Tony's plan had always been to get into Medicine, but he just missed out on a place when his aptitude test scores fell short. Despite securing a place to study Engineering at University College Dublin, Tony was uncomfortable settling for anything but his dream career. Just two weeks into his course, following discussions with family and friends, Tony dropped out of university to retake his Leaving Certificate (A Level equivalent), in a bid to improve his grades enough to apply for Medicine.

Tony found himself far from home, taking an intensive year long course at a respected, private school, surrounded by ambitious peers. He struggled with subjects he was learning from scratch, such as Applied Mathematics and higher-level French, often feeling like the least intelligent person in the room. With hard work, Tony rose to the top of nearly all his classes, applying to UK and Irish universities with much-improved scores, and landing a place to study Medicine at Nottingham.

As a medical student with a strong grasp of engineering, Tony was keen to get involved in using AI to bring about a medical breakthrough. On a visit home to Ireland, Tony was hit with tragic news: his uncle had gone into cardiac arrest while watching the World Cup, dying in front of his family while the ambulance was still en route. No one had been able to administer effective CPR and even if there had been a defibrillator nearby, no one would have known how to use it. At the time, use and availability of drone technology was picking up, and Tony initiated a conversation with the university's aerospace engineering department about deploying drones with the regional ambulance unit to deliver defibrillators and supply live interactive monitoring of the emergency scene.

Hearing that AI Med Europe, an influential AI summit, would soon be held for medical professionals, Tony decided that he had to be there, even if it was not really intended for students. He found himself in a session where an investor challenged audience members to present their big idea that required funding. Tony put his hand up, was called up to the stage, and shakily pitched his HorisMed idea to policymakers, industry giants and clinical specialists from around the world to rapturous applause. Two months later, Tony was shortlisted as a top ten qualifier for the GIANT Health Event's internationally renowned Beanstalks competition. HorisMed was to be a drone project for ambulance services that delivered defibrillators to emergency sites in record time, but Tony ran into multiple problems with funding and regulations.

Quickly turning his attention to using smartphones to democratise access to top health services, Tony created Horus, a digital health venture designed to help people take control of their healthcare.

He was invited to an MIT hackathon this year, pitching his idea for a decentralised platform where individuals could interact with healthcare services around the nation in minutes, rather than waiting months to see a specialist. Tony's hackathon team performed well, reaching the semi-final of the 2019 Mayor of London Entrepreneurship competition. Backed by institutions like IngenuityLab, the University of Nottingham and the East Midland Academic Health Science Network, the team's minimum viable product is now in extensive pre-launch testing and consultation with medical professionals.

Alongside his studies, Tony contributed to an international qualitative surgical study which aimed to improve brain surgery outcomes in children. He conducted complex data analyses in brain tumour outcomes and different symptomatic presentations, and his work was published in The International Brain Tumour Alliance's magazine Brain Tumours. The project has since been presented at international conferences, and the manuscript is awaiting publication in an academic journal.

Tony also ran a campaign for the incorporation of virtual 3D anatomy teaching into the School of Medicine's curriculum. This campaign was successful, and Tony was awarded his university's 'Silver Student Award' and 'Best Campaign/Project 2017'. Tony also volunteers with Heart Start, a programme that teaches CPR and life-saving skills to young and at-risk children.

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