So that's it! My first term at medical school is FINISHED!
It has been amazing and busy and so interesting, but I really do need this break. After the constant stream of work and preparation for each week, I can't wait to just have some time to spend with my friends and family. I do have some revision and a reflective essay to write, but I feel that despite this I will be able to work a bit (student life really is expensive) and just relax :)
I hope you guys have been getting some good news from medical schools and have interviews to prepare for! Have a wonderful Christmas :D
Thursday 18 December 2014
Monday 1 December 2014
Life Savers
Last night I worked a shift on 'Step down' which is where patients are sent if they aren't sick enough for ICU but are too sick to go to a ward.
At first the shift was pretty horrendous, the nurses were too busy to really explain what I needed to do and so until I found out what was expected of me I felt very much like a spare part...
But then something great happened... an F2 turned up. An F2 who used to be a GEM and who was so enthusiastic about her job and medicine that she spent a good portion of her night teaching me!
Honestly, I was thanking God all night for her appearance (Step down units really aren't a HCA strong place- there isn't much I can do when the patients are that poorly)!
This F2 allowed me to watch her perform examinations, explained ECGs to me in the most simple, perfect way, explained all the blood tests and liver function tests and then taught me how to take blood! Not bad to what I thought was going to be a write off of a shift!
Doctors who have that much enthusiasm and love for their job are the people who inspire me to work harder and be the best I can be, especially when my GP tutor spends all her time telling me she wishes she'd done dentistry! Medicine is a vocation, and meeting doctors like this F2 give me great faith in my future profession and our healthcare system :) I only hope in 4 years I will be like her and have the ability to inspire and teach a HCA in my position.
At first the shift was pretty horrendous, the nurses were too busy to really explain what I needed to do and so until I found out what was expected of me I felt very much like a spare part...
But then something great happened... an F2 turned up. An F2 who used to be a GEM and who was so enthusiastic about her job and medicine that she spent a good portion of her night teaching me!
Honestly, I was thanking God all night for her appearance (Step down units really aren't a HCA strong place- there isn't much I can do when the patients are that poorly)!
This F2 allowed me to watch her perform examinations, explained ECGs to me in the most simple, perfect way, explained all the blood tests and liver function tests and then taught me how to take blood! Not bad to what I thought was going to be a write off of a shift!
Doctors who have that much enthusiasm and love for their job are the people who inspire me to work harder and be the best I can be, especially when my GP tutor spends all her time telling me she wishes she'd done dentistry! Medicine is a vocation, and meeting doctors like this F2 give me great faith in my future profession and our healthcare system :) I only hope in 4 years I will be like her and have the ability to inspire and teach a HCA in my position.
Tuesday 25 November 2014
GP placement #2
Today was my second GP placement and it was so good!!
Because we have now done a bit of history taking and respiratory examination, I got to practice my new found skills on real patients! The best bit was that I actually managed to pick up coarse crackles on auscultation without being told they were there, needless to say the GP was quite impressed :D
The more I visit GP practices the more interested I become...you see such a variety and interesting collection of cases each day and get such a huge amount of patient contact. It is something that I'm considering much more now than I ever was before, however I'm aware that I have more than 4 years to make a decision so I'm sure I'll change my mind again!
We have nearly finished out second module already, which seems crazy considering it's only November! Thinking about how much I've learnt in this short 2 months just amazes me...credit to all the lecturers and facilitators!
Because we have now done a bit of history taking and respiratory examination, I got to practice my new found skills on real patients! The best bit was that I actually managed to pick up coarse crackles on auscultation without being told they were there, needless to say the GP was quite impressed :D
The more I visit GP practices the more interested I become...you see such a variety and interesting collection of cases each day and get such a huge amount of patient contact. It is something that I'm considering much more now than I ever was before, however I'm aware that I have more than 4 years to make a decision so I'm sure I'll change my mind again!
We have nearly finished out second module already, which seems crazy considering it's only November! Thinking about how much I've learnt in this short 2 months just amazes me...credit to all the lecturers and facilitators!
Wednesday 19 November 2014
Life is zooming past...
Wow! I've been so crazy busy that I haven't updated this blog for weeks!
So I had my first GP visit forever ago and have my second one next week (super excited).
The first one was great, the GP I was supposed to be with was off ill so I got re-assigned to another GP at the practice who turned out to be amazing! In the past on placements I have been placed in the corner and forgotten about but this time the GP made every effort to include me in the consultation and allowed me to practice ear examinations and some chest auscultation. Even though I hadn't yet been taught these skills, the GP explained them so well that I felt like I could actually see/hear what i was looking for and actually managed to find the wheeze in the patients chest...score!
The amazing thing about this GP visit was that every single patient (apart form maybe two) actually had the same diagnoses as our PBL topics! Because of this I felt like I could actually discuss the cases with the Dr without looking clueless- a big advantage!
Also since I last posted I have completed my first formative exam....and passed! :D Our exams are done as multiple choice questions (MCQs) and modified essay questions (MEQs) with the pass mark in both being set at 60%. I hadn't really known what to expect question or marking wise so came out of the exam feeling less than great about my performance, but after two weeks of waiting found out that I achieved 73% overall!
In my undergrad degree I would probably have been very happy about this, and still am but feel I could have achieved more if I'd looked at more of the diagrams in the lectures.
From this I've decided to stop writing up notes and have started typing them so I can copy+paste pictures in...hopefully this will help for my revision in this next module.
Time is just going so quickly at the moment, it's crazy to think I'm already halfway through my second module as a medic but I'm enjoying life so much that I'm not even thinking about it!
I hope people's GAMSAT scores were what they wanted, but if not, I know of at least 6 people on my course who had to sit it more than 5 times before they got what they needed - so don't be too disheartened!
So I had my first GP visit forever ago and have my second one next week (super excited).
The first one was great, the GP I was supposed to be with was off ill so I got re-assigned to another GP at the practice who turned out to be amazing! In the past on placements I have been placed in the corner and forgotten about but this time the GP made every effort to include me in the consultation and allowed me to practice ear examinations and some chest auscultation. Even though I hadn't yet been taught these skills, the GP explained them so well that I felt like I could actually see/hear what i was looking for and actually managed to find the wheeze in the patients chest...score!
The amazing thing about this GP visit was that every single patient (apart form maybe two) actually had the same diagnoses as our PBL topics! Because of this I felt like I could actually discuss the cases with the Dr without looking clueless- a big advantage!
Also since I last posted I have completed my first formative exam....and passed! :D Our exams are done as multiple choice questions (MCQs) and modified essay questions (MEQs) with the pass mark in both being set at 60%. I hadn't really known what to expect question or marking wise so came out of the exam feeling less than great about my performance, but after two weeks of waiting found out that I achieved 73% overall!
In my undergrad degree I would probably have been very happy about this, and still am but feel I could have achieved more if I'd looked at more of the diagrams in the lectures.
From this I've decided to stop writing up notes and have started typing them so I can copy+paste pictures in...hopefully this will help for my revision in this next module.
Time is just going so quickly at the moment, it's crazy to think I'm already halfway through my second module as a medic but I'm enjoying life so much that I'm not even thinking about it!
