Will Reynish was an active member of the AFMS who died in a climbing accident in the Pyrenees during May 2001. At the time of his death, he was working in the geriatric unit at Rangueil Hospital in Toulouse, as a secondment from his postgraduate training as registrar in geriatric medicine in the Edinburgh area hospitals.
Will recognised the enormous difficulties faced by junior hospital doctors who wish to arrange some of their training in France. He identified that fact that medical students have it comparatively easy, with numerous French centres offering elective periods for undergraduates, but in contrast, there are numerous hurdles, which must be negotiated by doctors in their foundation years, core medical training, or the specialist trainee grades if they want to gain some experience in the French system.
After his death, the AFMS established the Will Reynish prize in his memory. The prize may be awarded annually, and is worth £250. Junior hospital doctors who are in a training grade, i.e. not yet a consultant, and who are setting up a postgraduate training period in France are welcome to apply for this prize. It is offered in order to assist with aspects of relocation to France, such as travel to the new unit, identification of somewhere to live, finding a suitable new school for children, and so on. The prize is only awarded if there is an application of sufficient calibre.
If you wish to apply for this prize, you need to provide a single typed sheet of A4 paper giving the following information:
- Your name, contact details, qualifications, and details of your present post.
- The name of the centre in France at which to intend to work, the post that you are moving to, and confirmation that you have been accepted for that position.
- A summary of the work you will be doing whilst attached to the French unit. This may be clinical work, research work, or a mixture of both.
- An explanation of why you are more deserving of the prize that the other applicants! Note that fluency in French is not a pre-requisite to apply for, or to win, this prize.
- Finally, we ask you to agree that you will present a summary of your work at one of the AFMS meetings within the first three years of your return to the UK.
Applications – ideally in Word format – should be submitted to Tony Ridge, Secretary of the AFMS, via e-mail: info@anglofrenchmedical.com, or by post to Tony’s address (email for details). Submissions should be made by 31st December each year, and the successful candidate will be notified during the following February.