Kate Gee-Finch: From Addenbrooke's to Miss England finals

Hospital worker's bid for glory

Kate Gee-Finch is back at work at Addenbrooke’s Hospital after three weeks in Costa Rica as part of the Miss England 2018 finals, which will take place on September 4.

Kate won the Miss Hertfordshire title in May, which put her into the final of the pageant.

“I went to Costa Rica volunteering as part of the Miss England charity campaign,” she told the Cambridge Independent. “For three weeks I was doing turtle conservation and other charity work, in the heart of the jungle, out in the wilderness: there was lots of shovelling and I learned how to protect the ocean from plastic waste, plus I joined some permaculture programmes.”

Her conservation mission was supported by gap year travel company ‘The Leap’, who had helped her get to Kenya as a teenager.

Back home, Kate is “a self-employed actress” with film roles including a part in the latest Mission Impossible. She holds a first class degree in acting from The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and has performed with The Royal Shakespeare company.

She also employs her acting skills at Addenbrooke’s, where the 26-year-old helps train doctors in patient communication skills at the Deakin Centre, the training facility for student doctors, which opened in 2012.

“I work as a role-play actress,” she says. “The programme has just been introduced and needs further funding to help train the students in patient communication skills, helping doctors recognise underlying health issues that may not always seem clear.

“It helps further train the students to look into mental health problems, or deal with difficult or multiple patients and relatives in a triadic interview.

“As a role-play actress I help facilitate these workshops acting as a patient with a particular story-line, then improvise a simple GP scenario. It allows the students to really practice their skills with a ‘real-life’ patient. This is now part of the student programme and included in student exams.

“Win or no win for Miss England, I strongly support this programme and believe it’s valuable for future doctor-patient communication.”

The Miss England contest is now a more rounded experience than a beauty competition. There are eight rounds that the 50 finalists have to complete.

As a title holder it’s Kate’s job to organise charity events and raise funds for Beauty With Purpose, the global charity aiding children worldwide. She is also expected to source sponsors and publicise her campaign. There are several rounds to help each contestant showcase their talents and hard work ethic, including an eco-round, ‘Beautiful Mind’ general knowledge test, “top talent” - Kate’s is Irish dancing – and publicity.

Kate Gee-Finch who works at Addenbrookes and is hoping to win Miss England title

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“We also have to make a recycled dress as part of one of the rounds,” says Kate. “Mine is based around the awful littering of the world’s coasts.”

The winner of Miss England will join Misses Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and more than 100 other contestants from around the world to compete in December for the Miss World crown, which attracts a first prize of $100,000.