On Saturday The Class of 2016 ICSM came together for a grand night of cheer and nostalgia: the Shrove Tuesday Final Year Dinner (STFYD) 2016. Joined by many tutors, doctors, lecturers and hospital consultants, roughly 400 students started the celebrations with a sparkling welcoming reception, moving on to a delicious three-course meal with a variety of speeches and advice from guest speakers and students, the highlight of which was the launch of the STFYD video. The group were then joined by many from the year below for more fun as The Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidisms (the STFYD band) took to the stage for a time of dancing, photos and pick a mix!
One of the highlights of medical school, it was a fantastic evening to celebrate our achievements (making it this far!), get dressed up (everyone looked amazing!) and see some consultants and lecturers in a different context!
Shrove Tuesday… but it was on a Saturday?
This confused me at first! This name dates back to a long history behind STFYD. The dinner first started in the 1940s when in the midst of the blitz a group of medical students and doctors decided to meet together for a dinner to lift morale. They invited a consultant guest speaker and the tradition has continued since. Quite incredibly, caricatures of the past speakers can be seen at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital- some are very big names in the medical world!
Our guest speaker chosen this year was Mr Martin Lupton, a renowned consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the head of the medical school, and the author of many emails of encouragement during our time at medical school. He gave a very special speech encouraging us all to keep going through the good and bad times, which ended with a fantastic rendition of ‘What a Wonderful World’.
Do you guys ever stop celebrating… what’s so special about this one?
No, we don’t stop celebrating! Medical school is long and bonds everyone together, so it is very special to celebrate often with the medical school family! This is the biggest celebration of medical school however. It’s the last celebration before everyone gets their heads down in the library for finals! It was very special to see many friends, and be joined by the 5th years and members of the faculty.
So what were the highlights of the evening?
Exhibits: many from the year had worked hard to put together some fantastic displays- a collage of T-shirts from our time at ICSM, a mega board of photos from freshers to final year, a caricature of our speaker Martin Lupton signed by everyone in the year and many more…
Speeches: Opened by David Smith (president of ICSM when we were freshers) the speeches covered a range of aspects of medical school, including advice from Martin Lupton, and students explaining what they had learnt from medical school and how ICSM compares to the film ‘Mean Girls’.
Tables: Not only getting to sit and enjoy a fabulous meal with friends from 6 years of study, but also sitting with renowned clinicians and lectures!
Entertainment: Photo-booth, pick a mix, DJ and the fabulous STFYD band… need I say more?
The best: a long-tradition of STFYD is the launch of a celebration video for the graduating class. This features a music parody (words of the song are changed), dancing and singing from many students, clubs and societies, and lecturers, consultants and support staff!
It sounds like fun, but I’m a biologist/engineer/young-medic/non-Imperialite, can I join in?
The dinner is done, but the excitement will continue for a long time! You can watch the highlight of the evening, the STFYD video online: STFYD Dinner Video 2016. All filming, editing, ideas and music by the class of 2016!
Look out for the ICSM phoenix, lecturers, consultants, clubs and societies and students… just remember ‘Keen is the new Cool’.
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
