PORTFOLIO Sirada Kattinanon Submission to Doctor of Medicine Programme (The Joint Medical Programme Srinakharinwirot University and the University of Nottingham, UK)
SIRADA KATTINANONAcademic Achievements 10 A*-A IGCSE Grades including: A* in Mathematics, A* in Chemistry, A in Biology, A in Physics, A* in Thai as First Language and A in English as First Language with DISTINCTION in oral endorsement (2021) 7 consecutive years in receiving Star Student award (Students who earn 5A*-A grades each term) and Top Student award (Students who earn GPA 3.70 or more each term), (2016-2022) UKMT Junior Mathematics challenge Bronze award winner (2018) UKMT Intermediate Mathematics challenge Bronze award winner (2020) Winner of Biology Progress Prize (2022) Winner of Round Square Award (2019,2022) Sirada Kattinanon (Proud) Name: 9 April 2005 Date of Birth: 2016- Present | GPA: The Regent's International School, Bangkok Extracurricular Experiences Personal Information Education IELTS UKVI BMAT Email: Phone number: Head Girl and Head Prefect for the 2021-2022 academic year President of the Regent's Medical Volunteer Society (2021-2022) Vice President of the Regent's Medical Volunteer Society (2020-2021) House Captain of Yellow House for the 2019-2020 academic year Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award Winner (2021)
In December 2021, I went to Banphotphisai Hospital and shadowed Dr. Tharathep Vichaiyo for 5 days. I observed him treating and providing nutritional advice to 5 diabetic patients. By being approachable, the doctor and the medical staff made patients feel comforatble giving information about their ailments. This facilitates fast and accurate diagnosis.From my observation, I learnt that doctors need to have patience and be a hard worker as there are many patients to see per day. Beyond medical knowledge, doctors must also have communication skills (asking questions, medical history) to correctly diagnose the illness. They also have to be able to relay medical information in simpler terms for the patients. Doctors not only work as doctors but also mentors and sometimes family counselors. Experiences in the medical field Banphot Phisai Hospital Doctor Shadowing The Regent's Medical Volunteer Society Internship in Home Care During my internships at Banphotphisai Hospital in 2019 and 2022, I had a chance to follow the medical team to visit patients at their homes for 3 days both years. I helped measure the blood pressure, assisted patients when walking and observed how doctors, patients and caregivers interacted. From this experience, I learned that healthcare is not restricted within the hospital. The relationship between doctors and patients is more than just treating the illness but providing support to the families as well. There was a case where medical staffs visit the family to not only see the patient and treat this symptom. The medical staff informed me that the doctor also decided to give words of encouragement to his wife, who was his caretaker after he heard about her struggles in taking care of her husband. Being a good doctor requires being sympathetic and understanding of the patient's circumstances. A doctor’s job is more than treating patients but also supporting caretakers. 2
House Captain House Captain Research experiences Over the years, I’ve been hearing news about tap water in Thailand being safe for consumption; therefore, I’m curious about whether this claim is true by conducting this investigation. My experiment is to find the number of chloride ions present in both tap water and drinking water CREST Silver award research project : Concentration of Chlorine ions in different water by using a silver nitrate solution activated by nitric acid. When the precipitate of chlorine is present, the water turns cloudy. I used a colorimeter to find the transmittance of the water before and after adding silver nitrate to compared the two. The challenge for this experiment was the lack of resources in the school lab I could not compare the safe amount of chlorine to the existing government data. However, I can find the transmittance and compare the results among water samples. From this experiment, not only did I learn how to use scientific apparatus, but I learned to answer my everyday questions, which may lead to impactful research in the future. This project is currently on submission to CREST award. I conducted my research which combines the discipline of chemistry and business with the research question of "To what extent are Asian people endangering their health by using skinwhitening products and in what ways are businesses exacerbating the problem through their Research on the effect of whitening skincare in both Chemistry and Business aspects marketing strategies?". I became interested in this topic from the fact that the desire for light skin colour in Thailand and other parts with people of colour is prevalent. I used the Iceberg model to analyse my findings and found out that societal pressure is an important factor in how people make decisions in their life; people want to buy skin-whitening products just to satisfy the societal beauty standard regardless of how dangerous it may be. If the problem in how society perceives beauty by how light or dark people's skin colour is, people would still put their health at risk by using chemicals to lower their melanin levels. This is linked to being a doctor from how the root cause of health problems may not only come from the individuals themselves but also from how the surrounding environment affects their wellbeing. Therefore, it is important to not only treat patients from their present symptoms but to find the root cause which may affect their current situation. 3
