Well done Dr Armitage!

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You may remember me telling you about Leanne Armitage, a St Martin’s ‘Old Girl’ who, in December was chosen to represent the UK as one of the final 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders.   She attended school from September 2006  to 2011 and was Head Girl.  During her time as a medical student, Leanne worked tirelessly to help make a difference to the unrepresented students in the medical profession. She set up Leanne’s Amazing Medics which went from strength to strength and achieved charitable status as The Armitage Foundation in 2018.  She is no longer Leanne Armitage, she is Dr Leanne Armitage, who, this April passed her final medical examinations with flying colours.  Let’s hear from Dr Armitage herself:

‘To say I feel joyful right now is an understatement, I’m absolutely elated! The God who started a good work in me 6 years ago has done it to completion, I’m now Dr Leanne Destiny Armitage.  The picture on the left is me as a 15-year old girl with a dream. A dream of getting into medical school and one day graduating as a doctor.   However, there were several obstacles standing in my way:

  • Growing up in a single-parent home on a council estate in Peckham
  • Meeting my father for the first time when I was 19, shortly after starting medical school
  • Having no medics in my family, simply a sister who supported me relentlessly and believed all my dreams were possible
  • Having a mother who was only educated to GCSE level and had no clue how to navigate the higher education system
  • Battling low self-esteem – I struggled to relate to the medical profession because I couldn’t see anyone like me…

In spite of this, not only have I graduated as Dr Armitage with two degrees; whilst at medical school, I co-founded a charity (The Armitage Foundation) to help students from under-represented backgrounds gain places at medical school. In 2018 I was awarded the UK Queen’s Young Leaders award by Her Majesty the Queen. I’ve had amazing speaking opportunities at Parliament, on Channel 4 News and various other places. I’ve overcome the limitations people placed on me as that 15-year-old girl, battling low self-esteem.  I’m feeling blessed beyond measure to both serve my community as a doctor, and as an inspirational role model to every young person with a dream!  Thank you to all who have supported me.’

Dr Leanne Armitage told Mrs Stanislaus, "I will spend my first year as a Junior Doctor at Medway Hospital in Gillingham, Kent and my second year in Brighton. I feel complete peace about this and I am so excited to be living alone!!!"

We are so proud of you, Leanne, your journey and your story is an inspiration for all of us. For girls and women of all ages, particularly from underrepresented backgrounds who are inspired to believe their dreams can come true in the medical profession. We have loved that you have given back so much during the time you were studying so hard at medical school and you did this with the biggest smile on your face with infectious enthusiasm,  giving confidence, strength and courage to others. We thank you and wish you a successful career Dr Leanne Armitage.  Thank you for your vision and mission lived out through The Armitage Foundation and Leanne’s Amazing Medics - “Developing the doctors of tomorrow, from all walks of life”.

From your St Martin’s family … You are Amazing, Dr Leanne Armitage, keep being Amazing!