A scaled-back graduation for medical students

Courses are run by the Guernsey Institute in partnership with Middlesex University, which has been involved with the local courses since 2014.

Forty-three students were presented with their awards, with the largest group of 18 having earned a BSc honours degree in adult nursing.

There were also awards for those who had taken a master’s degree, a nursing associate qualification, a BA in health and social care and five who were awarded postgraduate certificates.

This was the first ceremony for two years, with the last one being cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid measures, but even this one did not see a complete return to normal.

‘Unfortunately we had to scale it down,’ said head of the Guernsey Institute Dr Tracey McClean.

‘That meant no VIPs or refreshments.’

But this did not affect the mood of those who did attend – students and their families as well as those who had guided them through their courses, including two visitors from Middlesex University.

‘I felt the vibe in the room and it was really positive,’ said Dr McClean.

‘People want to celebrate and it’s all about the students and the people who really count – their parents, loved ones and children. It makes it a big celebration.’

While thousands of islanders ended up either working from home or being unable to work at all, for the nursing students it was more or less ‘business as usual’ throughout the pandemic – although for one it represented an extra challenge.

‘My finishing year was in the Covid ward,’ said Jenna Sangan, 23, one of the graduates who had completed the three-year BSc honours course.

All the nurses on this course did a 12-week placement and hers was on Brock Ward at the time the pandemic hit the island and it became the place where those patients with Covid-19 were sent.

‘It was stressful but worth it,’ she said.

She has continued working on Brock Ward since completing the course.

For these graduates it is four years since they started their work because they have had to wait an extra year to formally graduate.

Jessica de Garis, 23, said her time on the course was really good.

‘I’ve now moved to community nursing, so I’m out and about on the front line,’ she said.

‘But it was a good experience to be in the hospital to get an insight into the health care system here. I was based in A&E for my final placement.’

Sofia Gouveia, 23, did her final year in the acute medical ward, Carey, and is still there.

‘The course itself was fine,’ she said.

‘We basically just followed everything that Middlesex did and had a lot of practical experience, which was good.’

The pandemic meant it was not possible for any of the lecturers to come to Guernsey for face-to-face tuition, and the students did not manage to get to the university, either.

‘It did make it harder because you never got to meet them in person or in with any other students,’ said Miss Gouveia.

But two Middlesex staff members were able to get to the island for the graduation, however – Professor Carmel Clancy and Dr Marion Taylor.

Dr McClean said that despite the difficult time she had received very positive feedback from colleagues about the students.

‘They said they had made a very positive contribution during the second wave.’