I hope people's GAMSAT scores were what they wanted, but if not, I know of at least 6 people on my course who had to sit it more than 5 times before they got what they needed - so don't be too disheartened!
Sunday 12 October 2014
Week Three.
Hey guys, I've been so busy I totally forgot to write a new post!
This week has been really busy both in uni and outside of it with two of my (new) friends birthdays happening this weekend! When they say Medics work hard and play harder, they're really not lying! I honestly don't think I even went out this much during my undergrad degree, but am glad that I can say that I'm not behind on any work because of it!
Our PBL cases for this week and last week have been really interesting and you can really tell that our group is getting the hang of PBL and what it requires. On the second day of each case we each present our specific topic relating to the case...at first I thought this would be 2 hours of powerpoint presentations but it's been great! People have gotten really inventive with ways in which to teach and test the new information to the whole group, which is just credit to them really! :) We have also decided to do a quiz at the end of each case which was proven to be amazing to revision. Also helped by the fact that the girls win every week!
At the moment a lot of the work is still revision from my previous degree, but it's amazing how much you assume you know but realise you have actually forgotten whilst sat in the lectures! One of my favourite differences between my past degree and this one is how the lectures here relate everything (no matter how big or small) back to a clinical situation. It really helps to put into perspective why we are learning each point.
This week is our last week of teaching for module 1 before we have our first formative exam. Even though this exam doesn't count towards any actual grades I think it's great to be able to monitor our progress and hope that my hard work has been paying off! Even though we get a week to revise for this first exam (we never get this ever again) I've already started on my trusty A3 revision posters and spider diagrams. Considering how well these worked in my last two years of Medical Sci I'm hoping they still help me now! Fingers crossed!
Also this week is my first GP placement visit...how exciting?! I'm pretty much the last student to go on mine but still am unsure what exactly to expect. I'm quite timid when I first meet people so I need to make sure I put my confident face on and make the most of the afternoon instead of just sitting in the corner haha! Wish me luck and I'll try and write a post on what I learnt!
How are people's UCAS applications going? Almost time to send them off!
This week has been really busy both in uni and outside of it with two of my (new) friends birthdays happening this weekend! When they say Medics work hard and play harder, they're really not lying! I honestly don't think I even went out this much during my undergrad degree, but am glad that I can say that I'm not behind on any work because of it!
Our PBL cases for this week and last week have been really interesting and you can really tell that our group is getting the hang of PBL and what it requires. On the second day of each case we each present our specific topic relating to the case...at first I thought this would be 2 hours of powerpoint presentations but it's been great! People have gotten really inventive with ways in which to teach and test the new information to the whole group, which is just credit to them really! :) We have also decided to do a quiz at the end of each case which was proven to be amazing to revision. Also helped by the fact that the girls win every week!
At the moment a lot of the work is still revision from my previous degree, but it's amazing how much you assume you know but realise you have actually forgotten whilst sat in the lectures! One of my favourite differences between my past degree and this one is how the lectures here relate everything (no matter how big or small) back to a clinical situation. It really helps to put into perspective why we are learning each point.
This week is our last week of teaching for module 1 before we have our first formative exam. Even though this exam doesn't count towards any actual grades I think it's great to be able to monitor our progress and hope that my hard work has been paying off! Even though we get a week to revise for this first exam (we never get this ever again) I've already started on my trusty A3 revision posters and spider diagrams. Considering how well these worked in my last two years of Medical Sci I'm hoping they still help me now! Fingers crossed!
Also this week is my first GP placement visit...how exciting?! I'm pretty much the last student to go on mine but still am unsure what exactly to expect. I'm quite timid when I first meet people so I need to make sure I put my confident face on and make the most of the afternoon instead of just sitting in the corner haha! Wish me luck and I'll try and write a post on what I learnt!
How are people's UCAS applications going? Almost time to send them off!
Saturday 27 September 2014
Week Two Reflections
Having now finished my second week as a GEM student, I can safely say that I'm thoroughly enjoying the course so far! We successfully finished our first PBL case and got brilliant feedback from our facilitator on our ideas, organisation and team work- yay for group 11 :).
One of the core concepts of PBL is for the cases and questions that arise to trigger our curiosity and therefore make the learning experience less of a chore and more of an investigation into something that genuinely interests you. So far, this has worked really well... as we all discuss the case people come up with the most intriguing points that I may never have thought of myself. Even the non-science background members of the group who think they may be asking an obvious or stupid question often ask something which makes you realise how much you've actually forgotten! The variety of opinions, knowledge bases and ideas really does simulate the multi disciplinary team that we will all encounter within Medicine.
The only downside is the amount of money I've spent on events! Instead of choosing student friendly pubs and student nights at clubs the GEMs seem to go for the more upmarket (replace with expensive) places and so my funds are decreasing dramatically. I feel more HCA shifts may need to be done this year... although hopefully now that Fresher's is well and truly over it will calm down a bit!
One of the core concepts of PBL is for the cases and questions that arise to trigger our curiosity and therefore make the learning experience less of a chore and more of an investigation into something that genuinely interests you. So far, this has worked really well... as we all discuss the case people come up with the most intriguing points that I may never have thought of myself. Even the non-science background members of the group who think they may be asking an obvious or stupid question often ask something which makes you realise how much you've actually forgotten! The variety of opinions, knowledge bases and ideas really does simulate the multi disciplinary team that we will all encounter within Medicine.
The only downside is the amount of money I've spent on events! Instead of choosing student friendly pubs and student nights at clubs the GEMs seem to go for the more upmarket (replace with expensive) places and so my funds are decreasing dramatically. I feel more HCA shifts may need to be done this year... although hopefully now that Fresher's is well and truly over it will calm down a bit!
Saturday 13 September 2014
First week is over!
My first week as a medical student is finished and what a week! We have had so many introductions to modules, PBL (Problem Based Learning) and the library services it's unreal. Oh and not to forget the meet ups, nights out and fancy dress party...
I have now met the majority of my course mates and everyone seems lovely (obviously, or they probably wouldn't have a place...). Not only that but everyone is up for helping each other and explaining things without making the other person feel inferior. I have adopted three housemates and so already have a brilliant friendship circle and a place to stay after nights out- very handy! After three nights out I'm very used to sharing with one of the girls or slumming it on the sofa. Now that fresher's week is effectively over I think we will all settle down a bit and give my liver a much needed break! :)
Our course begins properly on Monday with our first workshops, lectures and PBL sessions, which I am very much looking forward to, despite still being a little unsure as to how exactly it is all going to work! I recently read a very good article on survival tips for PBL (12 tips to surviving PBL by Bate & Taylor, 2013) which was fully referenced and gave a number of brilliant ideas and things to ensure the group get the most out of each session. Trying my best to keep in mind all the tips and hope that the other 6 members of my group have read the same article. Both my group and facilitator seem very enthusiastic about the PBL section of the course and each member has come from a different background leaving us with a wide variety of strengths and expertise! The fact that we have agreed to bring cake every Friday makes it all seem 100x better aswell. I'm sure I will write much more about PBL once our sessions get underway!
The next time I post you will most likely have sat the GAMSAT so good luck and don't panic!
