A medical student who works in hospitals across East Lancashire has been recognised with a national award.

Sai Ram Pillarisetti, who was part of the 2022 graduating cohort of UCLan medical students working at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT), has been presented with the Diana Award for going above and beyond in his daily life to create and sustain positive change.

The award was set up in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, and is given out by the charity of the same name.

The award honours young people who work to improve the lives of others.

Those nominated have to demonstrate their impact in five key areas: vision, social impact, inspiring others, youth leadership and service journey.

Whilst studying medicine, Sai, who hails from India, recognised a gap in the representation of international medical students like himself and founded the ‘BIDA Student Wing’, the very first organisation to represent international medical students studying in the UK.

In less than two years, it has grown into an organisation with hundreds of student members studying medicine in the UK, spanning over 38 different countries.

Sai and his team have facilitated free educational webinars, career guidance and mental health support for his fellow international origin medical students.

Sai said: "I feel humbled and honoured to have been chosen for this prestigious award.

"I would like to sincerely thank my team at the BIDA Student Wing and the executive committee of BIDA for giving me the opportunity and the platform to start the Student Wing.

“This award will serve as a great motivation for me and equally, I hope it inspires other young people to take up initiatives to support and empower others." 

Sai was also recognised for his work by ‘Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation’ in India, after developing South Asia’s first mobile app on breast health in English and 11 commonly spoken Indian Languages.

After both of his grandmothers were diagnosed with breast cancer, Sai, at the age of 18, led the development of South Asia’s first mobile app on breast health – ABCs of Breast Health’ -  and recorded over 9,000 downloads for it within the first month.

One of the main aims of the app is to empower women all over India with accurate information about breast health in a simple and clear format.

Dr. Chandra Kanneganti, BIDA National President & Lord Mayor of Stoke on Trent, said: "All of us at BIDA are extremely proud of Sai for being recognised with this high honour and for all the work he has done in establishing the BIDA Student Wing, which has attracted members from over 38 different nationalities.

“Sai is a fine example of a young leader and we look forward to working with him more closely in the coming years to promote equality and diversity in medicine and support international doctors in the UK”.

Sai has been a medical student at ELHT, which operates Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital, for the last five years.

His medical rotation involved observing clinics and consultations as well as performing clinical skills and basic procedures across different speciality departments.

He said: “Some of my favourite placements over the past five years were in the surgery department and the emergency A&E department.

"I really appreciated the hands-on training in these two departments and hope to pursue one of these specialities in the future.

"All staff members in all the departments were very supportive and took a keen interest in teaching, especially the nurses who made time during their very busy schedules to help me practice clinical skills, I will always be grateful to them for this and everything else they do.”

Talking about his ELHT experience, Sai went on to say: “Being part of the ELHT family these last few years has been amazing, and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with the various teams and departments - I will cherish my time here.

“Unfortunately, I will be leaving ELHT for my foundation years but I hope to come back one day for my specialist training as I am planning to stay in the UK and continue working in the NHS.

"I came to the UK as an international student from India to study medicine and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at ELHT for being so welcoming to me and for giving me such a memorable five years that I will cherish for a lifetime”.