Newly-qualified doctors from Imperial College London have spoken about joining frontline NHS staff in the fight against COVID-19.

Stephen Naulls, Gargi Samarth and Lieze Thielemans are just three of over 500 Imperial Medicine students who have begun helping the NHS and community efforts to fight the pandemic.

In a video, the students have shared the mix of emotions they are feeling as they prepare to start working on the frontline.

Moral obligation

Lieze said: “My mind is constantly switching between wanting to be holed up in my room to then feeling a great sense of moral obligation and being determined to help in any way I can, using the skills that I have learned over the last six years. We really are all in this together, and together we will beat this.” 

“I am confident in my education”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous,” Stephen says. “Our health service is under an enormous amount of pressure at the moment but ultimately I am confident in my education. I’m excited to get on the wards and to help out however I can in these unprecedented circumstances.”

Putting training to the test

Gargi adds: “We’ve been training for six years – this is essentially what we’ve been training for. While I am nervous I am excited that we can finally put our skills to use!”