I have now met the majority of my course mates and everyone seems lovely (obviously, or they probably wouldn't have a place...). Not only that but everyone is up for helping each other and explaining things without making the other person feel inferior. I have adopted three housemates and so already have a brilliant friendship circle and a place to stay after nights out- very handy! After three nights out I'm very used to sharing with one of the girls or slumming it on the sofa. Now that fresher's week is effectively over I think we will all settle down a bit and give my liver a much needed break! :)
Our course begins properly on Monday with our first workshops, lectures and PBL sessions, which I am very much looking forward to, despite still being a little unsure as to how exactly it is all going to work! I recently read a very good article on survival tips for PBL (12 tips to surviving PBL by Bate & Taylor, 2013) which was fully referenced and gave a number of brilliant ideas and things to ensure the group get the most out of each session. Trying my best to keep in mind all the tips and hope that the other 6 members of my group have read the same article. Both my group and facilitator seem very enthusiastic about the PBL section of the course and each member has come from a different background leaving us with a wide variety of strengths and expertise! The fact that we have agreed to bring cake every Friday makes it all seem 100x better aswell. I'm sure I will write much more about PBL once our sessions get underway!
The next time I post you will most likely have sat the GAMSAT so good luck and don't panic!
Tuesday 2 September 2014
First Impressions.
Since my last post I have bought my car, sorted out my parking space and have found out my tutor, mentor and PBL and clinical skills groups! Everything's coming together so quickly!
So a bit about what I know so far... My PBL group is the only group with 7 members as opposed to 8 which I'm hoping wont affect how much work we have to do! One of the people in my group is a guy who I had met at the meet ups and I am so happy I'm with him as he is from a science background like me! Hurrah- someone to help me explain things to those who may not know!
Our clinical skills group contains 22 people so I'm unsure how that is going to work, whether we further divide ourselves or not but I'm sure the Uni have that all figured out.
Over the next two weeks my schedule is full of meet ups, BBQs and nights out to meet not only my year group but the 2nd years as well. Compared to my previous degree, I'm already amazed at the cohesion in our group and how helpful and willing to share information people are! This gives me great hope that we will all be great friends and work together to achieve our dream!
I can't wait to meet the full group and make some new friends. Lets just hope I make a good first impression! :)
So a bit about what I know so far... My PBL group is the only group with 7 members as opposed to 8 which I'm hoping wont affect how much work we have to do! One of the people in my group is a guy who I had met at the meet ups and I am so happy I'm with him as he is from a science background like me! Hurrah- someone to help me explain things to those who may not know!
Our clinical skills group contains 22 people so I'm unsure how that is going to work, whether we further divide ourselves or not but I'm sure the Uni have that all figured out.
Over the next two weeks my schedule is full of meet ups, BBQs and nights out to meet not only my year group but the 2nd years as well. Compared to my previous degree, I'm already amazed at the cohesion in our group and how helpful and willing to share information people are! This gives me great hope that we will all be great friends and work together to achieve our dream!
I can't wait to meet the full group and make some new friends. Lets just hope I make a good first impression! :)
Tuesday 26 August 2014
Run off my feet.
Last night I did my first night shift since early July and boy what a shift it was. Our night shifts are from 7pm to 7.30am so 12.5 hours of fun and games....
I arrived on the ward (which holds 28 patients) to find there were only four staff for the night, two nurses and two HCAs. At first I thought this must be a good sign - if only four staff were needed then the patients must generally be okay and it shouldn't be too busy. How wrong was I?! About 3/4 of my patients were all care patients, most of whom should not have even been on the gastroenterolgy ward. Five of my patients were scoring so highly on our early warning system (this scores observations, so normal obs would score 0, whereas anything abnormal can score from 1-3 depending on the severity) that they should have been on a high dependency unit!
The shift was so manic, I was doing hourly and two hourly neuro observations on 4 patients, on top of all the usual turns, four hourly obs and general caring...which means as soon as you've finished you hardly have time to do anything else before starting again! On shifts like that it honestly all comes down to your colleagues as to whether it's a nightmare or just busy. Thankfully, the other 3 members of staff were lovely and supportive so we all pitched in together and got the job done without too much stress :)
Shifts like this make me question the organisation of the wards in terms of staffing levels and the patients they accept onto the ward. If the ward sister saw what it had been like last night (which is apparantly how it has been for the last few weeks) I have no doubts that he/she would organise for another HCA to work as well, but unfortunately the ward sisters do not work nights and so will never understand the need for improved staffing levels. Frankly, I believe that it puts the patients in danger. If one of us is on break and two members of staff are with a patient then that leaves just one nurse or HCA in charge of 27 other patients. Even the most experienced nurse shouldn't be expected to do that. But it isn't my position to say anything as I am only a temp...
On a brighter note, the F1 doctor who spent almost all night on the ward had just finished the course I'm about to start on! It was so lovely to speak to someone who has completed the course, loved it and is actually in the dream job!
I arrived on the ward (which holds 28 patients) to find there were only four staff for the night, two nurses and two HCAs. At first I thought this must be a good sign - if only four staff were needed then the patients must generally be okay and it shouldn't be too busy. How wrong was I?! About 3/4 of my patients were all care patients, most of whom should not have even been on the gastroenterolgy ward. Five of my patients were scoring so highly on our early warning system (this scores observations, so normal obs would score 0, whereas anything abnormal can score from 1-3 depending on the severity) that they should have been on a high dependency unit!
The shift was so manic, I was doing hourly and two hourly neuro observations on 4 patients, on top of all the usual turns, four hourly obs and general caring...which means as soon as you've finished you hardly have time to do anything else before starting again! On shifts like that it honestly all comes down to your colleagues as to whether it's a nightmare or just busy. Thankfully, the other 3 members of staff were lovely and supportive so we all pitched in together and got the job done without too much stress :)
Shifts like this make me question the organisation of the wards in terms of staffing levels and the patients they accept onto the ward. If the ward sister saw what it had been like last night (which is apparantly how it has been for the last few weeks) I have no doubts that he/she would organise for another HCA to work as well, but unfortunately the ward sisters do not work nights and so will never understand the need for improved staffing levels. Frankly, I believe that it puts the patients in danger. If one of us is on break and two members of staff are with a patient then that leaves just one nurse or HCA in charge of 27 other patients. Even the most experienced nurse shouldn't be expected to do that. But it isn't my position to say anything as I am only a temp...
On a brighter note, the F1 doctor who spent almost all night on the ward had just finished the course I'm about to start on! It was so lovely to speak to someone who has completed the course, loved it and is actually in the dream job!
Sunday 17 August 2014
The Countdown.
3 weeks to go...
I FINALLY received my official confirmation of my place for Graduate Entry Medicine yesterday! No more hoops to jump through, i'm most definitely going to be a Medical Student..woohoo!
I just got back from my holidays and now realise that my to do list is getting longer and longer by the minute! I still haven't found a car, I have no idea where I'm going to park this non existent car and I need to buy all my supplies for uni including a new laptop and lab coat! That said, I'm just so super excited to start now!
I received my student number and email address today, along with all the freshers week information. There are already at least 15 clubs/societies I want to join. I'm going to have to short list them I think as I doubt I will have that much spare time, however there are some things that are already in my top few, such as the Catholic society (there wasn't one at my first university so I'm excited to meet some people my age who share my beliefs!) and the climbing club! There is also a Kettle Soc which I had never heard of before but considering my addiction to tea I can't wait to find out more!! Also because I'm such a keen bean I have already ordered a University hoodie... does this make me a bit crazy? I hope not!