House Captain House Captain Effect of temperature on the concentration of tannic acid present in Oolong Tea I became interest in the effectiveness of tannic acid as an antioxidant after I came across a news article about the benefit of tea and also observing how many people in Thailand also drink tea. Furthermore, as Thailand also have Oolong tea plantation in the Northern area, I find it would be interesting to find a simple way to maximise the effectiveness of the already available tea resources in Thailand that any household can do for their own health benefits. In this experiment, I aimed to find the best temperature of water to steep Oolong tea ranging from 40 to 80°C by using a colorimeter to find the absorbance of tannic acid (as tannic acid has yellow-brownish colour, the more concentrated tannic acid means higher absorbance) and titration to deduce the pH of tannic acid solution (lower the pH means higher the concentration of tannic acid). From this experiment, I found out that the higher the temperature of the water, the more concentrated tannic acid can be made from Oolong tea. From this experiment, I learn how to conduct secondary research, writing a methodology, data collection process and analyse my results which will be useful for my future research in both at university level and beyond. At my school, there were large amounts of food waste produced daily. Therefore, as part of the Group 4 project, I, along with 4 other peers, worked together to find the best solution to solve this problem. We conducted primary research and talked with the school catering to see which type of Group 4 Project: Reducing Food Waste in the school community food waste the most, how much food is wasted per day, etc., and secondary research into food waste statistics and how important this project is for the wider society. To find the solution, we aim to create attainable solutions that cover all the aspects of the problem. We solved the solution as a cycle: food production, food service, and food waste. For food production, we implemented a tally for the catering to produce foods according to their popularity: less food produced for less popular food. For food service, we implemented a measuring spoon so students and teachers could choose the proportion of food they want to eat with reduced language barriers. The wasted food will be donated to charities or local livestock farms for food waste. We ended up first place out of 8 teams for this project, which is planned to be implemented in the upcoming academic year. 4
House Captain Mahidol University Genome Editing After reading the news about the overruling of Roe V. Wade case in the United States, I became interested in abortion and the subsequent psychological disorder from the procedure. I narrowed down the illness to post-traumatic disorder and started my literature review from there. To produce Abortion and Post Traumatic Disorder Literature Review article, I have read through 56 different resources and summarised it in a language that is easy to understand. I found out that there is a correlation between abortion procedure and post-traumatic disorder, with most of the effects accounting for women’s mental health before their abortion procedure. I learned that to produce a detailed article, there are many sources that I have to read through and understand. The challenge in producing this article was exposure to different key terms in the literature I never came across. This literature review has been accepted and published in the International Journal of Medical Science and Current Research (IJMSCR) and I believe this activity will be a good foundation for my further research in tertiary education. Leadership Experiences For the 2021-2022 academic year, I was chosen to become the Head Girl through a selection by the Head of Secondary. As Head Girl, I served as the president of the student body of 700 people, being a role model for students and a representative of the school in social events. Head Girl and Head Prefect Through out my term, I was a school representative in a variety of events, such as giving a tour of school to the Ambassador of Bhutan, a representative to the Remembrance Service hosted by the British Embassy and being the MC at the graduation ceremony and Wai Kru ceremony. As the Head Girl, I am the leader of the prefects and the student council where student representatives discuss about problems at school and how to address them. From the council observation, we noticed that many of the problems are from the canteen, so we allocated some prefects and council members to be in charge of the canteen. The council distributed fliers with a QR code linking to a google form in which students could submit their opinions which will be used to discuss in the meetings. We observed that the canteen produced a large amount of food waste, so we asked the catering to keep a tally on food popularity and produce less batch of food with the least popularity. I was really proud to have this role as I highly looked up to the previous Head Girls as a younger student. This role taught me to become a better public speaker, as being the Head Girl requires public speaking not only to students and teachers but also dignitaries. It also taught me how to become a good role model and how to use this spotlight for good. 5
