Summary of Year 1

Let's do an overall summary of Year 1...

• I arrived at university and met my flatmates. I had to make all new friends from my course and my student accommodation, who thankfully remained by my side throughout the whole year!
• I did house viewings and decided on my accommodation flat for next year!
• I learnt soooo much! From anatomy, to law, to sociology, to ethics, to histology, to biomedicine to biochemistry! There has been so much content on each individual system in the body which you can't help but feel excited to turn up to lectures.
• I have handled a lot of cadaver specimens and have been exposed prematurely to death. I have also taken part in shadowing a pathologist during a post mortem.
• I have taken part in clinical shadowing at GPs, where I did some clinical skills and did individual home visits. Here, I learnt how important communication is when it comes to talking to patients.
• I have also shadowed doctors at Southmead Hospital and have been taught by both patients and the teaching fellows about body systems and some clinical skills - such as taking blood pressure, blood glucose levels, auscultation and palpation.
• I completed an essay project, as well as an art project. This is based on medicine being both a science and an art.
• I have worked as HCA as part of the course, where I worked four shifts of 7 hours and one 12 hour shift.
• I loved being a HCA so much, I then went on to apply for a job as a healthcare assistant in Bristol. I went for the interview and then received my job offer. I then attended the training and now awaiting some shifts to sign up to!
• I have completed my exams, January and Summer and passed to progress into Year 2!

I can't believe how much I feel I know ever since starting just less than a year ago!

Year 1 has been filled with some very exciting moments and I have enjoyed every second of university life. You are so independent and have so much fun which is incomparable to any other experience I have ever had! I would say I would love to do it again, but I'm really excited to go into Year 2!

I hope all of your exams go well and you receive the results you both want and deserve. Have a great summer, and I will speak to you in September if not before!