I hope everyone's UKCAT went/are going well, and I hope the GAMSAT revision isn't becoming too much yet! Just hang in there and good luck :)
I FINALLY received my official confirmation of my place for Graduate Entry Medicine yesterday! No more hoops to jump through, i'm most definitely going to be a Medical Student..woohoo!
I just got back from my holidays and now realise that my to do list is getting longer and longer by the minute! I still haven't found a car, I have no idea where I'm going to park this non existent car and I need to buy all my supplies for uni including a new laptop and lab coat! That said, I'm just so super excited to start now!
I received my student number and email address today, along with all the freshers week information. There are already at least 15 clubs/societies I want to join. I'm going to have to short list them I think as I doubt I will have that much spare time, however there are some things that are already in my top few, such as the Catholic society (there wasn't one at my first university so I'm excited to meet some people my age who share my beliefs!) and the climbing club! There is also a Kettle Soc which I had never heard of before but considering my addiction to tea I can't wait to find out more!! Also because I'm such a keen bean I have already ordered a University hoodie... does this make me a bit crazy? I hope not!
I hope everyone's UKCAT went/are going well, and I hope the GAMSAT revision isn't becoming too much yet! Just hang in there and good luck :)
Sunday 27 July 2014
Holiday chill out!
Hey guys,
I haven't posted in a while and probably won't for a couple of weeks because I'm on holiday at the moment! I want this holiday to be super chilled and work free considering how stressed I was last year with GAMSAT, UKCAT etc :)
However, I wish you all the best of luck in your UKCAT exams and hope GAMSAT prep is going well!
I haven't posted in a while and probably won't for a couple of weeks because I'm on holiday at the moment! I want this holiday to be super chilled and work free considering how stressed I was last year with GAMSAT, UKCAT etc :)
However, I wish you all the best of luck in your UKCAT exams and hope GAMSAT prep is going well!
Thursday 17 July 2014
So I'm a Graduate!
So yesterday I graduated! I am officially one of the first to graduate from the University of South Wales and couldn't be more proud!
After the ceremony and all the photographs had been taken it was quite surreal to realise that I would most likely never visit the university again and that that chapter of my life is well and truly over...
My first university experience has been one filled with amazing memories and people who have helped me through the three years and taught me about life and myself. From meeting some of my best friends in freshers week to studying for finals together, university was always about teamwork and living life to the max! I will cherish these memories forever. :)
In addition to this, I have an incredible base of knowledge ready for Medicine in September! I don't think my course could have better prepared me for what it's like to study under pressure and succeed.
Thank you to everyone who helped me in my achievement and I can't wait to do you all proud again!
After the ceremony and all the photographs had been taken it was quite surreal to realise that I would most likely never visit the university again and that that chapter of my life is well and truly over...
My first university experience has been one filled with amazing memories and people who have helped me through the three years and taught me about life and myself. From meeting some of my best friends in freshers week to studying for finals together, university was always about teamwork and living life to the max! I will cherish these memories forever. :)
In addition to this, I have an incredible base of knowledge ready for Medicine in September! I don't think my course could have better prepared me for what it's like to study under pressure and succeed.
Thank you to everyone who helped me in my achievement and I can't wait to do you all proud again!
Tuesday 15 July 2014
Graduation
So tomorrow is my GRADUATION! How exciting is that?
After tomorrow I will officially be a graduate and no longer a student (or at least until September!). I have no idea whats actually going on tomorrow as we have been told very little, just to arrive an hour before the ceremony. No information on where to collect gowns, caps or tickets! I very much hope it is sign posted or I find a friend to wander around with. I'm so excited to see all my friends again and to get that all important certificate.
Wish me luck and pray I don't trip on my way up! :)
After tomorrow I will officially be a graduate and no longer a student (or at least until September!). I have no idea whats actually going on tomorrow as we have been told very little, just to arrive an hour before the ceremony. No information on where to collect gowns, caps or tickets! I very much hope it is sign posted or I find a friend to wander around with. I'm so excited to see all my friends again and to get that all important certificate.
Wish me luck and pray I don't trip on my way up! :)
Thursday 10 July 2014
Volunteering
Hey guys,
So this post is all about volunteering for your medical school application. I have done probably more volunteering than need be but it all paid off in the end! Quick list of the things I have done since school to give you an idea of the types of thing to get involved in: buddy reading, peer mentoring, cubs and scouts, youth club leader, old people's home, school band, St John ambulance, British Red Cross, stroke club, and finally working with disabled people.
Now I didn't NEED to do all of this volunteering, one or two things over a long period of time show great perserverance, dedication and compassion. The reason I did all this was just purely for my own enjoyment and my love of helping people! This said, volunteering is essential if you are going to apply for medicine. This doesn't mean you should just turn up at something every week for two years, it means you should find something you truely enjoy and look forward to. This means that when it comes to interview or your personal statement you will be able to show actual enthusiasm and passion for what you have contirbuted to and not that you've just done it for the sake of your application.
When it comes to your volunteering it's a good idea to keep a note of what you have done and how this has affected you or what you learnt from it. This way you are already reflecting on what you have done and can use this at interview. Even if it something menial such as helping a younger student learn to read, think about this helped you to communicate and improve your empathy. Everything you do can be reflected upon!
So guys, go out and ask at your school, Uni, Church or community group and find something that really catches your interest. Anything counts, it doesn't have to be in a care home or hospital. Once it relates to people and you are helping, then it's perfect. Start early, you don't want it to look like you've just done three months just before submitting you application, it needs to be long term. Make the most of what you are doing and really get involved with the people. You never know who you may meet or what difference you will make. And as a bonus itwill significantly improve your medicine application! Enjoy!
So this post is all about volunteering for your medical school application. I have done probably more volunteering than need be but it all paid off in the end! Quick list of the things I have done since school to give you an idea of the types of thing to get involved in: buddy reading, peer mentoring, cubs and scouts, youth club leader, old people's home, school band, St John ambulance, British Red Cross, stroke club, and finally working with disabled people.
Now I didn't NEED to do all of this volunteering, one or two things over a long period of time show great perserverance, dedication and compassion. The reason I did all this was just purely for my own enjoyment and my love of helping people! This said, volunteering is essential if you are going to apply for medicine. This doesn't mean you should just turn up at something every week for two years, it means you should find something you truely enjoy and look forward to. This means that when it comes to interview or your personal statement you will be able to show actual enthusiasm and passion for what you have contirbuted to and not that you've just done it for the sake of your application.
When it comes to your volunteering it's a good idea to keep a note of what you have done and how this has affected you or what you learnt from it. This way you are already reflecting on what you have done and can use this at interview. Even if it something menial such as helping a younger student learn to read, think about this helped you to communicate and improve your empathy. Everything you do can be reflected upon!
So guys, go out and ask at your school, Uni, Church or community group and find something that really catches your interest. Anything counts, it doesn't have to be in a care home or hospital. Once it relates to people and you are helping, then it's perfect. Start early, you don't want it to look like you've just done three months just before submitting you application, it needs to be long term. Make the most of what you are doing and really get involved with the people. You never know who you may meet or what difference you will make. And as a bonus itwill significantly improve your medicine application! Enjoy!
