Week 11-12

So the end of term is here, and it's all about placements. During my time in term 1 at university, I have had the privilege of doing two types of experience, being the GP and the hospital.

GP:

• Completing placement at the GP has allowed me to witness the doctor-patient relationship from a front row seat, and see how a GP communicates with the patient, but also how a patient communicates back.
• I've taken part in some clinical skills, such as dip-sticking urine, using a blood glucose machine and manually taking blood pressure.
• I've observed and heard the stories of different cases from an array of patients. I have been introduced to a patient with MS, arthritis, different heart conditions, dementia and other different conditions.
• After greeting a patient and learning of their conditions being presented, my GP will then explain to me the physiology and the social side aspect of their conditions for my understanding. For example, what a bursa is and how this is presented in patients with arthritis. 

That is some spray-on snow on the mirror in case you were wondering! We have decorated the flat for Christmas!

Hospital:

• When I return in January, I will be working on a hospital ward for a week, this is to be confirmed.
• I took part in all the induction and training exercises prior to my placement, where I learnt how to handle patients but also other clinical skills (like the dip-sticking and using glucose monitors).
• I also learnt basic life support training, which includes basic first aid - like CPR, CPR modifications for children, choking, drowning, wound dressing etc. Thanks to my training, this qualified me to become further first aid trained for my part time job back at home at weekends.

After completing my January placement, I will keep you updated on how that went, any challenges I may have faced and my overall experience.

As for the student life, cooking has been quite an interesting thing! My flatmate was able to put together a 'cupboard masterpiece' which basically was him sorting through his food and whacking it all into a saucepan to prepare a glaze for a massive gammon he had bought. Another fun fact, your nearby grocery will reduce foods close to their expiry date towards the end of the evening, so it's a perfect time to go shopping. I think he bought it for around £3 for a massive gammon. He put together plums, blackcurrent cordial, honey, salt, sugar, lemon juice, white spirit, a splash of water and other in-the-cupboard-opportunists to make actually the best glaze/jam ever! Everyone in the flat wanted a bit it was that good!

He has also put together some other fine dishes, such as the one below.

And then there's me... who can't even cook oven chips.

Week 9-10

There is nothing too interesting I need to put across concerning the last two weeks. All that I can say is that it is now December and I have completely decorated the flat in Christmas decorations, much to their dismay! Decorations hang from the ceiling from tack (because we aren't allowed to poke holes all over the flat), the windows are sprayed snowy white and I wake the flat up most mornings with Christmas music blaring through the speaker in the kitchen.

We have finished the beginning module of Year 1 of medicine! Through the term, we have explored aspects of biochemistry of respiration and nerve conduction, the sociology aspect of medicine, the art of medicine and the statistical side.

This came to a shock for me, so I'll go into further detail:

Sociology:
There is quite a lot of sociology to medicine, which I didn't realise because I have never studied this topic at GCSE or A-Level. In these tutorials, we have looked at what a doctor-patient relationship is, and the different types of consultations. In lectures, we have explored what makes a good consultation for a patient, and what doesn't. This was particularly interesting because we did look at role play and acting situations out during our tutorials!

Art:
This is really interesting! It's amazing some of the art pieces that have been created through medical inspiration. I would recommend you looking at some of the artwork that is available online that has been done by medical professionals and students, that are sometimes inspired by real cases or emotions they feel while working in the hospital. This helps with that common conspiracy question: is medicine a science or an art?

Statistics:
If you haven't done maths, you may struggle at this stage. I did Maths A-Level and I am finding this extremely difficult and confusing. This is studying prevalence and incidence and how these two differ. This is about studying the difference in pattern of particular health conditions depending on location, ethnicity and socio-economic status which is obviously very important for a doctor to know.

We have also been introduced to the structure of our first exams in January, which you can already imagine I'm worried about. This is testing our histology, anatomy and all of the other points I've highlighted above.

For my next blog post, I will be discussing the placements I have been part of.

