We are delighted to celebrate the success of our MedVetDent students in this year’s Practical Ethics and Responsibility Competition (PERC), a prestigious national competition run by the Uehiro Oxford Institute at the University of Oxford.
The competition invites students in Years 11–13 from across the UK to produce short videos exploring complex ethical questions and examining the role of responsibility in addressing them.
We are especially proud that our combined Year 1 and 2 team has been selected as a Top 4 finalist, earning an invitation to present at the Oxford final on 24th March. Their video, “Should adolescents be allowed to make autonomous decisions about long-term psychiatric conditions?”, was created by Immy Butler (Team Leader), Emily Crisp, Lila Crockett and Isobel Downer. Judges praised the entry for being ‘well-structured, deeply researched and impressively thoughtful.’
Two additional teams achieved Highly Commended recognition, placing them in the Top 10 nationally.
- Year 1 team, Africa Edu Nso (Team Leader), Viona Gashi, Syeda Hasan, Yoanna Kim and Kimberly Muchongweproduced the video “Who should be responsible for deciding whether a premature baby facing lifelong complications should be sustained in NICU?”. Their submission came extremely close to a finalist position, with additional judges brought in to break the tie. Reviewers described the work as clear, original, nuanced and powerfully argued.
- A Year 2 team consisting of Valerio Shokralla Hanna (Team Leader), Ahmad Al-Otoum, Beatrice Equi and Masse Rabanireceived a Highly Commended award for their video “The ethical impacts of CRISPR technology on gene editing and agriculture.” Judges highlighted the depth of research and thoughtful discussion around power and communication in emerging technologies.
All participating students were mentored by our MedVetDent Coordinator, Emma-Jayne Hanner, who has supported them throughout the competition and will accompany the finalists to Oxford for the national final.
Congratulations to every student involved. Their dedication, curiosity and willingness to engage with complex ethical issues demonstrate the intellectual ambition and collaborative spirit we value so highly in our MedVetDent programme.
