Hello readers!
Welcome to the very first blog post from the Utrecht Student Journal.
Let’s start with a story.
One fateful day back in 2018, two med students, Anna Vera and Avin came up with an idea. An idea that would make medical research accessible, that would engage students and researchers alike, across the UMC and the UU. An idea so revolutionary, apparently, that it was initially shot down by the (former) Dean of the UMC, who said it wouldn’t work. That it just wasn’t something people would be interested in.
Spoiler alert – he was wrong.
The idea was, of course, for the Utrecht Student Journal – a journal for young (bio)medical scientists that brings together students and researchers in a celebration of life sciences and open communication. The fact that you’re here reading this right now (and I’m writing this) goes to show that the hard work put in really did pay off. Five published editions, a sixth one in the works, an active social media presence, a website, and now a blog – the Utrecht Student Journal is only growing. We now have a team of ten active members (check out our editorial page to get to know us!) building on all the great work done by USJ alumni in the last four years.
To get to know each other a bit more and celebrate the success of the journal, alumna Marin invited us to her house for a USJ borrel.
We talked about the early days of the journal, reflected on the journey it’s taken to get to where it is today. Anna Vera shared the story of how USJ was founded and talked about the early days of setting it all up. And of course, we talked about the future – where will USJ go from here? From expanding our online presence (come back here for more blog posts and updates!), to getting the word out about who we are, to getting more students involved (med students, we’re looking at you!), to the printing of our next edition – there are lots of new things coming your way, and we hope you’re as excited as we are!
Do you have an idea for USJ? A question or a comment? Reach out to us via the website, email us at usj@umcutrecht.nl, or check our Instagram @utrechtstudentjournal for updates and more!