- A University of Sheffield medical student has been awarded the Chancellor’s Medal in recognition of her work to tackle health inequalities
- Student Sally-Anne Van Der Linden helped to establish and develop the Student Fairhealth Sheffield Project and has worked tirelessly to raise awareness in the healthcare community of the struggles faced by people in marginalised groups
- Vice-Chancellor, Professor Koen Lamberts, will present Sally-Anne with an engraved solid silver medal at her graduation ceremony this summer
A final year medical student who has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the health inequalities experienced by marginalised groups, has been awarded the University of Sheffield’s Chancellor’s Medal.
The award is in recognition of the work Sally-Anne Van Der Linden has done in helping to establish and develop the Student Fairhealth Sheffield Project, which brings together students and clinicians from across Yorkshire to collaborate on improving education about health inequalities in the UK.
Over the past three years of her studies, along with fellow medical student Rachel Crothers, and under the guidance of future leadership programme fellow Dr Hilary Graffy, Sally-Anne and the team has worked to raise awareness in the healthcare community of the struggles faced by people in marginalised groups.
Initially setting out to provide students with information about health inequalities, and inspire them to make a difference, Sally-Anne’s work quickly spread to new audiences, with the team hosting a webinar on homelessness and mental health with NHS England's National Clinical Director for Mental Health, developing a podcast series interviewing inspiring leaders tackling health inequalities in Sheffield, and recently hosted a conference platforming the voices and stories of those with lived experience of health inequalities.
The Chancellor's Medal is an annual recognition of outstanding attainment in academic, sporting, or other personal achievements. Sally-Anne will join previous recipients of the award this summer, including playwright Lucy Prebble, chemist and consultant Helen Sharman and retired track and field athlete, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, when Vice-Chancellor, Professor Koen Lamberts presents her with the engraved solid silver medal at her graduation ceremony.
Sally-Anne said: “I am unbelievably grateful to be receiving this award, not least because it has truly given me the inspiration to continue to find more effective and impactful ways of reducing health inequalities.
“However, I would be remiss not to acknowledge both the privilege that I have experienced that has led me to this point and the incredible people that I have met who have supported and inspired me along the way.
“I am especially indebted to the wonderful volunteers at Health Access for Refugees Project (HARP) who have shared their stories and time with medical students, to help us to understand how we can provide the best care for asylum seekers and refugees.
“Finally, without the ongoing support and guidance of family, friends, Dr Katy Owen, Dr Ben Jackson and Dr Hilary Graffy I never would have believed that change is possible, let alone that I would be capable of achieving it.”
As part of her work Sally-Anne has also led a number of other related projects, including creating a map of Sheffield’s homelessness support services, showing vulnerable people experiencing street homelessness exactly where they can access these services in Sheffield. This map is still used in the Northern General Emergency Department and Devonshire Green surgery. She has also organised a volunteering project for a team of Sheffield medical students with the Refugee Council’s Health Access for Refugees Programme (HARP).
Dr Katy Owen, from the University of Sheffield’s Academic Unit of Medical Education, who nominated Sally-Anne for the Chancellor’s Medal, said: “I’m incredibly proud of Sally-Anne. She is fab and absolutely deserves this award for all the difference she has made in Sheffield and for the awareness she has raised about health inequalities.”
