Medics
Rare disease patients need you. Become a #RareAlly!
In an ideal world, all healthcare professionals would have an understanding of how many people are affected by rare diseases and what a huge impact having a rare disease has on patients and their families.
We often get asked about how to make teaching about rare diseases mandatory in the medical school curriculum. However with over 7000 rare diseases and an already packed medical curriculum, teaching about every rare disease is unfeasible.
We feel the more realistic solution is that medical students and doctors in training are provided ‘Rare Disease 101’ – what are rare diseases, what impact do they have on patients and how can rare disease patients be helped by their doctor? We do this through the Rare Disease 101 online learning platform, events, The M4RD Ambassador Programme, social media, our website and our e-newsletter.
If you’re a medical student or doctor in training here’s how you can get involved:
- Become an M4RD Ambassador | If you like what we do and you want to spread the word more about rare diseases you can become an ambassador. Our ambassador programme is now CLOSED to new applicants and will re-open for Cohort 2024/25 in Summer 2024.
- Attend our annual symposium | Organised with The Medical Genetics Section of The Royal Society of Medicine, this annual event is a great way to learn about M4RD and rare diseases in everyday medicine. Our next symposium will take place on 15 February 2023.
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Organise your own rare disease event | Whether this is at your medical school or hospital – we can suggest topics, help you find speakers and advertise for you. We also have some resources you can download and print.
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Consider choosing a rare disease talk for your speciality conference | We have some amazing speakers who will be more than happy to share their perspective
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Peer to Peer Teaching | From medical students to GP trainees, we all have to do it, so why not learn about something different but relevant – ‘Rare Disease 101′ could be the answer!
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Competitions | Every year we collaborate with the charity Beacon to bring you The Student Voice Prize – an international essay competition for medical and natural sciences students.
This medical student society was formed in 2016 and works in collaboration with Birmingham Children’s Hospital. They have organised events ranging from small extra-curricular lectures to an impressive national Rare Disease Training Day in 2017. They also volunteer in their spare time for The Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.
Formed in 2016 this medical student society has organised a number of rare disease events. They have worked with The Cambridge Rare Disease Network and Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. Some of their members have spoken at rare disease event. 
This society aims to promote the specialty of Clinical Genetics in the medical student community of KCL. And how can you love clinical genetics without loving rare diseases?!
We have worked with Manchester University’s MUMPS group who run events and provides resources for medical students who wish to pursue a career in paediatrics and child health. They understand the huge relevance of rare diseases in this specialty and this year plan to shine a spotlight on rare diseases at their annual conference. For more information visit their 
Medical Students at UCL and our team have been working together since 2014 when Sam Audet helped organise The Unusual Suspects: An Afternoon of Rare Diseases at The Royal Society of Medicine.
Medical students at UWA have been raising awareness of rare diseases since 2016. They have produced infograms, produced engaging videos and run local events. Our founder, Lucy, even produced a video about our work for them to play in a medical school lecture!
The McGill Rare Disease Interest Group (rareDIG), founded in September 2017, is the first medical student-run rare disease group in Canada and the third such group in North America.