Tuesday 8 July 2014
Getting there slowly
All of my previous posts have been written on my iPad and it is only now that I'm using my laptop that I have seen how to actually put post titles! I'm afraid I'm very new to this blogging business and so apologize if there are any other obvious mistakes or things I'm missing!
The reason I'm actually using my laptop now is because I have (finally) sorted my room out and unpacked everything from university :D I think I previously mentioned that I was house hunting with a group of future coursemates, but since then I have decided to save money and live at home (I live very close to the campus I will be studying at). Due to this, I thought I would spend some time rearranging my room and sorting everything out to make it ready for September! I'm actually quite proud of how it looks right now as I have managed to arrange my desk and bookcase so I effectively have a little study corner with everything I need for revision/ university work separate from my bed etc.
This means I have also finally sorted all of my work from my Medical Sciences degree into folders ready for quick reference if need be in the coming year! I feel incredibly organised right now and can't wait to fill up my shelves and folders with work in September!
The reason I'm actually using my laptop now is because I have (finally) sorted my room out and unpacked everything from university :D I think I previously mentioned that I was house hunting with a group of future coursemates, but since then I have decided to save money and live at home (I live very close to the campus I will be studying at). Due to this, I thought I would spend some time rearranging my room and sorting everything out to make it ready for September! I'm actually quite proud of how it looks right now as I have managed to arrange my desk and bookcase so I effectively have a little study corner with everything I need for revision/ university work separate from my bed etc.
This means I have also finally sorted all of my work from my Medical Sciences degree into folders ready for quick reference if need be in the coming year! I feel incredibly organised right now and can't wait to fill up my shelves and folders with work in September!
Preparation for Med
Even though I don't start my course until September I thought I should do something academic to keep my brain alive. Our course leader sent us a few anatomy links along with a science workbook to ensure all students bave the same basic knowledge. This is important as for my course ANY undergraduate degree was alllowed, so some students have graduated in drama or law, or have even been away from university for a number of years.
So there was me thinking, I just completed a degree in medical sciences, I must have enough basic knowledge - this workbook should be simple. How wrong was I? I've realised that as soon as you delve into more complex subjects, all the super simple cell organelle and chemistry stuff just disappears from your brain! Seriously, it's scary how much of this I really had to think about despite the fsct I could explain the anatomy and physiology of the kidney to you instantly.
This means that although I'm in a far better place than those students who have never done a science subject at a higher level, I still have more to look over than I thought. Back to the books for me...
So there was me thinking, I just completed a degree in medical sciences, I must have enough basic knowledge - this workbook should be simple. How wrong was I? I've realised that as soon as you delve into more complex subjects, all the super simple cell organelle and chemistry stuff just disappears from your brain! Seriously, it's scary how much of this I really had to think about despite the fsct I could explain the anatomy and physiology of the kidney to you instantly.
This means that although I'm in a far better place than those students who have never done a science subject at a higher level, I still have more to look over than I thought. Back to the books for me...
Sunday 6 July 2014
Work
Sorry I haven't posted for a few days but I've been on nights at work! As I've said before, I work as a bank healthcare assistant which means I'm basically temp cover for any ward in the hospital. I love doing night shifts, which doesnt seem to be a common opinion but oh well.
I think working as a HCA is possibly one if the best ways to prepare for a career in medicine. Even though the job is completely different, it gives a very quick idea of whether or not you enjoy the hospital environment and the patients! I know a few people who have completely abandoned the idea of medicine after doing the job because they realise they are not suited to hospital work. Personally, I can't think of anywhere else I'd want to work!
So a bit about the job.... My main roles are patient hygiene, assisting with eating and drinking, doing observations (BP, oxygen sats, heart rate etc) and assisting with mobility. Different NHS Trusts will allow their HCAs to do different things, with varying levels of responsibility. A lot of what you do also depends on the other staff. For instance some staff will be willing to teach you to do other things once they see that you are competant. So I can now do bladder scans, remove cannula's, and remove catheters (I know that doesn't exactly sound thrilling but it makes a nice change!). All in all it's basically about making sure the patient has everything they need and that everything you do is documented, which means a lot of paperwork!
The majority of shifts are drama and incident free but there will be the odd one where you leave wondering why you even bother. Last night I had a Patient screaming at me at 2am (he woke every other patient on the ward up aswell) because I couldn't give him any morphine. Even after explaining that that is the nurses job and that because one of them was on break his request couldn't be met, he still decided to threaten to punch me. Times like that I think the best thing to do is just not to take it personally, and to walk away!
I'm sure I'll post many more stories about work in the future!
I think working as a HCA is possibly one if the best ways to prepare for a career in medicine. Even though the job is completely different, it gives a very quick idea of whether or not you enjoy the hospital environment and the patients! I know a few people who have completely abandoned the idea of medicine after doing the job because they realise they are not suited to hospital work. Personally, I can't think of anywhere else I'd want to work!
So a bit about the job.... My main roles are patient hygiene, assisting with eating and drinking, doing observations (BP, oxygen sats, heart rate etc) and assisting with mobility. Different NHS Trusts will allow their HCAs to do different things, with varying levels of responsibility. A lot of what you do also depends on the other staff. For instance some staff will be willing to teach you to do other things once they see that you are competant. So I can now do bladder scans, remove cannula's, and remove catheters (I know that doesn't exactly sound thrilling but it makes a nice change!). All in all it's basically about making sure the patient has everything they need and that everything you do is documented, which means a lot of paperwork!
The majority of shifts are drama and incident free but there will be the odd one where you leave wondering why you even bother. Last night I had a Patient screaming at me at 2am (he woke every other patient on the ward up aswell) because I couldn't give him any morphine. Even after explaining that that is the nurses job and that because one of them was on break his request couldn't be met, he still decided to threaten to punch me. Times like that I think the best thing to do is just not to take it personally, and to walk away!
I'm sure I'll post many more stories about work in the future!
Thursday 3 July 2014
GAMSAT
This is only relevant to the graduate entry applicant such as myself. The GAMSAT exam is another entrance exam used by a number of universities instead of the UKCAT. The universities that use this exam are: Exeter, Nottingham, Plymouth, St George's, Swansea, Cardiff and Liverpool. The exam this year is on the 17th Sep 2014 and registration is open now at http://gamsat.acer.edu.au/gamsat-uk.
Each university will have a different cut off score which they will use as interview criteria. Last year Swansea had the lowest cut off at around 56, while Nottingham's was 61 (these will most likely change for 2015 entry though).
The exam itself is made up of 3 sections- reasoning in the humanities and social sciences, written communication and reasoning in biological and physical sciences. The exam costs £234 to sit and lasts for 6.5 hours (5.5 hours of the exam and 1 hour break for lunch) so its a pretty monster exam! On the GAMSAT website there is an information booklet which contains all of the official information you need to register and understand the content of the exam...but I will try and explain a bit about what I did to prepare for it!
I have only taken the exam once (last year) and achieved a score of 61 (which considering what I expected was amazing). This score is made up of section 1 + section 2 + 2x section 3 so the science section counts for double! Its pretty difficult to guess or work out what you have in any mock exams you might do as these scores are not percentages or actual scores, but more of a raw figure calculated from your results and everyone else's.