Week 6-8

One bit of advice my teacher gave me during Summer 2017 before I went to university, was to read over all of my A-Level notes on chemistry and biology. Therefore, when I wasn't spending time with my friends or working in my part time job, I was reading about the mitochondria or learning again about the chemical functional groups of different compounds.

If I'm completely honest with you, I wouldn't do that. For the past seven weeks now, the lectures have mainly been about bridging this gap between those medical students who have completed Biology A-Level, and those medical students that hadn't. In a "put your hand up" kind of situation in one of the biology lectures, I would say around 60% of medical students at my uni have got a Biology A-Level. Therefore, this beginning unit has concentrated on making sure everyone is aware of the same biological processes that occur in the human body.

Respiration, genetics, cell organelles - all of that, you don't need to go over necessarily prior to joining university. Obviously do it for your own knowledge and understanding, but it's not a necessity as you will cover it in those initial lectures. I'm all mitochondria-ed out now!

It's also my final time in the anatomy lab for this year which I am quite gutted about. I really did enjoy learning about anatomy through the use of prosected cadavers. I would recommend that before you enter the lab, I would take along any clinical diagrams or anatomy labelled images that would aid your learning in the lab. For example, whilst learning the digestive tract it helped to take in a diagram of the gastrointestinal system to work out the distribution of different organs. It's crucial to say that the organs do not appear exactly in the same way as they do in diagrams, so it does make it harder to identify. But sometimes, learning the function of an organ can help moreso than learning its actual anatomy and actual location in the body.

You also need to ensure you get your lefts and rights the right way round! Remember, it's THEIR body and not your way of perceiving, so the heart is on the LEFT side of the body, despite it would be your "right" as you're viewing them! This took me forever to grasp.

And back to the social side of university...the nights out are amazing. I would definitely recommend you do make an attempt to go out because you will have the opportunity to widen your friendship circle and develop many strong relationships. Obviously the last main night out was Halloween which was cheap on a students' night, but I made the mistake of plastering myself in facepaint that I did struggle to remove despite all of the soaps I used in the shower. It did mean I did turn up to my lecture with a green neck, that thankfully only lasted the day!

Week 3-5

This week has involved even more lectures. This time, more in depth with biochemistry and physiology.

Lectures are quite interesting, because they are a completely new style of teaching I would say - unless of course you're postgraduate.

You're in a hall of around 200+ students, all facing the lecturer below. They have a slideshow, usually, that is displaying all of the content. Luckily for me, our university posts all of the forthcoming lectures up prematurely which means we can print them or read ahead before. That's my method of learning to be honest, I'll print the lectures out at the beginning and take them with me to annotate.

That's how I've been filing all of my notes. I've bought larger lever arch folders for each topic, and will stick into them my annotated lecture notes. Any lectures I've missed, I will catch up online by annotating the lecture slides and then filing them away appropriately.

My friends have different ways of learning, such as taking their laptop into the lecture and typing up their notes as the lecturer is speaking. This is another common way of learning in a lecture hall.

However, bare in mind this is very university-dependent. My friends who are attending other universities and not doing medicine, they say that all of their lectures are not recorded and available for catch up at any time. So, if you miss a lecture...you miss a lecture. Bare this in mind whilst you're doing your research.

Another item I would recommend you buy whilst your packing for university... a portable charger! Oh my gosh, I couldn't have lived without it in the beginning of this term! You're constantly using your phone for maps or social media so please make sure you pack one as you don't want to be caught in the middle of your city centre with a dead phone.

And of course, going to the pub is amazing. Especially drinking from a plastic cup haha.

Week 1-2

Freshers' Week is over, and I'm head is still ringing a little bit.

Now my timetable is fairly full. Speaking to some of the other people here, my timetable seems more full to others. I have mostly 9am starts and finish at about 4pm with an hour lunch break, which isn't too bad. But you do get jealous of the other people who may have more 11-1 days and the whole of Thursday off.

I have mostly 9am starts, which means I need to be at the lecture theatre for approximately 8:55am. I will definitely discuss what it's like being in a lecture because it is the one thing I didn't grasp from open days or reading online forums.

