RCSI Bahrain hosted its inaugural Student Engagement and Partnership programme (StEP) this year, which aims to empower staff and students to collaborate and learn from each other with students, staff and the RCSI Bahrain community benefitting as a result.

The programme focuses on four key pillars: institutional leadership, academic research community, local community and social environment, and teaching and assessment. Through the StEP programme, participating students are provided with the opportunity to work closely with highly skilled mentors in each area and develop key leadership skills under each pillar. This provides a mutually beneficial experience for mentors and students, and an opportunity to exchange ideas, processes and perspectives. 

Head of Student Development & Wellbeing, Dr Wendy Maddison commented, “In RCSI Bahrain, we currently have 30 StEP Champions (staff and students) working on 17 StEP projects over four different domains. RCSI Bahrain is committed to providing growth and development opportunities for our students. Through the StEP programme, we empower our staff and students to work with and learn from each other and ensure that students and staff have equal influence in decision-making.”

The current projects in progress include the establishment of a student leadership course for senior students, a professionalism campaign, development of a research project database, creation of a Community Engagement and Service Committee, simulation to improve professionalism, a learning communities project and the creation of a digital hub for all student services, events, sports and recreation. 

The Learning Communities project, which will be rolled out in the current academic year, is a great example of students and staff learning from each other. The Learning Communities were created with a view to developing a more inclusive and welcoming learning environment, so that students can foster new friendships and develop collaborations with RCSI Bahrain employees and academic staff as they engage with curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities throughout their degree programme.

RCSI Bahrain School of Medicine SC1 student, Mr Ebrahim Luthfi, commented on his involvement in the project, "Being a part of the Learning Communities project has been a very fulfilling experience during which I was able to collaborate with RCSI Bahrain academics and staff. The teams involved took a hand-in-hand approach with the students and encouraged us to use our problem-solving skills. This project has given me the confidence to work with senior academic leaders to implement new programmes and has helped develop my collaborative skills. I look forward to partnering with the faculty on other initiatives throughout the year."