My first advice is to go out and buy the gold standard GAMSAT book! This saved my life, it is amazing! If you can get one with the web access card, even better! The other investment you should make, are the official ACER exam practice questions and mocks, which are available once again on the GAMSAT website as ebooks. Plus an extra bit of info for you, which I only found out the day before the exam....if you go on youtube and search for GAMSAT there are videos with all the answers and explanations for the questions in these booklets!! As I said in my UKCAT post use google and youtube as much as you can, free information is never a bad thing!
Specifically for the first section, I think one of the best ways to improve your score is to increase your vocabulary! I know that sounds pretty strange, but the majority of the questions would be simple if you just had access to a thesaurus.
In regards to the written section, you have to write 2 essays in an hour on the subject of a group of quotes you get given. The quotes will all have a common theme and you can choose to either write about one quote alone, compare two quotes or write on the general theme. Now I'm a pretty shoddy essay writer, but this section was my best by far! In my GAMSAT preparation I must have written around 100 essays which I got all of my family to read. There are services which will read and mark your essays on a fee for service basis but I personally felt my parents could do just as good a job! The Student Room has essays for you to read, which is really useful in gauging your standard and style of writing. The Gold book has a great variety of quotes for you to use to write essays, but I also just googled 'Lincoln quotes' 'Churchill quotes' etc to find more difficult or indeed easier ones. Another way to prepare is to search for quotes regarding specific themes such as love, friendship, superstition, peace etc to just enable you to see how certain quotes fit into themes. This section is the easiest to prepare for, just write as many essays as possible and make sure you time yourself once you start getting closer to the exam date!
Lastly, the science section. This section requires you to have physics, chemistry and biology knowledge up to A level standard (a tough ask if didn't even do these subjects!). I did not do physics for A level and had a C in chemistry so wasn't in the best position but still managed to get a good score! I used AQA A level textbooks, the Gold GAMSAT book and youtube for my revision which really helped get the basics down. For this section its less about your actual knowledge, and more about the understanding/being able to logically think...but that said, knowing what Km or bases are certainly helps! Because this is the last section, you will be pretty drained when you start so here's what I did to optimise my chances of a good score. Instead of working through the questions as they came, I did all of the biology questions, then the chemistry and lastly the physics (change to suit your preferences). This meant that I did all the questions I was most confident on first and it didn't matter if I didn't reach the physics because I was likely to get them wrong anyways! I noticed quite a few people flicking through their booklets and so assume this is quite a popular method of tackling this section and it worked for me! :)
Last advice is to just do as much preparation as possible. Writing an essay is only half an hour of your day, you could do it in your lunch break at work! Make sure you have basic scientific knowledge in all three subjects, don't just skip all physics! Trust me you will understand something. If you have any specific questions just comment and i'll try to answer!
Good luck!
PS. Don't waste time with 'pass GAMSAT' by Dr Tom. I got up at 2am to join his live webtalk and it was an hour of a sales pitch to buy his book and CD set for around £300. Don't make the same mistake...
Each university will have a different cut off score which they will use as interview criteria. Last year Swansea had the lowest cut off at around 56, while Nottingham's was 61 (these will most likely change for 2015 entry though).
The exam itself is made up of 3 sections- reasoning in the humanities and social sciences, written communication and reasoning in biological and physical sciences. The exam costs £234 to sit and lasts for 6.5 hours (5.5 hours of the exam and 1 hour break for lunch) so its a pretty monster exam! On the GAMSAT website there is an information booklet which contains all of the official information you need to register and understand the content of the exam...but I will try and explain a bit about what I did to prepare for it!
I have only taken the exam once (last year) and achieved a score of 61 (which considering what I expected was amazing). This score is made up of section 1 + section 2 + 2x section 3 so the science section counts for double! Its pretty difficult to guess or work out what you have in any mock exams you might do as these scores are not percentages or actual scores, but more of a raw figure calculated from your results and everyone else's.
My first advice is to go out and buy the gold standard GAMSAT book! This saved my life, it is amazing! If you can get one with the web access card, even better! The other investment you should make, are the official ACER exam practice questions and mocks, which are available once again on the GAMSAT website as ebooks. Plus an extra bit of info for you, which I only found out the day before the exam....if you go on youtube and search for GAMSAT there are videos with all the answers and explanations for the questions in these booklets!! As I said in my UKCAT post use google and youtube as much as you can, free information is never a bad thing!
Specifically for the first section, I think one of the best ways to improve your score is to increase your vocabulary! I know that sounds pretty strange, but the majority of the questions would be simple if you just had access to a thesaurus.
In regards to the written section, you have to write 2 essays in an hour on the subject of a group of quotes you get given. The quotes will all have a common theme and you can choose to either write about one quote alone, compare two quotes or write on the general theme. Now I'm a pretty shoddy essay writer, but this section was my best by far! In my GAMSAT preparation I must have written around 100 essays which I got all of my family to read. There are services which will read and mark your essays on a fee for service basis but I personally felt my parents could do just as good a job! The Student Room has essays for you to read, which is really useful in gauging your standard and style of writing. The Gold book has a great variety of quotes for you to use to write essays, but I also just googled 'Lincoln quotes' 'Churchill quotes' etc to find more difficult or indeed easier ones. Another way to prepare is to search for quotes regarding specific themes such as love, friendship, superstition, peace etc to just enable you to see how certain quotes fit into themes. This section is the easiest to prepare for, just write as many essays as possible and make sure you time yourself once you start getting closer to the exam date!
Lastly, the science section. This section requires you to have physics, chemistry and biology knowledge up to A level standard (a tough ask if didn't even do these subjects!). I did not do physics for A level and had a C in chemistry so wasn't in the best position but still managed to get a good score! I used AQA A level textbooks, the Gold GAMSAT book and youtube for my revision which really helped get the basics down. For this section its less about your actual knowledge, and more about the understanding/being able to logically think...but that said, knowing what Km or bases are certainly helps! Because this is the last section, you will be pretty drained when you start so here's what I did to optimise my chances of a good score. Instead of working through the questions as they came, I did all of the biology questions, then the chemistry and lastly the physics (change to suit your preferences). This meant that I did all the questions I was most confident on first and it didn't matter if I didn't reach the physics because I was likely to get them wrong anyways! I noticed quite a few people flicking through their booklets and so assume this is quite a popular method of tackling this section and it worked for me! :)
Last advice is to just do as much preparation as possible. Writing an essay is only half an hour of your day, you could do it in your lunch break at work! Make sure you have basic scientific knowledge in all three subjects, don't just skip all physics! Trust me you will understand something. If you have any specific questions just comment and i'll try to answer!
Good luck!
PS. Don't waste time with 'pass GAMSAT' by Dr Tom. I got up at 2am to join his live webtalk and it was an hour of a sales pitch to buy his book and CD set for around £300. Don't make the same mistake...
Wednesday 2 July 2014
Advice needed
So I've got my stethoscope ordered, I have gazillions of textbooks from my previous degree. The only thing now is what do med students wear??
