Post by Nadia N.

𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 🏆 Two weeks before submitting my BSc project, I took on an additional research project at the The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and presented the findings at the Surgical & Anaesthetic Educational Meeting. The project explored iatrogenic blood loss in patients undergoing major colorectal cancer surgery. One of the most striking findings was that patients lose excessive volumes of blood postoperatively in blood tests, often exceeding the loss from surgical procedures. Given the association between anaemia and poorer postoperative outcomes, we are now exploring measures that may help reduce avoidable blood loss in this patient group and improve perioperative care. As the only medical student competing, I am especially proud of myself for presenting to a large audience of surgeons and anaesthetists for the first time. I am grateful to my supervisors and colleagues at the Marsden for their support, mentorship, and encouragement throughout the project. I look forward to continuing this work and contributing to research that improves outcomes for patients undergoing major surgery. #MedicalStudent #Research #AcademicMedicine #ColorectalSurgery #CancerResearch #PerioperativeMedicine #Anaemia