House Captain In Year 10, I was chosen to be the house leader for the Yellow House. My responsibility was to lead my house members of 60+ people in doing House activities and competitions against the other 3 houses. The largest event I was responsible for as House Captain was Loy Krathong, where I had to House Captain create a 15 minute show with 60+ performers under the theme “Sukhothai” theme. I helped with the script, selected the dance and took part in the show as one of the dancers. As the house leader, I also had to order costumes and props and consolidate the budget to the school manager. As the representative of the house, I had to take part in the House leadership meetings and relay the information to house members. This experience taught me that age does not matter in leading people. Being House Captain, I need to be able to communicate well and hold the attention of people to make sure they understand what will they need to do for the House activities and motivate them which emphasises on teamwork. This activity helped me in learning how to communicate effectively. On 7th to 8th February 2020, I participated in the FOBISIA Leadership Conference as a delegate from Thailand at the International School of Penang, Uplands along with 4 other schools from Malaysia. As part of the activity, my schoolmates and I hosted an activity session on the theme of Participation at the FOBISIA Leadership Conference leadership with activities for participants to get to know each other better. We prepared a presentation and tools to present in front of 30 participants. I also joined a team debate activity, where I had to collaborate with students from other school to come up with rebuttals. Other than activities among students, I also had a chance to talk and ask local business owners from Penang about how they managed their organisations. I believe this is a vital experience given that being a doctor involves collaboration with team members and hospital management; this would be an excellent foundation for me to become an effective member of the hospital. 6
Service activities Mentor and Mentee Club I have joined the Mentor and Mentee Club in 2019 and was promoted as the club leader in 2020. During the project, I got paired up with a younger student who was not confident in their English proficiency.We read together for 30 minutes twice a week for the whole school year. I joined the Regent’s Medical Volunteer Society since 2019 as a member, and I was later elected Vice President (2020-2021) and President (2021-2022) respectively.The aim of our club is to hold internship trips and fundraise to donate to Banphotphisai Hospital and Bangbuathong Hospital The Regent's Medical Volunteer Society in Thailand. To do so, we hosted fundraising events, such as drink-selling during school events such as sports day and student concerts, donation house competition, plant selling, and merit-making for King Rama IX remembrance day. Since the club started, we raised more than 100,000 baht for the hospitals. For merit-making, we observed that merit-making sets students gave to monks were unhealthy as they contained sugary drinks. With this concern, we created our merit-making sets where we chose healthy items to be given to monks. These sets were sold for 99 baht each. The proceeds were donated to our partnered hospitals. Some of the excess goods were also donated. Other than the club activities, I also had to recruit more members. I presented t in front of the whole secondary assemblies to promote the society. Furthermore, I also edited and administered the club’s Instagram: @regents.medsoc, where we post our club activities. Our club meets on Wednesday. I tried to be inclusive to all members as possible regardless of age and assigned each member tasks for the upcoming activities. I wish for this project to not only end in my class year but for it to continue even after I graduate. Mentor and Mentee Club As a club leader, I was responsible for member recruitment and led the team of around 20 students. This project not only improves my teaching skills t but also my communication skills. I also had to find ways to encourage my mentees’to not be embarrassed when making reading mistakes. These skills could be applicable to being a doctors, as they have to make the patients feel comfortable sharing their symptoms without reservations for a better diagnosis. 7
I joined the Regent’s Mangrove Teens Organisation as a school ambassador in June 2021. On the team, I led a fundraising project where we sold a set of stickers for 100 baht each. We managed to raise over 7,000 baht from selling over 180 stickers.All of the profits were used to buy mangrove After hearing the news of Covid-19 and its impact on the livelihood of the local communities, I have always been wanting to help my community in any way possible. I have volunteered to help pack necessities at the Relief and Community Health Bureau, the Thai Red Cross society as part of the saplings to be planted at Bang Pu Recreation Centre, Samut Prakarn. This fundraising project taught me about initiating and implementing a project. To lead a successful project, I need a clear plan for delegating different tasks to people, setting a timeline, and following up with work. I was in charge of designing and contacting the sticker printing shop and budgeting for this project. I went to 2 Mangrove Teens' plantations: one on 20th June 2021 and the other on 13th February 2022. I had a chance to meet different students from different schools and collaborate to plant the mangroves. From this project, I learned about collaborating with people from different backgrounds who shared a common goal of making the world an environmentally better place. This links to the medical profession as doctors work within a team of medical staff who come from different backgrounds, but they share the goal of wanting the heal patients. Regent's Mangrove Teens and Eco Club Volunteer Donation for COVID-19 at the Thai Red Cross Society Covid-19 relief project for the elderlies. My role was to pick up the necessities from different areas in Bangkok and bring them back to the centre then placing items into the bags as in the assembly line with other volunteers. Each bag contains 12 items, including toiletries, ready-to-eat foods, rice, garbage bags, fabric masks and more. Over the course of two days, wepacked over 1,000 bags that would be sent to elderlies across the country. Packing was tiring, as I need to lift many bags each weighing 5 kilograms, but I felt happy to be able to give back to my community, and knowing that I could help thousand of families energized me more. It was also a refreshing experience to see volunteers of varying age come together and worked together for the betterment of society. 8