• Lectures begin pretty much on the dot they say they will. At 9:00:00am, the lecture will begin and the lights will dim down for the slide show.
• The lecturer will speak at the front (with a facial microphone) to a theatre containing around 200 students.
• The lecturer will speak using their slideshow that is projected onto the screen behind them, which will allow you to follow through as they speak.
• Some people have the confidence to ask questions throughout a lecture. If you have a question, do raise your hand for the lecturer's attention and wait to be invited to speak. If you're like me and not comfortable with this, don't hold back! At the end of the lecture, you see loads of interested students walk up to the lecturer to ask a question one-on-one.
• If you arrive late to a lecture, don't worry. Just ensure you come through at the back entrance and seat immediately (not to act as distraction like walking in front of the lecturer, making a loud noise, causing shuffling or coming through the front entrance of the theater)
• Most lectures are also recorded so you can revisit them at a later date or during revision.

Style of learning is what makes us individual, and this is apparent in the lecture theatre. Behind me are an array of notepads and laptops. Some people use their laptops to type up their notes with the slideshow accessed on the side (with them making digital annotations using software). I, like others, have the slides printed out as a handout so I can hand annotate for my own notes. So it's up to you, you can either bring your laptop or notepads!

In the anatomy laboratory, we do analyse sections of specimens so that we can learn internal structures and develop a skill of identifying and naming parts of the body. Unfortunately, I cannot go into too much detail about this.

In the biomedical laboratory, we have used microscopes to look at tissue types and study the types of cells. I found this particularly interesting when we were doing Biology A-Level, so seeing these cells and structures for myself was a great experience.

The majority of lab work is structured around a practical workbook that needs to be completed before, during and after a practical lab session for biomedicine and anatomy.

In the tutorials, we have been learning about foundations of health and analysing published papers about the portrayal of health by patients.

• Tutorials are quite small - typically 8 in a group (so the same size as a sixth form class, maybe?)
• They are more personal, so you develop stronger connections between your friends in the group and the tutorial leader as well.
• I find this the best part of the week, as it is a great open discussion where you can discuss what you have found out by reading the paper, any wider reading this has led to and what the group's thoughts were.
• It is an opportunity to discuss opinions, ideas but ask questions when in need.

I hope this has painted in your head what a typical week is for me at the moment! In my free time, I sit in the library just to catch up on the practical lab work I am falling behind on, or as a chance to just unwind and listen to music with my headphones in.

Freshers' Week - Social Side

Reflection then of my very first week at university, otherwise (popularly known) as "Freshers' Week!" For some people, this is what they were looking forward most to coming to university, but I myself was not 100% eager.

In this article, I am discussing about the social side of Freshers' Week, so I am covering the fun side of the week!

You will eat loads (because you have loads of food in the cupboard that screams "Eat me" when you're bored). Take this as a chance to cook, but don't drink too much. I will probably write an article in the coming weeks about diet whilst at university.

With your free time (with basically no lectures), do take this time to explore your city! Catch the bus and work out routes to the lectures, 

Now, Freshers' can be regarded as the most messiest week at uni by the media. There were many opportunities to go into town to visit every single nightclub and bar open at 11pm and shutting at 3am. It is a very sociable week that gives you the opportunity to try and meet new people, but you can do this in a variety of ways.

At the beginning, you have your flatmates (or people you share your accommodation with). I feel very lucky and grateful to have such great flatmates where we feel comfortable around each other, share the same interests and share the same humour. I worried about who I would be living with the most, but I feel so relaxed knowing I was just overthinking. Don't get anxious and shut yourself away, go and introduce yourself and start a conversation. One of my best friends now (who is in the flat) is probably the coolest guy I know for playing the guitar, singing, surfboarding and skateboarding. I never thought I'd get on with someone who has those interests as I for one don't have any hobbies, so deemed myself quite boring. But the flatmates are who you should hold closest to your heart as you're going to be living with them for the next 40-odd weeks and they'll see you every morning and every night.

I am not exactly a 'go-ey out-ey' person, so I didn't use Freshers' Week to exhaust my alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes in my liver cells to breakdown all the alcohol I consumed. I did go out on my very first night here to make new friends, but made sure I went out with my flatmates so we could develop that initial bond.

