An office manager at Solstice has received a $1,000 grant from the Hamilton wellness centre to study medicine in Britain.

Ashlee Lambe will begin her studies at the University of Liverpool this year.

She is no stranger to healthcare, having earned an undergraduate degree in biology and medical science from Western University in Canada before working for Wee Care Paediatrics and a coronavirus testing team led by scientist Carika Weldon in 2020.

Ms Lambe then pursued a graduate degree in public health from the University of Nottingham and joined the Solstice team two years ago.

The 26-year-old was inspired to pursue medicine after her mother became unwell.

She said: “Seeing how she was cared for and what she had to go through in the hospital really shifted me towards medicine.

“If you don’t go into family medicine, you might not be able to see and follow a patient throughout their whole life, but being able to touch and make an impact on each individual person has really drawn me into medicine.

“You are also part of a team and wider community and can always rely on team members and other doctors and nurses to create a very excellent service.”

Ms Lambe said she hopes to study radiology, cardiology or internal medicine in university, but is open to other specialisms.

Kelly Madeiros, the managing director of Solstice, said that since its inception ten years ago, the centre has provided grants to Bermudians who are accepted into graduate or clinical programmes.

She explained: “Our commitment to providing pathways for young Bermudians looking to get into mental or physical health training is always that they will go off, get their training and come back to Bermuda, because we know there is always a need for mental and physical health professionals.”

Ms Lambe said the Solstice team were like family and did very important work in the community.

She highlighted that people could attend the wellness centre and speak to “highly trained” psychologists and counsellors in the knowledge that what they shared would remain confidential.

Ms Lambe added: “I would recommend that everyone come to Solstice because it is such a good service.”

Ms Madeiros said: “Ms Lambe is a great advocate, and I think that she will take that into whatever medical field she goes into.

“It is important that whenever we are dealing with physical health, we are also thinking about someone’s mental health.

“I think she will be able to bring that into her practice moving forward, having experienced a couple years of mental health service and understanding the different therapies, approaches and styles of therapists.”