Legacy maintains support for medicine
Dr Peter Truesdale (Medicine, 1955) was a long-time supporter of the University in his lifetime and his legacy is continuing to enhance the learning experience for the medical students of today.
After graduating, Dr Truesdale joined the Royal Navy, serving in the Suez Campaign at the start of a long career during which he rose to become a Surgeon Captain and Honorary Physician to the Queen.
Among his many gifts to the University during his lifetime were scholarships to allow medical students to intercalate and, following his death in 2016, his endowment to the University is providing a range of opportunities for medical students, including those taking Medicine as a second degree.
“I am eternally grateful and hope one day I can be in a position to give similar awards, to help other students in financial difficulty.” — Ozlem Boztepe
Among the first recipients was Ozlem Boztepe (Medicine 2018), who, as a politics graduate, came to Leeds as a self-funded medical student, working in three different hospital jobs during the vacation periods to support herself. “I fell into medicine,” she says. “Originally I had my heart set on becoming a journalist and after my politics degree I worked as a journalist for the London Turkish Gazette. The job was unpaid and I wanted to save for a postgraduate course in journalism, so I started temping in hospitals to earn some money.”
This opened Ozlem’s eyes to a new career in medicine. While she was studying at Leeds, the Peter Truesdale Scholarship allowed her to undertake a medical elective abroad. “My financial situation has always been a tight balancing act,” she says.
“I have had to sacrifice many things in order to pursue my dream of a career in medicine and this award has meant that I can continue my final year studies without any disruptions. I am eternally grateful and hope one day I can be in a position to give similar awards, to help other students in financial difficulty.”
Simon Jenkins, Campaign Communications Officer, University of Leeds
