a minute or so more. OK, then we'll get started. So hopefully everyone's familiar with cal who works. So that's our question and you can click the answer that you think is correct on your screen. Um It moves quite fast. It's only 15 seconds. So um go with your best guess. Wonderful. So, um those are what um everyone answered and we can see that our correct answer is 5 million and well done to USMA. He's the only one who got it right. And that's quick are the facts that air pollution causes 5 million deaths globally and contributes to 9% of all premature deaths. And it's the fourth greatest cause of mortality and especially in countries like North Korea, India and Nepal, it accounts for a significant proportion of all mortality. Um Second question, how many diseases have so far been eradicated or widely eliminated due to vaccinations? Um everyone else, um the pin is still at the bottom of the screen. So if you've not joined so far, you can still um join us and start playing the game winfield. So our correct answer is 14. Great. And a few other facts are 14 diseases have been eradicated or widely eliminated and that includes measles, diphtheria, mumps, pituitary rubella and many others. Um What is the current global median age? Wonderful and correct answer is 29.6 years. And yeah, quick fact about that as well. And what is the expected sex ratio at birth? So the number of girls born to the number of boys born assuming no or natural interventions? Wonderful. And we have our correct answer which is 100 to 105. And another quick fact about that as well. So there's a greater chance of miscarriages in female embryos. How is the share of global population of Children less than 18 years who are obese or overweight change from 1975 to 2016. So the answers are in percentages. So 22% 5% 14% or a reduction by 4%. Wonderful. And correct answer is an increase by 14%. And the other quick fact about that as well. How many many many Children, Children were, were estimated to be engaged in child labor as of 2013? And our correct answer is 265 million. What is the globally most prevalent form of cancer? Wonderful. And our correct answer is breast cancer. And just have a quick fact about that as well, which is the Foli following country is polio eliminated from. And that correct Anglo answer is Bangladesh. And another quick fact about that as well. What percent of the population in the UK in 2018 were vegetarian? And the correct answer is nine and another quick back to bed that as well. And what percentage of deaths each year are attributed to unsafe water in low income countries? Wonderful. And um our answer is six and that was our last question. Um Thank you guys so much so we can have a quick look at our scores um for this week. Wonderful. Thank you guys so much. Um And just moving on now, um Thank you guys so much for playing and we're really um excited to introduce our next speaker. Um Matthew, would you like to in made it for us? Yes, of course. Our next speaker is MEREDITH Rx. He's currently a program officer Program Operations Support Officer at I am Ukraine as part of the Un Special Forces. He has past experiences working humanitarian and development settings in Bangladesh, Syria, Turkey and Slovakia and also previously worked as a journalist in the UK and South Asia. He has a Bachelor's from LSE and then completed his master. Everyone else can, um, here Bathe. Oh. Oh. Oh, yeah. Wonderful. Um, can everyone still, can you still see my screen? Matthew. Yes, I can and completed his masters at the graduate institute? Geneva. It's my honor to introduce MEREDITH Ricks. Our next speaker who will now take with me. Sorry, Marga, I think you may be muted. Yes, I think I was. Can you see my screen? Yes, we can. Right. Uh Here, I was saying that I'm sorry, but I have COVID. Um and it's quite late here. Um So, apologies. Um but nice to see you all and I'm very happy to be here and to take any questions at the end, as Bey said, um I'm MEREDITH. Um I'm program operations and support officer with IOM, which is the UN Agency for Migration um which rather confusingly um works in multiple sectors uh across the humanitarian development and uh migration management uh sphere. Um I'll take it quickly through my career journey for the last few years and then share, I guess some kind of hints and tips um of maybe how to get into it. I don't know if I can follow on Brian's presentation, which was very inspiring. Um Mine is much more operational. So for those of you who are more interested in uh the operational aspects of, of running a humanitarian or development program. Um Hopefully this will be of interest. Um So I started as, like I said in, in journalism um in South Asia and in the UK, um simultaneously I did internships with a range of organizations um in the fields of policy, research and development. Um during this time uh before and after I was doing my bachelor's in NSE and then my master's um at the graduate institute in Geneva um where I did political science. Uh And then I, my first kind of, I guess job in, in this sector was with Relief International in Turkey. Uh And then I moved to IM, um where I've worked in a few different countries. So journalism, I guess is where I began and I, I chose journalism, I think really because I wanted to make opportunities for myself. Um and this was a really good way for me to travel, to meet people, to learn about things that interested me. Um And to try and have some kind of impact um on things that I cared about. Um So I mostly worked as a freelancer, although I worked um as a, as a desk journalist for a few organizations for, for some periods, um mostly in the UK and in South Asia. Um, a lot of this was for newspapers, local newspapers, national newspapers. Um and I also did a lot of radio and, and podcasts. Um And as I said, this was really an opportunity for me to, to travel and to, to meet people and to learn about things. And I, I really recommend, ah, any of you out there wondering how to get