Today, Wednesday 3 August, thousands of newly qualified medical graduates start work in hospitals up and down the country. We are thrilled to report that joining them will be our very own Class of 2016 leaver, Oscar Oglina (16B).
We spoke to Oscar to congratulate him on graduating medical school and find out what lead him to become a doctor.
Oscar was diagnosed with stage three liver cancer at just four years old, and spent a lot of his childhood in and out of hospital. "I knew from a very young age that I wanted to become a doctor after being in awe of the medical staff that treated me at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
"I had so much respect for the doctors and nurses that cared for me and looked after my family, they were amazing" he said.
Thankfully Oscar was eventually well enough to return to school to continue his education and joined Shiplake for sixth form in 2014 taking A Levels in Maths, Chemistry and Biology. "I really enjoyed my time at Shiplake and made some friends for life. I would like to thank Mr Dix who was my housemaster in Year 12. As a boarder, pastoral care is so important and he and his family were brilliant.
"Mr Curtis was my maths teacher and Year 13 Housemaster and was very inspirational. I would also like to thank my Science teacher Dr Ashok and Mr Munro. I owe them all so much and they have definitely played a big part in this journey".
Upon leaving Shipake, Oscar was offered a place at Bristol Medical School where he worked both onsite and in placements at hospital. Today he will work his first shift as a qualified Junior Doctor at Essex Southend Hospital.
"Having cancer as a child was a really sad thing, but it led me to medical school and was the driving force behind all the hard work. Something good has come from something bad".
A huge congratulations to Oscar, and good luck to him and the whole cohort of junior doctors who start on the wards today.
