Hana Oya-Knight- University of Cambridge

Hana Oya-Knight is a TAMS Scholar and first year medical student at the University of Cambridge. We caught up with her to hear some of her reflections on the programme thus far. Here’s what she had to say.

Hi Hana, if you don’t mind sharing, why did you apply to the tams scholars programme?

‘I was interested by the opportunity to receive support through the length of my degree, and also be able to help those in the years below me as the programme progresses. The chance to receive support in so many areas including personal development and financial planning was also appealing to me.’

If at all, how has the programme helped you so far?

‘Being the first in my immediate family to attend university or become a doctor, I feel that I have benefited from having access to advice from the team who are doctors themselves. I enjoyed the session ran on organising finances, which introduced me to budgeting, and also investing my money. Alongside this, the personal development sessions are a great opportunity to chat with people who have similar interests to me, and also come from a similar background. Especially studying at cambridge, many of my peers are from affluent, private school backgrounds, which can occasionally feel a little isolating, so I really appreciate having a group of people who can relate to my experiences. Another factor that I particularly enjoy is how small the cohort in the programme is, as it creates a more community like feel.’

Would you recommend the programme to incoming first years, if so who would you recommend the programme to?

‘I would definitely recommend the programme to others, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds entering further education in a seting where they may be a minority. I have enjoyed having a community of peers to whom I can relate to, despite living in an environment where most of my friends and colleagues have affluent families and do not share the same concerns regarding money as I do.’

Hana’s medical school are also very proud of her succesful acquisition of a place on the programme. A lecturer at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge said:

‘Emmanuel College has been fortunate to accept many students over the years from non-traditional medical backgrounds and, with our alumni, has put in place some procedures to help them as applicants to obtain work experience and advice.  We strongly support the idea of other organisations working directly with aspiring medical students to offer advice and support.  In this regard role models are particularly important, and TAMS is very good at providing them.’

The TAMS Scholars Programme team are so proud of Hana and we are very excited to continue to support her in her various endeavours.