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Esther on Change our City Challenge 2025

Change our City Challenge: Reflections
Esther Yoon

Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine

09 December 2025

Esther Yoon, Medicine MBBS Student, reflects on taking part in the Change our City Challenge 2025 and how the experience will enhance her medical career.

On why she decided to take part

As a medical student, I have always been passionate about improving patients’ quality of life, while also being driven to find innovative solutions to wider healthcare challenges. The Change our City Challenge appealed to me as an opportunity to collaborate with students from diverse disciplines, bringing together different perspectives to develop creative solutions with real social impact. I was particularly drawn to the chance to contribute to a project that could make a meaningful difference to people’s lives.

 

On how she felt when she first arrived

Upon arrival at the challenge, I was struck by the diversity of students’ backgrounds and experiences. I felt excited to see how these different skill sets and areas of knowledge would come together to develop a novel and creative solution to real-world problems.

 

On the idea her team created

The idea my team developed was resourceful, accessible, and beneficial for all parties involved. By connecting local leisure centres with trainee coaches and schools, the project aimed to support obese school children through structured physical activity and early intervention. This approach is important as it addresses childhood obesity at a community level, helps reduce long-term pressure on the NHS, and promotes sustainable improvements in overall health and wellbeing.

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Esther and her Change our City Challenge team, Project Ekis.
Change our City Challenge complemented my studies at King’s by broadening my perspective on how working with individuals from different academic disciplines can lead to innovative solutions to complex, modern healthcare problems.– Esther, Change our City Challenge 2025

On the lessons she'll take forward in her future career

Change our City Challenge showed me how novel and innovative solutions can be developed through the effective use and combination of existing infrastructure, and how small, incremental changes can collectively improve national health. I also learned the importance of effective pitching - communicating ideas clearly and persuasively so that solutions are memorable and impactful. 

 

On how Change our City Challenge complemented her studies

Healthcare is a highly multidisciplinary field that relies on collaboration between professionals from different specialities and training backgrounds. Change our City Challenge complemented my studies at King’s by broadening my perspective on how working with individuals from different academic disciplines can lead to innovative solutions to complex, modern healthcare problems. The challenge strengthened my ability to collaborate across disciplines, a skill I will carry forward as I work with future partners to create and develop impactful solutions.

 

Change our City Challenge

Change our City Challenge is an annual event where students from different subject areas and year groups come together to develop innovative solutions in just 24 hours.

If you would like to find out about future opportunities similar to Change our City Challenge, sign-up to receive our monthly EI newsletter.

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