Tuesday 12 November will be the last New members ceremony for 2019, where we’ll be celebrating with diplomates in a fully-booked ceremony, that is steeped in tradition and full of celebration.
Receiving the MRCP(UK) diploma is an incredibly prestigious moment in a physician’s career. This year, we have hosted six ceremonies at RCP London and presented around 720 MRCP(UK) diplomas. However, each and every one of the ceremonies are special to the RCP members who we have supported from the start of their medical career and who’ve made the RCP their own. Watching our members bloom in their careers is what makes us so incredibly proud.
We spoke to Dr Jason J N Southern, an RCP member who will be a diplomate at November’s New members ceremony, to see what the ceremony and receiving his diploma will mean to him.
What does gaining your MRCP(UK) diploma mean to you?
‘Passing the MRCP(UK) is something I have aspired to achieve since beginning medical school. For myself, it marks and affirms a significant milestone in my career, and signals the start of my specialisation within medicine.’
What are you most looking forward to at the upcoming New members ceremony?
‘This event will allow those closest to me to share in my success and gain insight into the sphere in which I work, absorbing the history and ethos of the RCP.’
How has the RCP supported you in gaining your MRCP(UK) diploma?
‘I have utilised many of the RCP’s online mock exam material in preparing for my exams.’
If you could give one piece of advice to trainees, who will soon be taking the MRCP(UK) exam, what would it be?
‘Timing is so important, particularly in the Station 5 integrated stations, and should be practised as much as possible.’
Why do you value your RCP membership?
'The distinction that being a member brings and the pride associated with being part of an organisation with over 500 years’ worth of history.’
Apart from the ceremony, are you planning on doing anything else to celebrate this achievement?
‘I look forward to staying in the beautiful William Harvey House next door to the RCP with my family, a privilege afforded to me now I am an MRCP(London) member, during my graduation.’
At the RCP we cheer on our members throughout every step of their career and provide them with the support, representation, benefits and resources to help them succeed. Looking ahead into 2020, there are six more New members ceremonies on the horizon — each marking a very special event in the careers of our RCP members.