Embracing Neurodiversity: Supporting Neurodivergent Medical Students

This event will help attendees recognise the nuances of neurodiversity in the assessment of academic/clinical knowledge, skills and professionalism in undergraduate medical education with the aim to enhance support available for neurodivergent medical students to help them flourish at medical school. 

• Promote awareness around neurodivergence amongst medical students. 
• Share experiences from neurodivergent students to help develop an understanding and appreciation for the different challenges they face in medical school.
• Explore neurodivergent strengths and the evidence regarding career outcomes and mental health. 
• Consider the nuances of neurodiversity in assessment of academic/clinical knowledge, skills and professionalism and GMC guidance. 
• Highlight initiatives, reasonable adjustments, alongside practical suggestions of adjustments to consider and signposting for support. 

We are delighted to welcome the following speakers to join the event:

Professor Subodh Dave, RCPsych Dean

Subodh (pronounced Soo-both, but replace 't' with 'd') was elected as Dean in 2021. He holds this role until 2026. He has overall responsibility for setting standards for and facilitating the effective delivery of psychiatric education and training.

Subodh is an international medical graduate having done his MD and DNB (Psychiatry) from Grant Medical College, Mumbai, India. He moved to the UK in 1995 and obtained his CCT in General Adult Psychiatry with an endorsement in Liaison Psychiatry. He works as Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist in Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust and is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Bolton. He is Deputy Director of Undergraduate Medical Education and in that role has led innovations in introducing and embedding simulation and lived-experience involvement in the training of medical students at the University of Nottingham.

Subodh has held training roles at all levels spanning undergraduate, foundation and postgraduate training both in the UK and internationally.

He is passionate about ensuring that training, assessment structures and CPD (Continuing Professional Development) programmes lead to improvements in patient care and clinical outcomes.

Dr Sherlie Arulanandam, Consultant Psychiatrist, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS trust, University of Bristol

Dr Sherlie Arulanandam is a Consultant Psychiatrist, Swindon Early Intervention Team. Senior Tutor, Bristol Medical School and Associate Dean, Undergraduate education, Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Dr Charlotte Heaps, TPD for LTFT, Flexible and accessible working, West Midlands School of Psychiatry

Dr Charlotte Heaps is a Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist in Warwick and TPD for LTFT, Flexible and Accessible training in Psychiatry on the West Midlands. Charlotte is part of the RCPsych Neurodivergent Doctors working group and have recently published on "Supporting neurodivergent doctors to thrive at work.

Dr David Rogers, Co-Programme Director, Bristol Medical School, Clinical GP, Bruton Surgery

David, a practising GP, is committed to making the path from aspiring medical applicant to confident graduate kinder and safer worldwide. His experience in educational leadership, combined with reverse mentoring from a diverse group of students, has drawn his attention to the challenges faced by neurodivergent learners. In recent years, he and his team have been working to improve support for these students and to promote a more inclusive training environment.

Dr Jessica Eccles, Consultant Psychiatrist, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Dr Eccles is an award-winning researcher and a neurodevelopmental psychiatrist specialising in the links between brain and body, especially as they relate to flexible joints (hypermobility). She trained in medicine at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. As well as her University position at Brighton and Sussex Medical School as Associate Professor (Reader) in Brain-Body Medicine in the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, she works in the Sussex NHS Neurodevelopmental Service (ADHD, Autism and Tourette syndrome) where she and colleagues have set up the world’s first Neurodivergent Brain Body Clinic. She has been working on the intersect between hypermobility and neurodivergence since she first came to work at Brighton and Sussex medical school in Neuroscience in 2009. She chairs the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry Special Interest Group – bringing together neurodevelopmental clinicians across the country. She hopes to challenge stereotypes and encourage curiosity.

Dr Joanne Morrison, City St George's University of London

Joanne is a social worker by profession, working mainly in the voluntary sector with children and adults with intellectual disabilities, autism, ADHD, brain injury and complex health needs. She entered academia later in life, completing a PhD in 2023 in intellectual and developmental disabilities from the Tizard Centre, University of Kent and currently teaches on Intellectual Disability and also Clinical Communication at City St George's medical school. Joanne is also a self-employed registered intermediary in Northern Ireland, to assesses communication needs of people with intellectual disability, autism, ADHD, mental ill health and dementia going through the criminal justice system and provide recommendations to police and courts on communication for giving of best evidence.