So for lectures I assume its just normal clothing but for placements etc? When I was in school and for uni placements I always wore black trousers and a shirt but is that still okay? When I'm at work all the med students and doctors I see are in chino type trousers and smart tops so should I go on a shopping trip? :D
Any advice would be appreciated!
So for lectures I assume its just normal clothing but for placements etc? When I was in school and for uni placements I always wore black trousers and a shirt but is that still okay? When I'm at work all the med students and doctors I see are in chino type trousers and smart tops so should I go on a shopping trip? :D
Any advice would be appreciated!
UKCAT
Okay so I figured that a lot of people will have their UKCAT exam looming and could maybe do with a few tips. So here are a few things I learnt along the way. I should probably say that I have sat the UKCAT twice, once in 2011 and then 2013. The first time I sat it I got an average of 690 (but couldn't apply to med so this went unused). The second time I got an average of 730 :)
First of all, the UKCAT is the main entrance exam for medicine and comprises of four sections with a situational judgement part at the end. This is the link to the official website for registration and practise tests: http://www.ukcat.ac.uk. The test is an online test and you'll most likely do it in the same place you did your driving theory test. Each section is timed and once you run out of time, its straight onto the next section (unfortunately if you finish early, the time doesn't run over for the next section).
Verbal reasoning- 44 questions in 21 minutes.
The best advice I can give for this is to read carefully! Make sure you look at the little details! I always read the questions first BEFORE the actual passage so that I have an idea of what i'm looking for (this is helpful because the texts are very long). This section would be much easier if it was on paper and you were able to underline/highlight but alas that isn't the case so you'll have to do it mentally! Even if you don't quite understand what the passage is talking about read the question, read the passage and read the question again!
Quantitative reasoning- 36 questions in 24 minutes.
This was by far the worst section for me! If you have a maths brain and ace mental maths then no worries, but if not i'm afraid this will seem daunting! My mental maths is pretty dire, but I still managed to score 670 in this section so it is doable! I would advise to use BBC Bitesize maths just to top up any gaps in knowledge you have and practise doing sums in your head. Just do as much maths as you possibly can. In particular make sure you can interpret graphs, tables and charts. Make sure you can work out percentage differences and make sure you can use SIDOT (Speed is distance over time) as this seemed to come up a few times! You will be given a whiteboard and pen to jot some notes but because the time is so tight, the helpfulness of this is limited. The way I thought about this was that its better to get 100% in 70% of the questions, than 40% in 100% of the questions because you've rushed! Take your time and work them out properly. Use estimation to your advantage- sometimes there are some answers which you instantly know are wrong so look at all the answers carefully. In my UKCAT one question only had one answer with the correct units-simples! Once you get to about 5 minutes left don't panic! Use your estimation or common sense to choose the best answer but don't waste time doing long calculations unless you know you can do it! Just breathe.
Abstract reasoning- 55 questions in 13 minutes.
This section is the most strained for time but is the one that I feel you can practise the most for! If you google abstract reasoning , tonnes of results come up, so use google as much as possible! The trick to this section is to have a 'tick list' of what to look for. Mine went something like : number of sides, number of angles, colour, number of each shape, etc. That way if you always work through your list, you won't forget something glaringly obvious. On e you get the hang of this, it will likely be one of your best sections.
Decision analysis- 28 questions in 31 minutes.
This is the most chilled, and for me, the easiest section. Just string the words together and pick which one is closest to the meaning. I'm quite good at languages so I'm not sure if thats what helped me but I'm not sure what advice to give for this! If you're stuck between two answers, pick the most literal meaning.
All in all this exam is nowhere near as bad as you expect. Use the practise exams on the official website and use google to your advantage! There are plenty of people out there to help you! I would recommend the 600 question blue book (you'll find it on amazon, however it is slightly out of date now)) but recently noticed a new book by Kaplan which is 1000 questions and came out in May 2014 so is the most up to date! If the new book is anything like the 600 question one, the maths is 100x more difficult than the actual exam so if you cant do it, don't stress, if you can then you'll ace it! If you have any questions feel free to comment but I hope this helped a bit! Good luck :)
First of all, the UKCAT is the main entrance exam for medicine and comprises of four sections with a situational judgement part at the end. This is the link to the official website for registration and practise tests: http://www.ukcat.ac.uk. The test is an online test and you'll most likely do it in the same place you did your driving theory test. Each section is timed and once you run out of time, its straight onto the next section (unfortunately if you finish early, the time doesn't run over for the next section).
Verbal reasoning- 44 questions in 21 minutes.
The best advice I can give for this is to read carefully! Make sure you look at the little details! I always read the questions first BEFORE the actual passage so that I have an idea of what i'm looking for (this is helpful because the texts are very long). This section would be much easier if it was on paper and you were able to underline/highlight but alas that isn't the case so you'll have to do it mentally! Even if you don't quite understand what the passage is talking about read the question, read the passage and read the question again!
Quantitative reasoning- 36 questions in 24 minutes.
This was by far the worst section for me! If you have a maths brain and ace mental maths then no worries, but if not i'm afraid this will seem daunting! My mental maths is pretty dire, but I still managed to score 670 in this section so it is doable! I would advise to use BBC Bitesize maths just to top up any gaps in knowledge you have and practise doing sums in your head. Just do as much maths as you possibly can. In particular make sure you can interpret graphs, tables and charts. Make sure you can work out percentage differences and make sure you can use SIDOT (Speed is distance over time) as this seemed to come up a few times! You will be given a whiteboard and pen to jot some notes but because the time is so tight, the helpfulness of this is limited. The way I thought about this was that its better to get 100% in 70% of the questions, than 40% in 100% of the questions because you've rushed! Take your time and work them out properly. Use estimation to your advantage- sometimes there are some answers which you instantly know are wrong so look at all the answers carefully. In my UKCAT one question only had one answer with the correct units-simples! Once you get to about 5 minutes left don't panic! Use your estimation or common sense to choose the best answer but don't waste time doing long calculations unless you know you can do it! Just breathe.
Abstract reasoning- 55 questions in 13 minutes.
This section is the most strained for time but is the one that I feel you can practise the most for! If you google abstract reasoning , tonnes of results come up, so use google as much as possible! The trick to this section is to have a 'tick list' of what to look for. Mine went something like : number of sides, number of angles, colour, number of each shape, etc. That way if you always work through your list, you won't forget something glaringly obvious. On e you get the hang of this, it will likely be one of your best sections.
Decision analysis- 28 questions in 31 minutes.
This is the most chilled, and for me, the easiest section. Just string the words together and pick which one is closest to the meaning. I'm quite good at languages so I'm not sure if thats what helped me but I'm not sure what advice to give for this! If you're stuck between two answers, pick the most literal meaning.
All in all this exam is nowhere near as bad as you expect. Use the practise exams on the official website and use google to your advantage! There are plenty of people out there to help you! I would recommend the 600 question blue book (you'll find it on amazon, however it is slightly out of date now)) but recently noticed a new book by Kaplan which is 1000 questions and came out in May 2014 so is the most up to date! If the new book is anything like the 600 question one, the maths is 100x more difficult than the actual exam so if you cant do it, don't stress, if you can then you'll ace it! If you have any questions feel free to comment but I hope this helped a bit! Good luck :)
Tuesday 1 July 2014
My journey so far...
