Surfing paramedic in training to become a doctor
University of ExeterA surfer who studied between shifts as a paramedic and a lifeguard to get into medical school is aiming to become a hospital consultant.
Finlay Maguire, from Padstow in Cornwall, is hoping to make the move from the ambulance service to working as a senior doctor after getting a place to study medicine at the University of Exeter.
The 24-year-old said he planned to remain in south-west England, a region that sometimes struggles to attract NHS staff, once he has qualified.
"I'd love to stay in emergency medicine and work as part of an air ambulance team in the future, and being able to do that in Cornwall would be my absolute dream job," he said.
Finlay MaguireMaguire was 16 when he got his first job as a seasonal RNLI lifeguard on his home beach at Harlyn after finding he did not "enjoy studying at school".
His initial RNLI training included casualty care, a high level first aid course.
He said that season and training was the influence for his future vocation.
"I never found anything I was really passionate about until I did that casualty care course for the RNLI," he explained.
"I found myself even on days off sat on the beach just thinking about that, just not able to get it out of my mind".
Finlay MaguireMaguire said his experience as a beach lifeguard led him to train as a paramedic at university in London.
His training included time with the London Ambulance Service, when he responded to emergencies such as stabbings and major trauma.
He also used his experience in Ukraine where he helped deliver ambulances and provided medical training following Russia's invasion.
After graduating as a paramedic, Maguire moved back to Cornwall and worked at Newquay Ambulance Station but said he felt something was not quite right.
Finlay Maguire"I just had an itch to learn more, plus on top of that I wanted to be with patients for longer," he explained.
"I also wanted to work with that wider healthcare system, and I felt as a doctor I was more able to to do that."
But Maguire's ambition to be a doctor was not as straightforward as just making a university application.
His experience as a paramedic did not count as part of the entry criteria and he still had to pass a six and a half hour exam, called the GAMSAT, to get in.
"I probably studied for just over a year for it," he said. "It was just like going back to school because it was like doing A-levels, biology, chemistry, physics and maths, and then also essay writing.
"It was a very difficult exam and fortunately it paid off," he said.
Peter HicksMaguire still works as a paramedic and a lifeguard while studying to cover his tuition fees. He was not eligible for a student loan as medicine is his second degree.
But after starting at the University of Exeter last September, he was given the good news that he had been awarded a bursary which is only given to Cornish students studying medicine.
The Fozzard Bursary Fund is named after its patron Constance Fozzard, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Cornwall.
"What's incredible about the scholarship is it's actually related to a doctor who worked at Treliske," Maguire said.
"When she died she donated some money towards the medical school to be able to support a couple of medical students, and fortunately, I was one of those people".
"I was amazed really, and now I really want to do Connie proud."
Cornwall and the wider south west of England has sometimes struggled to attract NHS staff.
The latest NHS figures show that vacancies in acute medicine in the region rose in the last quarter.
