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ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/quality/monitoring/ppi/reel_stories" target="_blank">Reel Health Stories

Award-winning director Ken Loach and Dr Who actor David Morrissey will judge 'Reel Health Stories', a new film competition about healthcare in north London.

The competition, which opens on January 18, has been organised by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Division of Medical Education and entries will be used to improve Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê medical students' awareness of local people's beliefs and fears about health.

The films should be up to five minutes long and can be about any experiences of healthcare, from a visit to the doctor or a relative's stay in hospital, to seeing an accident in the street. Entries are welcome from those with and without film-making experience.

The best films by an under-18 and by an over-18 will each win a prize of £100, with £50 runner-up prizes. A special educational prize of £100 is also up for grabs. Films will be screened at the Whittington Park Big Day Out in July 2010 and again at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê in October 2010.

Competition judge Ken Loach said: "I look forward to Reel Health Stories. It will come at a time when we are expecting big cuts in the NHS.ÌýI hope some of the films will not be afraid to tackle the big issues."

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê is best known for its central Bloomsbury campus, but also has a site at the Whittington Hospital in Archway where a third of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's 1,000 clinical medical students are trained each year.

Professor Jane Dacre, Director of Medical Education at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê, said: "The competition will not only give the community a voice in student learning, but will also help forge closer links between local people and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Medical School."

All genres are welcome and the closing date for entries is May 3 2010. The project is supported by The Rowan Arts Project, Reel Islington Screenings and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's Public Engagement Unit.

For more information see or contact project coordinator Dr Katherine Woolf at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê on tel: 020 7288 3546, or email: k.woolf@medsch.ucl.ac.uk

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