into something. Don't wait for the opportunity to come to you, try and make the opportunity happen by getting involved in something or, or, or starting an initiative yourself. Um, and for me, journalism was that the ability to write to someone and say, hey, I really am interested in what you're doing. Can I interview you for this podcast or can I interview you about your, your work on this? Can I, you know, get, get your thoughts on this? Um was really uh a way that I met a lot of people um that inspired me and then made a lot of connections that have served me very well um in subsequent years and in subsequent directions that I've taken. Um So, yes, these experiences ultimately fed into the research that I did at university and following university. Um and some publications. Um and then obviously my advent of work in the humanitarian sector, um A lot of my work focused on humanitarian issues. My, my journalistic work focused on humanitarian issues on human rights. Um And on uh issues of uh the politics of development, I guess. Um So I don't do journalism anymore. And I guess part of the journey for me was realizing that that wasn't the career path I wanted. Um But I learned a lot of skills along the way. Um That should be in good ST for, for what came later. Um, some pictures of me when I was young and handsome. Um I did internships as I think I said uh with a number of organizations in other countries um with VSO in Bangladesh for several months, er, with a couple of think tanks in India where I worked on things like uh political geography, uh and security uh and human rights uh an NGO two NGS in the UK. One of them was evidence for development where we were modeling uh the effects of climate change on uh the food resilience of, of households and trying to basically map poverty. So as you say, if rainfall drops by 10% in this area, what is the, what is the result and then you know more effectively how to target um the work that you do. And so that was um that was what we were doing. Um And then I also worked interned with UNHCR in Malaysia, excuse me. Um where I work as a case worker mostly um registering and determining the asylum cases of, of refugees um seeking asylum in Malaysia from countries mainly from Bangladesh uh sorry, from uh from Myanmar um but also from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Somalia. Um and, and many others um and realized that wasn't for me either. Um But nonetheless, I made a lot of connections there and I guess I had my first kind of understanding of what a large humanitarian organization looks like and how it works. Um, and was able to kind of see, ok, this, this isn't exactly what I want, but I can see other job areas in this kind of organization that might be. And so that's, I guess, kind of what I aimed for once I finished my study. Um, and once I finished my study, I went to do an internship with Relief International, um, in Turkey. Um, it actually started remotely, um, but I decided to move there anyway and, um, not do it remotely. Um, it was a part time internship, um, paid UK minimum wage for 20 hours a week. Um, which wasn't really enough for me to live on in the UK. Um, so I moved to Turkey where I could just about live on that and I worked full time for them even though I wasn't paid full time because I guess I wanted to make the most of the opportunity that I had. Um, so if you don't know about Relief International, it's a relatively large international non governmental organization that works in, I think about 13 countries worldwide. Um, a lot of their work is in the field of, uh, of health. Um, and in nutrition. Um, the Turkey Country program mainly focused on mental health and psychosocial support and physical rehabilitation of, uh, disabled Syrian refugees. Um, and we ran a number of clinics across the country um for these people. And as I, as I left, we were also venturing into more protection based services. So access to legal rights, access to documentation. Um again, for people with disabilities. Um And as part of my internship, I was basically the assistant to the country director um which was great. Um It meant I could get involved in every aspect of the organization from donor engagement to strategy to contract management, to monitoring and evaluation and also implementation. Um So I was responsible for working with our partners um working with the donors who funded us, which was the European Union and the American government. Um But also kind of introduced me to the first time for the first time to uh the need to raise funds and how that works in a humanitarian setting. Because I think most people who are not familiar with how this kind of sector works as they assume that most of it is given by people who are giving the charity. But um most of the large humanitarian organizations are funded by governments. Um And that means you need to have strategies in terms of how to get that money. Um And the donors were less interested in funding these two things. And so one of the jobs that I was doing while I was there was trying to look at how we could build on uh the role and the presence of the Relief International had in the country, um, and redirect it towards things that were seen as more pressing. Um, and, and more fundal, uh, which was the, the protection aspect. Um, and that was successful. Um, I was offered a job after a six or seven months. Um, but I ended up turn it down because I was given a better offer, which was working with IOM in the south of Turkey. Um, but actually the work was across the border in Syria. Um I was there for about 18 months. Um I was a project support officer for the rapid response mechanism uh which basically supported people who were in emergency need um with shelter and with non food items and with er cash assistance. Um when I say emergency needs generally, what this means was that they had been recently displaced because of conflict um or where they had been staying previously um had burnt down. Um The, the