Britain’s top GP, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, recently came home to Swansea for a whirlwind two-day trip during which she visited her old school and college where she took her first steps to success.
Prof Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs - the UK’s largest Medical Royal College representing 52,000 family doctors across the UK – met Year 10 children at Penyrheol Comprehensive School and students interested in studying medicine at Gower College Swansea in Gorseinon.
She also visited students at Swansea Medical School, as well as dropping in on her GP colleagues at the Ty’r Felin Surgery.
Her visit commenced with the prestigious Harvard Davies Lecture, hosted by the Royal College of GPs’ South West Wales Faculty, which drew hundreds on the night, including her proud parents David and Valerie Stokes, both retired teachers who still live in Gorseinon.
Helen grew up in Loughor and Gorseinon before moving to London to train at St George’s Medical School. She is now a practising GP in the Midlands and holds an academic post at the University of Birmingham.
Helen said: “Swansea obviously holds a very special place in my heart and I still come back regularly to see my family. It was such a privilege to give the Harvard Davies Lecture and to have the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane by going back to my old school and sixth form college.
“Role models are so important when you are growing up and I’m delighted to have spoken to current students about what an exciting and rewarding career being a GP can be. You never know, we might even recruit some GPs of the future!”
Helen’s Harvard Davies Lecture discussed general practice in the 21st Century and whether the College’s motto, cum scientia caritas, - scientific knowledge applied with compassion – will still be relevant for the future of family medicine.
The lecture is the highlight of the year for the South West Wales Faculty which has over 530 GP members at all stages of their careers.
“We were delighted to welcome Professor Stokes-Lampard back to the Gorseinon campus, where she was once a student,” says Biology lecturer and Medical Science tutor Stewart McConnell. “Our current medical science students were really looking forward to meeting her and hearing, at first hand, all about her illustrious career.”
https://www.gcs.ac.uk/maths-science-and-social-sciences
PR and photos: Thanks to RCGP press office/Robert Melen
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The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 52,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.