St George's student gains leadership skills on free course

Published: 01 April 2022

Transition year graduate entry medic, Jordan Isgin, recently passed the Edward Jenner Programme run by the NHS Leadership Academy. Named after the famed St George’s alumnus, the free programme supports participants in developing leadership skills via a suite of short online courses. We caught up with Jordan about his experience competing the programme, and what he hopes it will mean for his career moving forward.

Jordan begins, “I came across a poster whilst on placement about the NHS Leadership Academy and thought I’d apply. The academy has courses which cater to different levels of seniority from an entry level leadership position (i.e. a medical student about to become a junior doctor) all the way through to senior board members within the NHS.  

“The entry-level leadership award is the Edward Jenner Programme which takes around eight weeks to complete. It has three components involving a series of videos, forums with other colleagues as well as role play tasks. 

“As part of the programme, we also studied the Francis Inquiry. This public report looked into serious failings within the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. It highlighted how poor leadership and toxic work cultures not only led to the failings of leadership but, more importantly, poor patient care and poorer patient outcomes.” 

“I would certainly encourage other healthcare students to get involved” 

“I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the Edward Jenner Programme. I gained a good foundation in the importance of leadership and how much it impacts both colleagues and patient care. It was fascinating to learn about different styles of leadership, powers and influences.  

“Furthermore, as modern healthcare follows a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, I found the programme useful in highlighting the importance of adaptive leadership, and the challenges and culture of working in the NHS. Although I am still a student, I will continue to reflect on the skills I have learnt through the award and hopefully use them when I start as a junior doctor.  

“Some of the skills from the programme I have found most useful include: methods of understanding patient experience, levels of listening and how to give and receive effective feedback. When I start working as a doctor, I look forward to participating in the next award within the NHS Leadership Academy, the Mary Seacole Programme, which looks at achieving ‘consistent team success and to champion compassionate patient care’. 

“I would certainly encourage other healthcare students to get involved with NHS Leadership Academy. The Edward Jenner Programme is free to anyone who wishes to pursue it and, although it can seem daunting taking the programme on, especially with how busy healthcare students are, I found that a lot could be achieved surprisingly quickly.”