northwest of Syria is the largest camp population in the world. Um I think 2.3 million people living in, in, in, in refugee camps. Um So that was the kind of very basic level of support that we were able to provide. Um And in this role, I started out really being involved in reporting and project development and contract management, which I think is how many people start out in the humanitarian sector. Um But I was keen to do more so I quickly, you know, was able to, to increase my responsibility and eventually became responsible for all of the emergency cash programming that we were doing. Um and all of the coordination with uh different clusters and the cash working group. Um Yeah, and then the Ukraine crisis occurred and I went to Slovakia um to set up their car assistance program which was basically cash support for Ukrainian refugee families with disabilities. Um I was there for three weeks and basically, in that time, I had to set up their program from nothing to functioning. Um So that meant working out what the targeting cri criteria would be. Um Working at how we would register people and what referral mechanisms we were able to use ah coordinating all of this with the government and the cash working group. Um and also the health cluster. Although it wasn't there, there was a health working group coordinated by the government um harmonizing the transfer values because we had to try and approximate the same value, the same amount of money that the government was giving to similar ah people in similar situations without actually being able to use the same drawn out medical examinations and procedures that the government used to assess what assistance you needed. So that was a challenge and involved working with who and the medical unit in our headquarters and of course, with the government and then more concretely identifying and signing agreements with financial service providers and working out operationally how it was actually going to be possible to get uh financial assistance to these people. So that's what I did. And then I went to Ukraine itself, which is where I currently am. I'm in Kiev. Um at that point, um we actually only had operations in the west of the country um in the spring of 2022. Um And my job there was to scale up their multipurpose cash program, multipurpose cash is basically exactly what it says. It's uh an amount of money which is designed to cover basic needs um for shelter, for food, for medicine. Um And, and all the kind of basic things you need to survive. Um We went from 100 reg registrations a week to 4000 with a weekly disbursement of $2 million a week which was uh the, the, the biggest cash program um IOM had ever done. Um This was mainly through implementing partners, um volunteer organizations and through online registration. Um And I was also responsible for coordinating with the cash working group. Um I don't know how many of you are familiar with the coordination structures of humanitarian settings. Um But in any humanitarian setting, there is usually ah clusters which are designed to organize the coordination of operations in different sectors. So you have the shelter cluster, the health cluster, uh the protection cluster, the mine action cluster um and many others. Um And these are where different humanitarian organizations will get together and their forums basically for deciding operationally what is the policy, how do we harmonize, how do we make sure that we are not doing harm? Um And what is the best way to achieve the aims that we have? And so they have a strategy and we all organizations try to fit into that and contribute to that. Um And for cash, we have the cash working group, um which is what I was working with here. Um We developed a system for ded Dulic using Blockchain system, which basically meant that we were able to exclude people who had already received the same assistance from another organization, which sounds kind of simple, but actually, in humanitarian settings, it's often impossible. Um So this was relatively innovative at the time. Um And of course, unfortunately, although the cluster systems are great, they're also the forum for interagency politics. Um and ah maneuvering by different organizations to try and make sure that they are the, the, the biggest organization or the one that gets most of the funding and is able to determine the policy. So, um that's kind of a shame and it's really nasty to work with, but that's what it is. Um Unfortunately, and then I moved to my current team, which is the shelter and housing team in Ukraine. Um I appreciate that none of this is that relevant to global health perhaps. But what I can say is that the roles that I've had and the role that I have now are present in every health program that IOM or any operational UN agency or NGO has, ah, anywhere in the world. Um, so this is, although I'm not working in health per se, um, my position as such is applicable to health programming and could be something that any of you might wish to pursue a career in. Um, so, yeah, and program operations and support officer in Ukraine for the she housing team, we are the largest humanitarian shelter program in the world. Um We spent about $250 million last year um on interventions that ranged from the repair of collective centers, the consolidation of collective sites, the Decommissioning of collective sites, the winterization of collective sites, the collective site is basically where instead of having a camp setting, you have people who go and live in a big building um often sleeping on the floor. Um and you have to try and basically manage these and make sure that the buildings are up to standard. Um They are still very present in Ukraine although they are being decommissioned and we're trying to consolidate them. So we're trying to make sure that some of the smaller ones that are less good are closed and some of the better ones where better accommodation, more privacy, more sanitary conditions are found are are focused