Student Spotlight: Zesha Saleem
Student Spotlights pass the mic to our student doctors, to hear their take on their School experience and shine the light on a particular role, team or pathway through the School of Medicine.
Zesha Saleem is a Year Three Student Doctor, freelance journalist and champion of diversity in Medicine. Her work on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in communities of colour secured her an Award for Combating Polarisation and placed her on the 30 To Watch Journalists list.
What inspired you to pursue a career in Medicine?
I chose Medicine because I found it the most interesting course to pursue, and I find the human body extremely fascinating too.
I also liked the fact that the course can open so many doors – from working clinically to doing research or education (or medical journalism).
I like the idea of keeping my options open until I firmly decide what I want to be after graduating.
What was it that brought you to Liverpool?
I'd had friends who've studied Medicine from Liverpool, and really enjoyed it. I also loved the city (as I'm definitely someone who enjoys the city vibe). It's also not too far away from home, which is Manchester, so it's great to go home at weekends and come home with fresh laundry and home cooked food for the week!
What memories stand out from your first days on the programme?
I started in September 2020, when we were deep into the pandemic. Teaching was mostly online – but I remember the excitement of my first in-person session, which was HARC, a few months later. Our teaching group went to the Guild afterwards to get Starbucks together and get to know each other.
What are you most proud of achieving so far?
I found Year 2 to be quite a tough year, and a steep learning curve from Year 1, so I was delighted to pass this summer. Assisting in my first ever C-section recently – seeing birth so close up was quite inspiring, and it was a honour to have the parents include us in their journey.
When did your passion for writing begin? How did you get into freelance journalism?
I've always liked English, and for a while wrangled with the idea of studying something along the lines of journalism or English. I had a blog during high school (which is still online somewhere!) and wrote for different online student publications. It was when I met a lovely editor at The Times (Esther Webber – who now works for POLITICO) through a friend that I properly start writing. She commissioned a few op-eds about University life during Covid-19, and things just sort of started rolling from there.
What kind of pieces do you usually work on?
My work really varies depending on the commission from editors. I started out mostly writing opinion pieces, but since my internship at the Financial Times in July 2022, I've really started to enjoy news writing and feature writing.
From having to justify to a group of very senior editors why your article deserves to be placed on the homepage of their newspaper, to researching case studies for a feature, it's very exciting.
They're both different forms of writing too – in news, 'less is more' is the key approach, your writing has to be crisp and tight. It also involves working to tight deadlines, I've worked with 2–3-hour turnarounds, with the expectation that the writing is error-free and nearly fit for publication. On the other hand, features can take a few weeks to put together and you are expected to bring your pieces to life with 'colour', extra information that gives context to your interviews, without rambling on. It's quite the balancing act!
I like to stick to well-trodden paths such as health, medicine and culture. I try not to stray into hot debates, and really enjoy writing about topics that I've learnt at University too. For example, I was recently commissioned by the FT to write about zoonotic diseases, something we studied in Year Two!
The biggest thing I am learning is that it's so important to treat your interviewees as human beings, rather than just steppingstones to getting a piece published.
In the same way, it’s important to remember that patients are much more than the problem or disease they have – treating them with the respect and listening to their concerns and taking them seriously is vitally important.
Congratulations on receiving an Award for Combating Polarisation and featuring on the 30 To Watch Journalists list!
Back in December 2020, I was one of the first journalists to report on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in communities of colour. It was something I picked up in conversation with friends and family members and realised this could be a bigger problem than anticipated. Luckily, I had supportive editors who encouraged me to investigate and write about this, which led to 10 Downing Street getting in touch after I wrote a personal piece on the issue!
They asked me what I saw and learned while doing this, and for my advice on how to shape their policy regarding the vaccine roll-out.
I have no idea if they used anything I said, but it was quite an experience! It was quite life changing as it helped me gain my internship, where I spent two weeks at the FT covering Science and health and made new contacts for work!
What is important to you in pursuing your interests and hobbies outside of Medicine?
I try to get all my writing work done on Wednesday or Saturday, and sometimes on other days, so I can spend the rest of the week studying and living life. I usually carry a notebook, where I scribble down everything I need to do, and when – I learned that keeping it all in my head doesn't work!
It's also important to ensure that I have fun and relax when I can. This could be hanging out with my friends, going to the gym or going out to eat. Most importantly though, I try to go home to my parents at the weekend – this lets me get away from Liverpool and campus and just completely relax at home with my family. Physically having a shift in scenery has a huge impact on me.
What advice would you have for your first-year self?
Don't stress, enjoy life because first year is not as hard as you're making it out.
Thank you, Zesha. We’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for your name when reading the Sunday papers! You can browse through a selection of Zesha’s published work on her official website (link). If you, like Zesha, are passionate about championing diversity, why not join the School’s staff-student EDI network. Please contact Viktoria.Goddard@liverpool.ac.uk if you would like to take part.
Get in touch with mednews@liverpool.ac.uk if you are interested in stepping into the Student Spotlight or would like to nominate a student or group to do so.