The nightlife is great. Loud music and alcohol seem to be the perfect mix and (although you may regret it in the morning) it does feel like the best sensation ever. You don't think anything could go wrong, as you're just out to have a good time. I would recommend maybe going out at least once just to try it, and as an opportunity to meet new people who may be doing medicine too.

Now the boring safety stuff. With going out though, you do need to be wary as I'm sure you are already aware. Just be cautious of who you are approaching (or who's approaching you) and what is going on around you. Spiking of drinks is very common and is an opportunity for you to become vulnerable to the people who decide to commit to this act. It is dangerous. Please ensure you never accept drinks from strangers, never take your eye off your drink and maybe look away/walk with your hand covering your glass/tumbler/cup. Keep to a crowd of around three as well, and look after your mates as they look after you. This will lower your risks.

And I'll be honest, you will be subjected to drugs. You will be around people doing it, and might even see it yourself (Eg. loads of nitrous oxide canisters on the road). Just be aware that the industry you're entering and the course you want to enrol onto does require a DBS check. If you fail this, you may be deemed unfit for practice and lose your chance of studying medicine. Do you really want drugs and you "experimenting" to stop you from following your dream? But I'm sure you won't even consider the risk anyway, so don't do drugs!

Keep that portable charger at hand because you will probably require two charges a day in Freshers' Week! Why? You'll be using your phone constantly for navigation, but also to add your new friends on social media. You'll be exchanging names and adding before you know it. Your battery could also be draining as you take loads of selfies and group photos with your new friends, or your phone will be working overload to cope with the notifications of that group chat of 200 medics you decided to join.

Either way, the social aspect is amazing. You will meet many people and have a great time. For someone who feels unsafe going out into town for a good night, I did really enjoy myself and did go out a few times this week. Some of my friends did go out every night - but I'm not that hardcore. But with situations like this, just look after yourself.

Freshers' Week! - Academic Side

Reflection then of my very first week at university, otherwise (popularly known) as "Freshers' Week!" For some people, this is what they were looking forward most to coming to university, but I myself was not 100% eager.

In this article, I am discussing about the academic side of Freshers' Week, so I am covering what the contents of the lectures I attended were and whether I packed the correct stuff to bring with me to university.

In my first week, we had a handful of small lectures (just 5 hours!) that introduced us to the course structure which provided us with all the information we needed prior to start studying next week. A few learning points that I picked up from these sessions were that lectures lasted 50 minutes (as do the tutorials), that we would be learning basic medical knowledge from now until Christmas (for the first term) which will help us to build on our knowledge from the remainder of the year.

It was quite nice actually that Freshers' Week was not too intense, and the lecturers themselves said it was so that we can adjust to our new ways of living. What you need to remember is we are now completely independent, some of us have moved far away from home whilst some of us have moved different countries to study at my university. Therefore, you should use Fresher's Week to begin to sink into your new lifestyle.

An update on what I packed, I have made some adjustments! You'll be proud to hear that I have used everything I have packed, so I didn't pack excessively. However, there is two things that I really do believe are important essentials!

Firstly, a printer. Although you read online about universities providing printing facilities, I feel they are quite expensive and for me, inconvenient. I am a 25 minute bus journey and five minute walk from the university library where I can print, so if I want something printed now, it takes a lot of effort. If you can deal with this, maybe you wouldn't need to pack one! But I am one of those people that can be up until midnight finishing work, creating posters to tack to my wall or annotating notes I have typed up - so I need to print straight away from my room!

Secondly, a portable charger. For the first week, you'll literally be using your mobile phone so much for navigation, it's unbelievable. You'll be using it to plot the route from the bus stop you're at now to your lecture hall and grunting the ETA is 9:08am when the lecture starts at 9am. You'll also be using your phone to add loads of people and new friends you make on social media (read my Social article if you want to find out more!)

So I hope this has helped explained the more academic side of Freshers' Week. If you're interested in the social aspect, I recommend you read my other article!

PS. My room did stay tidy the whole week! :)