Dr Khurram Sadiq, Independent Neurodevelopmental Psychiatrist - Augmentive

Dr Sadiq is a Consultant Neurodevelopmental Psychiatrist based in London, currently working in an Independent sector. He is an established public speaker, having delivered 7 TEDx talks since 2019.

As a keynote speaker, he has shared insights on neurodevelopmental psychiatry, social media, gaming , and leadership across Spain, France, Austria, the UK, Portugal , Pakistan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia , India, Qatar and the United States. He was invited to UN- Vienna and UNESCO to deliver talks about Neurodiversity in 2024 and 2025. He also has delivered talks to Corporates like Warner Bros and Booking.com. He is a published author of the book ‘Explaining AuDHD’ about the intertwining nature of Autism and ADHD. This book has now been translated to German.

He has appeared in several podcasts the noticeable ones being 'ADHD Chatter' by Alex Partridge and 'WTF is AUDHD' by A neurodivergent Kiwi actor Ellie. His expertise lies in Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, particularly Autism and ADHD itself intertwining and new concept of AuDHD, as well as the intersection of mental health with gaming and social media. He is a Leadership Mentor and an advocate for compassionate & Transformational leadership in healthcare and beyond. He was awarded the RCPsych Communicator of the Year 2025. He also led his team to the RCPsych team of the year award in 2024 and was awarded the SEL Inclusive Innovative Leader of the Year 2025.

Dr Mary Doherty, University College Dublin & Autistic Doctors International

Dr Mary Doherty is an autistic consultant anaesthetist, founder of "Autistic Doctors International" and "Autistic Medical Students" peer support groups and developer of the Autistic SPACE framework, which addresses autistic needs in healthcare and has also been incorporated onto the RCPsych guidelines on Helping Neurodivergent Colleagues Thrive. She a Clinical Associate Professor at University College Dublin and parent of two autistic young people.

Sulaiman Ghiyas, Medical student

Mr Ghiyas is a medical student at The University of Bristol and a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. They formerly worked as a Physician Associate in Cardiothoracic Surgery, giving them valuable clinical insight into healthcare training and multidisciplinary practice. They have a strong interest in medical education, widening participation and improving support for neurodivergent learners within healthcare. Today, they will speak on how medical training can move from accommodation towards empowerment for neurodivergent students.

Ms Tista Chakravarty-Gannon, GMC, Head of Outreach Strategic Delivery and National Engagement

Tista has worked in the service for over 25 years supporting survivors of abuse. She now  co-leads the Outreach team at the GMC and heads up their ‘Welcome and valuing IMGs’ work to support doctors who qualified overseas. Besides her role at the GMC Tista is also Co Vice-Chair of APNA NHS and has recently contributed to a medical textbook on racism in medicine for Elsevier.

Professor Raja Mukherjee, Lead for Psychiatry, Surrey Medical School, MBBS, FRCPsych, PGDip, PhD

Professor Raja Mukherjee is an Adult Learning Disability Consultant Psychiatrist for Surrey and Border’s Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, 

He has also acted as an invited advisor to the BMA board of science, The Department of Health and the World Health Organisation on the subject of FASD, an All Party Parliamentary Group on FASD at the House of commons, NICE quality standards group for FASD and various international panels.

Professor Mukherjee was appointed as Professor of Psychiatry and Lead for Psychiatry at the University of Surrey Medical School in February 2024 where he leads the development of the psychiatric curriculum. 

Professor Mukherjee is Clinical Lead for Adult neurodevelopmental services for Adult ASD and ADHD services across Surrey. He was one of the founding members of the RCPSych NDPSIG ad until June 2026 is a member of the ID faculty executive.

Professor Mukherjee was awarded an MBE in June 2023.

Dr Muzaffer Kaser, Affiliated Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge and Consultant Psychiatrist, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

For those looking to secure the medical student rate and not already registered as a Student Associate at the College. Please register as a new member and follow the instructions.

Please contact Miriam Muleba at miriam.muleba@rcpsych.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Further information on Becoming a student associate.

This event will be taking place online via a platform called EventsAir. Registered participants will receive their link to join the conference in their joining instructions. Joining instructions will be sent out in the days before the conference is due to take place. 

Watch the helpful explanation video

When you join the conference online you will be able to:

• view a video of the speaker alongside any slides
• ask your questions to the speakers and chat with other delegates via the discussion forum.

All registered participants will also have access to this conference recording until Wednesday 22 July 2026 (12 weeks).

To successfully join the event online you will need;

• Access to a reliable internet connection
• A PC, laptop, tablet or phone
• Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are recommended web browsers

Please read our terms and conditions before making your booking.