Guleed Adan

Posted on: 10 September 2019 by Guleed Adan in Category

As a final year medical student, little did I know, that the Academic Foundation Programme I had just applied for at the University of Liverpool would be the beginning of an immensely rewarding, challenging and exciting journey in academic medicine. Having studied in London, the majority of my peers were looking at doing all they could to secure foundation posts in the capital at all costs.

So it came as a surprise to most of my friends and supervisors when I told them I had aspirations of starting my clinical training in the North West! For me, the attraction of the hustle and bustle of London was far outweighed by the excellent clinical and academic opportunities that were on offer in Liverpool. As a budding neurologist, I was all too aware of the outstanding reputation that the region had as a result of the Walton Centre. As the only dedicated neuroscience Trust, the Walton Centre as a clinical training destination was a no-brainer, if you will excuse the pun.

Under the supervision and guidance of inspiring mentors from the renowned brain infection and epilepsy research groups in Liverpool I was fortunate enough to go on to secure an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship. This brought with it more opportunities to further develop my fledgling career in academic neurology. With the generous support and encouragement of the Liverpool ICAT I was able to attend numerous courses and present my work at international meetings in addition to taking part in a short research attachment to a partnered institution in Bangalore, India.

I owe my recent success of attaining a competitive national clinical PhD fellowship to my formative experiences as a trainee in the Liverpool ICAT. Beginning my academic career in Liverpool has arguably been the best decision I have made to date and I very much look forward to continuing my development as an academic neurologist with the support of everyone at Liverpool ICAT.