Okay so I feel I should explain a bit more about how I got to where I am... Grab some popcorn because this could get long!
I've wanted to be a Dr since I can remember (cliche I know) and so all my work experience etc throughout school was always geared towards this. Then I got into sixth form and didn't get the predicted grades. After much panicking over what I could do, my mum and I discovered the medical sciences BSc at the University of South Wales. So I got the grades to go there and the rest is history. In my final year the top 12 of us (this included me!) on our course were able to participate in cadaveric dissection with the first year medics at Cardiff. This was hands down one of the best experiences if my life. Despite it being very difficult at times, I learnt so much more than I could have from a textbook and couldn't be more grateful to the donor and her family. All in all, third year was pretty tough, but with a lot of faith and hard work I coped pretty well and have come out with a first class honours! :D
So by the way, I also did TONS of voluntary work such as cubs/beavers, in a care home, a peer mentor, at my church youth group...and my favourite of all (which I still do) a club for adults and the elderly with learning disabilities. My voluntary work helped me soo much at my interviews and just generally as a person. I feel everyone should try and do some voluntary work, just to realise how fulfilling it is to help someone with no guarantee of anything in return. Just seeing some of the people at my volunteering smile or hug me in greeting instantly lifts my mood and makes me grateful to be a positive influence in other peoples lives!
I have also worked as a HCA for the last four years which I can't credit enough for showing me exactly what hospital work will be like! Sometimes its a hard slog, especially if doing a 1-1 (exactly what it says on the tin...you look after one patient for the whole shift) and they have dementia. You can imagine how that ends up :/ But all in all it's so rewarding to know that you may have done something that makes one patient a bit happier or less anxious about their situation! :) I'm sure I will post about work in the future...
Back to the med journey... I sat the UKCAT and GAMSAT exams last summer which was not fun at all but thankfully worked out really well! The GAMSAT exam lived up to my expectations of the worst exam I would ever sit, with the five hours of hard thinking, but using the Gold standard GAMSAT book had prepared me well and so I left feeling shell shocked but not devastated. In contrast, the UKCAT exam seemed to fly by and I left wondering whether I had just dreamt the whole thing! Excluding the maths section, I quite like the UKCAT exam- especially the codes at the end. I got an average of 730 on the UKCAT and (somehow) got 61 on the GAMSAT! With these scores I applied to Warwick, Cardiff, Nottingham and Swansea medical schools all for the four year Graduate Entry programmes.
After what seemed like forever, I received three interviews (Warwick rejected me) and was over the moon! So I got my suit dry cleaned etc etc and went for my interviews, feeling as nervous as anyone else there! Some of the questions were very straight forward, whereas others I was so unprepared for it was almost funny. In my Cardiff interview they actually had to tell me to stop talking because I was answering questions before they even asked them haha! And after a sickeningly long few months....I managed to get three offers! I couldn't believe it when my UCAS track updated!
After a fair bit of deliberation, I decided to choose Nottingham (based at Derby) as my firm choice and am so super excited to start! I recently went on a meet and greet day and everyone seems amazing! I met four lovely girls who I'm planning on living with this year coming (note the house hunting!) and am confident we will get on brilliantly :D So basically I am at the stage where all of a sudden my dream has come true and I am just trying to enjoy the summer before I get stuck into Med school and all the chaos that will ensue!
I've wanted to be a Dr since I can remember (cliche I know) and so all my work experience etc throughout school was always geared towards this. Then I got into sixth form and didn't get the predicted grades. After much panicking over what I could do, my mum and I discovered the medical sciences BSc at the University of South Wales. So I got the grades to go there and the rest is history. In my final year the top 12 of us (this included me!) on our course were able to participate in cadaveric dissection with the first year medics at Cardiff. This was hands down one of the best experiences if my life. Despite it being very difficult at times, I learnt so much more than I could have from a textbook and couldn't be more grateful to the donor and her family. All in all, third year was pretty tough, but with a lot of faith and hard work I coped pretty well and have come out with a first class honours! :D
So by the way, I also did TONS of voluntary work such as cubs/beavers, in a care home, a peer mentor, at my church youth group...and my favourite of all (which I still do) a club for adults and the elderly with learning disabilities. My voluntary work helped me soo much at my interviews and just generally as a person. I feel everyone should try and do some voluntary work, just to realise how fulfilling it is to help someone with no guarantee of anything in return. Just seeing some of the people at my volunteering smile or hug me in greeting instantly lifts my mood and makes me grateful to be a positive influence in other peoples lives!
I have also worked as a HCA for the last four years which I can't credit enough for showing me exactly what hospital work will be like! Sometimes its a hard slog, especially if doing a 1-1 (exactly what it says on the tin...you look after one patient for the whole shift) and they have dementia. You can imagine how that ends up :/ But all in all it's so rewarding to know that you may have done something that makes one patient a bit happier or less anxious about their situation! :) I'm sure I will post about work in the future...
Back to the med journey... I sat the UKCAT and GAMSAT exams last summer which was not fun at all but thankfully worked out really well! The GAMSAT exam lived up to my expectations of the worst exam I would ever sit, with the five hours of hard thinking, but using the Gold standard GAMSAT book had prepared me well and so I left feeling shell shocked but not devastated. In contrast, the UKCAT exam seemed to fly by and I left wondering whether I had just dreamt the whole thing! Excluding the maths section, I quite like the UKCAT exam- especially the codes at the end. I got an average of 730 on the UKCAT and (somehow) got 61 on the GAMSAT! With these scores I applied to Warwick, Cardiff, Nottingham and Swansea medical schools all for the four year Graduate Entry programmes.
After what seemed like forever, I received three interviews (Warwick rejected me) and was over the moon! So I got my suit dry cleaned etc etc and went for my interviews, feeling as nervous as anyone else there! Some of the questions were very straight forward, whereas others I was so unprepared for it was almost funny. In my Cardiff interview they actually had to tell me to stop talking because I was answering questions before they even asked them haha! And after a sickeningly long few months....I managed to get three offers! I couldn't believe it when my UCAS track updated!
After a fair bit of deliberation, I decided to choose Nottingham (based at Derby) as my firm choice and am so super excited to start! I recently went on a meet and greet day and everyone seems amazing! I met four lovely girls who I'm planning on living with this year coming (note the house hunting!) and am confident we will get on brilliantly :D So basically I am at the stage where all of a sudden my dream has come true and I am just trying to enjoy the summer before I get stuck into Med school and all the chaos that will ensue!
Hello!
A few introductions to start off with, my name is Isabelle and I am going to be a Graduate Entry Medical Student in September at Notts! I've just finished my degree in Medical Sciences and am eagerly anticipating Graduation! :)
I love reading peoples blogs and so thought I'd have a go at writing my own about my journey through medical school. My posts most likely won't be very medically related until September but I will try to make them relevant!
At present my life is taken up by my work as a Healthcare assistant plus enthusiastically adding future course mates on Facebook and trying to arrange meet ups/house viewings and generally being very exciting about whats to come! I fear my soon to be course mates think I'm majorly OTT and much too keen but I can't help it... Plus my parents ordered my graduation present earlier- a hot pink stethoscope eeek! :D Everything feels likes it is finally real now!
Thanks for reading, and I hope it gets more interesting :) x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)