on. Um We also have individual assistance. So we're doing a lot of emergency shelter kits and materials. So the people whose houses have been ah damaged as a result of the conflict are able to quickly repair, um do do minor repairs to their houses to, to keep the rain out. Um We're doing more heavy duty repair of damaged houses um through service provision through cash and voucher assistance. Um We are providing rental support. We have the largest cash for rent program in the country and we do winterization, which basically means we do anything from the provision of excuse me, coal and firewood uh to installing heaters, to installing insulation, to supporting municipal heating networks. Um and in the really frontline areas, um we are providing basically heating in bomb shelters where people are are trying to stay away from the shelling. Um And then we do communal assistance. So this means a lot of repairs of social infrastructure. We've repaired over 300 hospitals in the last year. Ah We're building social housing, we're building affordable housing. We are repairing schools, ah libraries. Ah we are providing support to municipalities. Um This is generally through material donations um of of building materials um but also increasingly ah supporting the government with capacity. Um So when we have a lot of buildings that have been damaged by shelling, um And now according to government regulations, of course, I planning, you need to basically have structural engineers decide ah what work can be done safely and how do you do it and sign off on the paperwork and there's not enough people working for the government to do that. So we have actually been providing a lot of capacity to the government with our own engineers um winterization at the community level. That means, you know, providing heating for hospitals and schools um and other things uh working on energy resilience. So we have a large uh portfolio for uh solar panels uh particularly for uh hospitals and schools. Um but we're also looking at doing, ah we, we are in the process of building um digesters. So they're basically turning human waste into gas and using that to power municipal heating networks and then infrastructure, ah roads, bridges, um markets, et cetera. Um What does my job precisely en en entail? Um I really like my job, I guess because it is a bit of everything and I am really in the heart of the operation. Um I, I am involved in project management and oversight. I'm involved in budgeting and finance ah implementation and operations liaison with different organizations, ah with the government, with different ministries um with other organizations about the different clusters, as I said earlier, um fundraising and donor engagement. So meeting different embassies and different ah private donors and convincing them that there is a strong need and this is the solution and you should fund it um data management. So making sure that all of our, all of the work that we're doing is properly documented and that we are doing all of the work that we're doing is data driven. So we know how to target properly where the needs are, what with and that we're learning from the lessons that we, that we make. Um I'm responsible for the procurement for, for all of our units. So that means everything from procuring nails, to procuring construction services for nine story buildings. Um I'm obviously not, there's obviously many other people involved in that process, but I'm responsible for overseeing it. Um I'm responsible for contracting service providers and implementing partners that we work with um for any reporting to governments donors ah clusters, um the UN and then of course, strategy development in terms of working out, what are the lessons, what are the needs and how do we move forward effectively and in harmony with, with, with the government and with other actors? Um And as I said, although this is maybe looking alien to many of you interested in working in global health um for those who are interested in working in global health and humanitarian settings, um you can basically take my role and put it in in any other sector. Um The same roles are found in in health programs and we have a large health program here with I own Ukraine. Um Part of it is working closely with me actually in the rebuilding and repair of hospitals. Um But also we have mobile clinics, we are providing material support to the Ministry of health, um, mental health support. Um, and many other things, um, briefly a few takeaways, I guess, from my own career journey. Um, as I said, try and make your own opportunities. Um, don't, you know, II, I guess I found many times you're applying for, for, for so many things and, and nobody's replying or nobody is, er, you're not getting the kind of opportunities that you want. Um, and so that's, I guess why I ended up going into journalism partly because I thought, ok, this is a way for me to make my own opportunities and go and do something off my own back. Um That actually gets me into doing the things that I was interested in anyway, um parallel to that, I guess many of you will have a specific thing that you really are passionate about and that's great. Um keep that dream alive, but at the same time, try and cast a wide net. Um that means as Brian was saying earlier, have kind of a yes mentality. Um if an opportunity comes along, say yes, because, you know, life isn't a straight line and, and many things that are tangential actually end up taking you um to places that you would never have thought of before, um that you really enjoy. I never started out thinking that I wanted to do this, but as it is currently, I'm really enjoying it. Um So I think, try and take, make use of every opportunity that comes along. Um and you, you get in what you put out, you get out what you put in. Rather. Um, I definitely found that with journalism, but also with my internship with Relief International. Um I, you know, really it was a part time internship but I worked