People

MedRACE is a student and staff working group within Leicester Medical School. Students take the lead on projects that interest them, contributing as little or as much as their other commitments permit.

The group is co-chaired by students and staff. Monthly meetings take place online (5.30pm first Thursday each month), we are always open to new members - both student and staff. Contact MedRACE@le.ac.uk for more information or to join.

Our previous student and staff co-chairs have all contributed to making MedRACE a force for positive change, and our current co-chairs continue this work. 

Student Co-chairs

Ayesha Ahmad, Medical Student, Leicester Medical School

My name is Ayesha, and I’m a fourth-year medical student at UoL. I was introduced to MedRACE on offer holder day and was inspired by their impact on the university and local NHS trust policy.

Having lived in four countries, I have experienced many diverse practices; an opportunity that allowed me to recognise how race plays a fundamental role in our shared experiences. I am grateful to those who taught me different languages and cultural practices and instilled in me an appreciation of their value. Looking forward, I aspire to be a similar source of insight to others through working with MedRACE.

Education forms the very foundation of medicine, and medical students are the pioneers of future learning. Therefore, it is crucial to improve access to healthcare professions for minority students. I have contributed to initiatives such as Leicester’s JEM, the MedEd society, and introducing MedRACE’s efforts to outside visitors. I have also strived to drive change on an individual level, through volunteering within my local community, and co-founding my school’s BAME committee, where we focused on raising awareness of biases and celebrating different cultures.

As part of MedRACE, I aim to collaborate with pre-clinical students to make the medical school a more inclusive space. This includes advocating for better facilities in the GDC and reviewing the Phase 1 curriculum for potential improvements.

Outside of medicine, I enjoy growing plants and exploring Leicester’s nooks and crannies. I also like running and am keen to improve this skill in the future!

Tahmina Sayfi, Medical Student, Leicester Medical School

I am Tahmina Sayfi, a third year Medical Student and one of the Student Co-Chairs of MedRACE. When deciding which Medical School to attend for my studies, learning about MedRACE’s impact was a huge drawing factor for me and I was pleased, on entry, to learn that many of my peers felt the same. 
My longstanding interest in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion stems from activism in the refugee rights space. I have volunteered with organisations supporting refugees such as Conversation Over Borders for many years and informed campaign strategy for non-governmental organisations such as Freedom From Torture for their ‘Stop The Flights’ campaign, which successfully challenged the proposal to remove refugees from the United Kingdom to third destinations such as Rwanda. Though this, I have gained insight into just some of the challenges of displaced people, many of which are shared by other minorities.

As a previous Student Co-Chair of the Inclusion Oversight Committee, I supported the formation of a student and staff MedFaith group at Leicester Medical School. As well as this, I immersed herself in MedRACE by delivering Active Bystander Training, contributing to student-led research on Inclusion and Belonging in healthcare, as well as volunteering at the first MedRACE conference. Seeing this come to life was amazing!

I am eager to leverage my experiences to directly champion existing and new projects with MedRACE, alongside the other incredible Student and Staff Co-Chairs. I am particularly interested in the experiences of medical students on clinical placements, with intersectionality in mind, as well as the Awarding Gap. Ultimately, I believe that ED&I should be seen as an integral part of medicine, as opposed to a separate subject. It is my hope that by fostering a culture which emphasises the belonging of all students, that our experiences as future medical professionals will in turn be even more fulfilling.

Staff co-chairs

Dr Hussein Uraiby, Leicester Medical School

I graduated from Leicester Medical School in 2015 and undertook specialty training in Histopathology. During this time, I was also a UHL Clinical Teaching Fellow, completing a Masters in Medical Education, FHEA and a variety of research projects, particularly focussing on minority ethnic medical student experiences of role modelling.

I am currently a Consultant Histopathologist at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Lead for Year 4 Written Assessments at the Medical School. I am also a member of the BEME council, regularly undertaking systematic reviews of healthcare professions literature.

I consider it a privilege to be part of the MedRACE community and I am excited to continue MedRACE’s excellent work in facilitating safe and inclusive learning environments for all students.

When I’m not looking at cells down the microscope I’m wondering whether I could have made it as a drummer…