Extracurricular Activities Mentor and Mentee Club GCC (Global Community Conversation) conference is a virtual forum where a variety of topics are discussed. Participants join the Zoom meeting and are separated into groups randomly to discuss the topics with others. Topics our team chose are: Future of Technology, Online Learning, and Hosting Round Square Conference Business Ethics. In order to facilitate the event,we had to create a discussion guide as well. From October 2021 to April 2022, I planned and hosted three international GCC Round Square conferences in collaboration with Buckingham Browne and Nichols school (BB&N) in Massachusetts, USA. We had a total of 60 participants from 7 countries around the world. I was responsible for overseeing the whole working process, contacting the Head of GCC project from USA, and finding participants. I initiated this projected because I had participated in a GCC conference in the past hosted by a Bangladeshi school. From my leadership experience, t, I believe that I could also host the conference at my school. I contacted the GCC representative at BB&N school, drafted a proposal for my teacher and my peers, and supervisedmy teammates and the conferences. During the conference, I had discussions with people from around the world and learned new ideas. My school is the 2nd school in the world that hosted special sessions with GCC. I am very proud that I have proven myself through through this achievement. Swimming is not just a sport for me, but it is part of my identity. I started swimming when I was 8 years old and got qualified for Thai Nationals at 10 years old. My most honourable achievements of mine are winning 3 bronze medals from the relays at the 2016 Thai Nationals and winning Competitive Swimmer 1st place at the Sports Authority of Thailand in 2019. I trained 12+ hours per week for endurance and for each of my strokes to be more hydrodynamic. In order to do so, I need to be observant of how my coaches demonstrate these strokes and perseverant as the training is always tiring. As a swimmer, I do not always succeed in all of my matches. Sometimes, I got disqualified, missed my personal record time, or lost my goggles during the swim. However, if I were to let those unfortunate events lead me to quit swimming, I would not have been able to win those medals. It taught me to be persistent and not give up. 9
I particpated in the FOBISIA Race4Good Competition from 1st November to 3rd December 2021 as the school’s team leader, leading 12 members to finish 2nd place out of 12 schoolsfrom across Asia including Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. Each team was given a FOBISIA Race4Good Competition 2021 a prompt about the rural village of Yangsijung in Nepal with a limited budget of GBP100-300 to come up with a sustainable project that can be implemented. The Race4Good team had a team ready at Yangsijung to implement the winning team’s project idea. The challenge for this competition is the time constraint. Each team needed to produce a presentation, a video and a budget plan in about 3 days. As the leader of the team, I also had to present and answer questions from international judges. From this competition, I learned about the importance of teamwork and bringing out the strong point of each member. There were many tasks our team had to complete in a limited time, and a single person could not carry them out on their own. The main takeaway from this competition is donating money is not sustainable because they will eventually run out. However, using money to create jobs is sustainable I believe this vision can be implemented for my future in a medical career. I want not only address the symptoms of the illness but also its root cause. Prescribing patients medicine may not be sustainable as they may get the same illness again if their lifestyle or environment does not change. I have joined the student-led organization, Fightcancer.th, as a researcher and project manager for a cancer webinar on 17th July 2021. The main goal of the project is to raise awareness about cancer and we have invited a breast and ovarian cancer survivor,Bhirada Bhirasilpa, Hosting Fightcancer.th Conference to talk about her experiences via Zoom. She talks about how she does not let cancer depressed her and embraces the change in her body as a result of treatment in her own photography exhibition. My responsibility includes planning the event, helping drafting an invitation letter for the guest speaker, facilitating the running of the webinar, being the administrator of the webinar openchat and bringing up questions for the guest speaker to answer. During the webinar, there were more than 200 participants with a variety of questions and I got to know more about the patient’s perspective into adjusting their lives into living with cancer rather than only knowing about the scientific information about cancer from medical books. I believe this is a vital experience for me to not only gain an understanding of cancer but to have empathy and understand how the patients feel which is vital for being a doctor. 10