Full circle moment for volunteer turned doctor trainee

A teenager who volunteered at St Wilfrid’s Hospice had a full circle moment when she returned 10 years later as part of her doctor training.

Thivya Kularajan, 26, helped on the hospice Inpatient Unit as a 16-year-old college student. For three years alongside her studies, she volunteered every week to help serve patient meals and offer companionship.

After initially studying biomedical science at university, Thivya then signed up for medical school. “I was always interested in medicine but volunteering at St Wilfrid’s definitely made me want to study it,” Thivya said.

“I was originally given a placement at a hospital for the most recent part of my training, but I swapped it so I could return to St Wilfrid’s. It was good to see the other side of it because as a volunteer I saw more of the social side, but this time the focus was, of course, on the clinical side. It was really interesting.

“The hospice still looked mostly the same, there were just some small changes. A lot of the same staff are still there, from doctors to kitchen staff, which says a lot about the hospice as you can’t say that about many places,” Thivya said.

Dr David Barclay, Medical Director at St Wilfrid’s, said: “All the young volunteers, whether permanent or on our Young Clinical Volunteer programme, bring such a wonderful enthusiasm and energy to the hospice and it is great to see them progress in their studies and careers influenced by their time here. 

“I had no doubt Thivya would do well as she has the best attitude - and she’s a great ambassador for Eastbourne! I still have the email she sent telling me she had done so well in her first degree she had secured her place in medical school, and it was a genuine joy to see her in the cohort of medical students here at the hospice.

Thivya has another year of study before, all going well, becoming a qualified doctor. “Perhaps we will see her back again at the hospice in one of our resident doctor posts,” David said.

St Wilfrid’s Hospice provides high-quality care and support for people across Eastbourne, Seaford, Hailsham, Uckfield, Heathfield (and all points between) with life-limiting illnesses.