At Sea With Disability

SSC Opportunity for Year 3 and 4 Medics

The development of an enabling attitude toward disabled persons is a key attribute of the well-rounded doctor. However so often as doctors we encounter disabled persons in situations which focus on what people can’t do and not what they can. Without ourselves being disabled (and there are many successful, disabled, medics) it can be hard to understand the perspective of the disabled.

Students who feel drawn to developing their awareness of disabled persons as persons, read on! The UoB Medical School, in liaison with the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST), and the University’s Norah Fry Research Centre, have developed an innovative SSC opportunity for Year 3&4 medics.

In the first phase of this SSC, students will renew and deepen their acquaintance with disability studies, building on their learning from Year 1 HBoM and benefiting from the input of teachers on the university’s MSc programme in Disability Studies.[1] Students will read a range of papers and attend a research seminar.

In the second phase students go to sea! During these voyagesstudents “buddy” a person with a disability – for instance someone who gets about by wheelchair. This involves working alongside them in all the tasks of the voyage. Students keep a detailed log of their experience whichcan include video and/or audio diaries.

Following the voyage students write a 4000 word essay in which they interpret their lived experience in the light of some aspect(s) of the disability studies literature. Both prior to and after the voyage students meet with all the other JST students for a briefing and debriefing.

These voyages come under the JST’s “Youth Leadership at Sea” scheme. This allows you to apply for a bursary. There are enough bursaries for all students to get the award providing they meet the JST criteria.

In previous years we have sent students on two voyages in each of the JST’s two ships, Lord Nelson and Tenacious. This year Lord Nelson is off around the world so we only have one voyage on Tenacious. This voyage is itself unusual as it comprises the first leg 14 day leg of the annual Tall Ships Race from Aarhus in Denmark to Helsinki in Finland. Racing means you sail this magnificent (wooden) ship all-out, and also become part of the major party scene that accompanies such races in the Baltic. So year we offer a major sailing and culture experience alongside the experience in living and working with persons with disability.

The SSC Dates are as follows:

Year 3: Monday 1st to Friday 26th July 2013

Year 4: Monday 8th to Friday 26th July 2013

Project hand-in (provisionally) Monday 29th July 2013

Voyage Details

ReferenceStart DateEnd DateEmbarkationDisembarkation Cost

TNS376Sat 6th JulFri 19th JulAarhus Helsinki £1445*

To do this voyage you need to get to Aarhus and back from Helsinki. This may mean traveling on Friday 5th July and returning on Saturday 20th July.

* this is the full price not including any Leadership @ Sea bursary which is £300 bringing the cost down to £1145. We are looking into the possibility of a further bursary from UoB but this is unlikely to be more that £200. The total cost, including travel, will therefore be £1300 to £1500.

ASWD induction is on AM of Monday1stJuly 2013. For year 4s, this is before the start of your official SSC time but according to Chris Cooper there are no “Careers Week” activities on that day. The ASWD debriefing session is 2pm on Thursday 25th July. Venues TBC but most likely Canynge Hall. Attendance at both these events is 100% compulsory.

What next? Students interested in this SSC should email Dr Thompson direct at . If you have already been in contact with Dr Thompson you must apply again. Depending on numbers of applicants, places may be selected by drawing names from a hat. This is an “Out of Area” SSC and the deadline for submission is 11th February 2013.

Once students have confirmation of places, they will get instructions for how to apply, including application for the Youth Leadership at Sea Bursary.

[1] Goodley, D. (2011) Disability Studies: an interdisciplinary introduction. Sage Publications.