full time. Um I was able to make that work financially. Um I know that some of you may be in different positions, um, but still, um, whatever you have to give, try and put 100 and 10% and, and, and you should be able to, you know, you, you'll get more out of it. Um Then if you don't active networking, what do I mean by that? I guess, uh I've never been very good at the kind of networking that Brian was talking about in terms of uh cold calling and writing people up and, and saying, can we have a chat? I much prefer the kind of networking of having a reason to talk to someone. So I guess that's again why I kind of go back to journalism. I had a reason I was doing this podcast. I want to explore these issues. Would you come and talk to me? And so that was a really good way for me to kind of actively network in terms of not going to them and saying, you know, can we have a chat about my career? But in terms of I'm doing this you're doing that. Can we collaborate? Um So try and practice that. Um don't be afraid to sell yourself at the same time. Um I see a lot of people who, excuse me, a lot of people who under, under sell themselves or don't appreciate their own capacity or feel uncomfortable, uh putting themselves out there and, and being able to sell their skills on a CV or in a letter, um stand up for yourself and, and, and know your value and, uh, don't be afraid to sell yourself because no one else will and everyone else is, um, have a thick skin. You are gonna get lots of rejections from many organizations and many people, um, in life. Um, and particularly when you're trained to go for some of the entry level jobs. I think I applied for three or 400 jobs before I, I got one. it's so destroying but you get there. Um, don't take it personally. It's a very competitive job market and a lot of the jobs as Brian was saying, are actually already, er, for someone. Um, sadly, um, what you studying where I think is, is often less important than you might think. I mean, unless you want to go into something clinical um, in your sector perhaps, um, I would say that if that's not the case, um, actually you can study a broad range of subjects and still end up pretty much anywhere. And the university that you go to in my experience is pretty much irrelevant. Um in terms of getting a job in this sector, at least um some humanitarian organizations if, if anyone is interested who have health programs and are employing entry level graduates. I I'm sure many of you have heard of some of these organizations but um some of the, the the biggest ones with, with entry level jobs are acted solidarity. International, Premier Johnson International, Inter S Os Meir and Relief International. And lastly, there's a link here, humanitarian insider. Um This is a friend of mine and an exco uh who runs this. He is now a careers advisor. He used to work for many years in the humanitarian sector. Um And he has a website where he basically talks you through uh the the ins and outs of, of applying for your first job or jobs in the humanitarian sector um wherever that might be. So check his page out. Um He has some really good insights. Um And even I think some he posts a number of jobs on his page um on a regular basis. So I think that's me. Any questions I'm happy to take. Thank you. Thank you very much MEREDITH. That was quite inspirational and I appreciated your step by step breakdown of your career so far. Now, we have a few questions on our Instagram and the chat. And the first one is actually directly linked to what you've just said. One of the first questions we've gotten is how essential would you say your masters was in getting jobs in the humanitarian sector slash the UN? Mm. I think having a masters is important. I think that one in particular was, was irrelevant. All right. Um Next question we have is I think your job is fascinating and covers a lot of things I'm interested in and want to be involved in. I'm currently a medical student but I was very interested in journalism too. I intend to set up community clinics, schools and hospitals in poor countries and increase development there. Do you have any tips on how I can find mentors where I can learn how to go about it slash, find funding and make change slash just begin. Gosh. Ok. Well, I've kind of echoed what Brian said earlier and I think, try and find out what is already there. And I guess looking at uh linkedin or doing a Google search is a really good way of understanding what organizations are, are operating in the field that you're interested in and then uh writing to them and asking could I do an internship? Uh would you want to meet for a coffee? Um these kind of things? And I think these things often snowball, right? So you find one organization or one individual who is kind of involved in that area and they can introduce you to other people. Um And so for me, as I said, journalism was great for that and I was able to kind of pursue those, those paths from one person to another and really get into a network. Um, I don't think you need to do journalism to do that, but certainly put yourself out there and try and find one or two individuals and a, a and, and ask them, you know, thank you so much for talking to me. Is there anyone else that you think? Um or I might be able to, to speak to about this? I was really interested in et cetera, et cetera. I think that's really good advice in terms of how to get conversations started. Another questions we have is what advice would you have for a current student or someone who's just started working, who has no experience working abroad, but really, really wants to work in development. Well, most of us started there somewhere. Um I would say that there are things like uh VSO that ray and I both did actually um that are, I don't know if that program is still operating, but I think they're similar ones um that are really good introductions. Um I would say maybe if you haven't worked abroad, at least, maybe try and travel abroad um to