The BMJ awards are arguably the most prestigious medical awards in the UK (we think they are anyway) and so we were delighted that the St.Emlyn’s team made the final shortlist for the 2017 education team of the year award. Last night we assembled in London for the awards dinner amongst some amazing teams and (as it turned out) some fabulous competition.
Hosted by Guy Secretan (sorry Steven Mangan) it was a really fantastic night. The Park Plaza put on a fantastic venue, meal and there was plenty of lubrication to keep us in high spirits.
OMG it's Guy Secretan @StephenMangan #theBMJawards
Best anaesthetist EVER pic.twitter.com/Ljgp6pt46G
— Simon Carley (@EMManchester) May 4, 2017
As for the awards, well this was not our year. We lost out to HeartWize, a fantastic team from Leicester who teach CPR to children in schools. Well done to them as worthy winners. There were some commendations for other teams as well, but by that time I was a little squiffy and so sadly can’t remember who (sorry, but honest you’re fabulous and if I find out later I’ll edit this bit).
To worthy winners @HeartWize– who are also making a huge difference. Just getting shortlisted is an achievement – celebrate it and have fun😄
— Rachel Rowlands (@rachrwlnds) May 5, 2017
There were some of our lovely #FOAMed friends at the dinner, notably Becky Maxwell and Helgi Johannsson who both won awards last night (Helgi won two which is amazing and well deserved). Our friends from Manchester, John Moore’s team sadly did not win in their category either (Helgi edged them out).
Are we sad about not winning? Well a little bit, but we feel no entitlement and are delighted that we lost out to a project that’s delivering real change and education on a topic that we feel should be very strongly supported. Visit the HeartWize twitter feed to learn more about what they do. Feedback on our twitter feed from last night has been….. well rather interesting. A mixture of fabulous support and thanks from around the world, but also some criticism that we are sore losers. Honestly we’re not and apologies if anyone got that impression. We really had a fabulous night and our retweets and likes about supportive comments were our way of expressing our thanks for all the kind words that we received. We were just delighted to be flying the #FOAMed flag at a national event and just getting to the finals was fantastic and beyond what we expected.
I must also mention the incredible support that we’ve had in putting the bid together and in getting support to attend the awards dinner. At £2000 a table we were incredibly grateful to Rob, Ash and Salim from the teaching course who financially supported the team to get to the awards dinner with a four figure donation. Yep – you heard that right and that’s an incredible contribution and we cannot tell you how much it was appreciated. This meant that we were able to take trainees to the dinner in London which is only right and fair considering the incredible contributions they make.I must also thank everyone who has contributed to St.Emlyn’s who could not be there. Especially Liz, Ross, Ash, Nat, Rick, Laura, we really missed you.
Rob, Ash, and Salim – you’re amazing and we love you lots.
So, will we be back next year? Perhaps we will, maybe we won’t. It was a tremendous experience and if have you the time and support to do it then you should. If you’re thinking of applying then please get in touch and we can tell you what we know.
Congratulations to all the worthy winners and to the @theBMJawards team and especially Olivia from BMJ who put on a great show. Finally, a hearty congratulations to HeartWize and everyone involved in that fabulous project. Maybe we did not get the gong this time, but gosh we had a fabulous time.
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