Hey Med Sci,
Welcome (or welcome back) to another year of BMSc! And, welcome to our publication, the Western Blot. This editorial is the first entry into what we hope will become a guidebook, an exhibition, and a history for everything Western, BMSc, and beyond.
To those of you toiling away in a wet lab or traumatized from first-year biology, we know you probably don’t want another western blot in your life—but, rest assured, we’re not like other western blots. We promise, we won’t be confusing to read, or waste hours of your day. And, if it makes you more comfortable, call us “the Blot” instead.
The Western Blot will showcase written work by med scis, as well as student art, opinions, and faculty contributions. Anything and everything goes—expect journalism, videos, poems, and music in the near and somewhat distant future. With the inception of this publication, we intend to bridge the gap between Western’s science students and the arts, embracing a trans-disciplinary perspective that fosters artistic cross-pollination with a traditional scientific education. Through the Western Blot, we want to create a wellspring of creativity for students in the Medical Sciences program.
Despite our name and the new car smell, look closely and you may see some familiar bones beneath the Blot, specifically, the remnants of the ol’ BMSA blog. In the four years after its first post went live in March 2017, the Bachelor of Medical Sciences blog and its team of writers created engaging and informative content for Medical Science students. Our previous blog posts primarily consisted of monthly “What We’re Reading” articles, which recapped the latest health-related articles, and weekly blogs, in which a rotating cast of contributors highlighted a myriad of topics that ranged from research guidance to raising awareness about mental health. However, in the time since, blogs have begun to fade into annals of internet irrelevance alongside MySpace and the mannequin challenge, and we found ourselves in search of a new identity. Now, the Western Blot isn’t just the blog with a nip/tuck. As a publication, we will now concentrate on journalism and bold opinions, with an emphasis on exhibiting student-made works, irrespective of its medium.
With the school year at Western sputtering to a (albeit rocky) start and our team in the midst of assembly, we hope that you share some of the enthusiasm that we have for the extraordinary work we have in store!
Signing off,
Ronnie Du and Saniyah Qureshi