developing countries if you haven't already. Um And maybe you can travel and say, hey, look, can I do an internship with you? This is basically what I did. I found organizations where the, the whose, whose work I found fascinating, um, or maybe even didn't know a great deal about and thought, well, you know what I'm going to learn about it anyway. Um, let me write you a letter and see if I can, I can have some reason to be in this place doing something with you. Um, so I had a few of those for, you know, for, for a few weeks or a few months in some cases, um, where, you know, you write a letter and, and someone writes back saying we'd love you to come and, uh, you know, in, in intern with us. Um, obviously that means you need to have um, some kind of financial ability to do that. Um, because most of these opportunities are not paid, um, I was able to do it. I mean, I came from, I come from a low income household, I didn't receive any support, um, financially, um, from my parents. Um, but I know other people are in different, different situations. Um, but I guess, try and see what's feasible for you and if that is feasible, then then do it. One thing that is at least an advantage is that many of the countries that you might want to work in are relatively cheaper to live in then, um, in the UK. So I was able to take advantage of that and kind of offset the cost of, of going there and working there for free by the fact that I was able to live very cheaply there. Right? Thank you, Mary. Um We have two more questions, but we're nearing the end of our time. So this might be our last two. If anyone has any questions, please, I will accept one more if you send it through the chat or the Instagram. So one more. Ok. The first one is the comment. So it's quicker. Um It's from one of our attendees as someone who wants to work in Ukraine. This was very informative. Thank you. And now let's go to the last two questions. One of them is, do you know about any work abroad for an undergrad, biomedical science student, an aspiring medical student over the summer that they could look into? I actually don't because I'm not in the health sphere myself. Um But I would say, maybe don't look for a specific program. Um maybe actually just as I said, write to some organizations who, you know, are doing programming that interests you and say this is my profile. Could I spend time with you over the summer? Um Doing this, I can provide XY and Z um and, and see what you get. Um often some of the organizations, the smaller organizations, they don't get very many people writing to the masking things. Um and they are, you know, a small group of people really close knit and they really, you know, are excited to, to reach out and make connections across the world to people. Um So at least, you know, in my experience, um So maybe, you know, think outside the box look beyond um what you might, what everyone else might be doing perhaps. Um And you might find some, some, some organizations and some, some things that are very interesting. Thank you, Mary. And for our last question of the evening, your current role seems quite extensive with a lot of different skills and experiences. What do you think are the best ways to develop the skills slash expertise you use in your current role before you get there? I'm not sure there is a way to develop it before you get there. You just need to get there and, and do it. Um I'm every day out of my comfort zone and doing something I've never done before. Um It's not like there was something that prepared me and I guess that's why I go back to saying um the masters was important but it wasn't the most important. Um It's, you know, the, the the on the job skills are things that you learn on the job. Um And that's why I think that the internships that I did were critical. Um I would say that the journalism and the reading and the studying was, was, was crucial in terms of understanding the setting and knowing what the right questions might have been and, and trying to place it. But actually, when it comes to doing anything operational. Um Yeah, you need to have operational experience. Maybe that is, you know, with your student society running uh something like this even um or you know, other events. Um that's a great start. Um But yeah, I mean, I think you need to get involved in it to learn. They are learned on the job. Thank you very much, MEREDITH. I appreciate you giving up your evening in a different time zone while you're not feeling well. And I'm sure all of our attendants really appreciate you giving up your time as well. Brilliant. I'll just pass it back onto Shazia who will take us through the rest of our slides and say a few words about our speakers next week. Thank you. And I'm very happy to be contacted with any of you and, and have a 1 to 1 if, if that's of interest. Um And if, yeah, if that's of interest, um feel free to reach out to me on, on linkedin. I think I'm the only MEREDITH rakes in the world. So uh I'm sure I'm easy to fight. Have a good evening and thank you. Thank you and thank you so much, Mart for all your time. We really appreciate it and it was such an insightful talk. Um Just a few ending points for everyone who's bed with us through the evening and is still here. Um My skin um does someone mind just letting me know if you can see my screen, you can see your screen. Wonderful. Thank you so much. So, um everyone who is still here can see my screen. Thank you so much for coming along today. Um Please do come along for the next part in our series, um which is the same time next week and you can um register for that via the QR code on the screen and you can um see a short um sneak of our wonderful speakers for next week. And you can also read more about them on our social media, which the handle is right there. Um And please just stay in touch so you can follow us on social media. You can sign up to our newsletter and check out our website. 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