Students from the Armed Forces College of Medicine in Egypt will be gaining clinical experience as part of a new project with Imperial College London.

Ten students will spend four weeks carrying out placements with consultants across various hospitals within Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

The programme involves the cadets, who have completed their third year of training, spending time gaining clinical experience with departments including emergency surgery, radiology breast surgery, anaesthesia and acute medicine.

'This is a very special occasion' Dr Mona El-Bahrawy Adjunct Reader, Imperial College London

Dr Mona El-Bahrawy, Adjunct Reader and Consultant histopathologist at Imperial, welcomed the medical students on the first day at the College.

Dr El-Bahrawy, said: “This is a very special occasion as this is effectively the first joint project between the Armed Forces College of Medicine and the UK medical education system and the fact that your administration chose Imperial to be the first port of call for this is testimony to their will to give you the best learning opportunity.

“Imperial ranks in the top 10 universities worldwide and is in the UK lead for international collaboration.

“You will gain some clinical experience which is what you have been doing over the past few years and will continue to do for years to come, but what is just or possibly even more important is gaining as much knowledge as you can of the ethos and the culture of service delivery in the British NHS.”

Dr El-Bahrawy urged the cadets to ‘keep an open mind’ and be ‘proactive’ during their placements but to also experience the vibrant culture in London.

One of the students Mohamed Abotahoun said that he was very excited about the placement at Imperial, which will involve spending time at Charing Cross and St Mary’s hospitals.

Mohamed said: “I am looking forward to a new experience, being introduced to a different medical system and gaining exposure to a new culture.

“I am very excited, inspired and energised.”

Dr Joanne Harris, Deputy Head of Undergraduate Medicine at Imperial gave an introduction to the role of the NHS and explained its structure, funding and future challenges.

President of Imperial College School of Medicine Students’ Union, Dan Faehndrich, spoke about the support offered to the medical students during their time at Imperial.