The Matthews Society moved online this month with a talk from OO Ella Norgaard Morton (16), former Matthews Society President and now a medical student at the University of Manchester.
Ella spoke to the Society on the topic of gender bias in medicine, which was the research focus for her recently-completed BSc in Human Sciences. Her talk was a thoughtful balance of academic research and real-life experience, and kept the assembled audience interested and engaged.
She explored the struggle that many women suffer in having abdominal and menstrual pain taken seriously, and the worrying statistics showing that Black women are overwhelmingly more likely to die in childbirth in the UK than women from any other ethnic background. Ella also spoke enthusiastically about recent improvements in women’s medicine and gave some ideas about how these can develop further. Participants were then invited to ask questions, which ranged from recommendations on further reading to connections between Ella’s talk and discussions in recent Theory of Knowledge lessons.
Current Matthews Society President Izzy said, “I really enjoyed the talk and it was particularly special to be able to watch it at home with my mum. We both learnt a lot and discussed it at length afterwards.” Form 6 student Cat added, “The talk was excellent – I loved it and it has really inspired me to think more seriously about a future career in women’s health.”
The Matthews Society will now meet every Friday as part of Oakham’s distance learning ‘Choices 8’ activity options, and another live online special will be broadcast In February.
