This was an abbreviation I had seen so much of during my research into studying medicine at university. Now, this was going to be my main assessment for second year!
An OSCE is essentially similar to the MMI stations that you will (have) sit to get into uni. The stations are made up of a number of sections and each OSCE will have a certain number of stations in total. For my exam, there were three stations with each being divided into three sections.
Each station would test an aspect of the content that had been taught in both years 1 and 2. It would involve a history or an examination on a patient with a presenting complaint, so like chest pain or breathlessness. It would then be followed with an interpretation task. So this could be looking at an x-ray (to test anatomy), processing lab data (to test practicals and lecture content) or interpreting graphical data. Finally, would have to explain something to the patient (ie. what they have, how to use an inhaler etc) or activate them to change their lifestyle (ie. stop smoking, stop drinking alcohol etc). The station could also have a clinical skill which we would’ve learnt In our clinical encounters, like dipsticking urine or doing a manual blood pressure.
But there were three of these stations to break it up (eg. One on chest pain, one on breathlessness and one on abdominal pain).
The examiner would sit there with a clipboard and tick as you were talking and working with the patient. The patient was an actor pretending to have the condition, or real patients who had what they were actually describing (eg. Psoriasis).
The whole exam lasted an hour. (Each station was 20 minutes)
It was great how the exams were so practical and you actually felt like a medical professional whilst speaking to the actor patients. It was very pressurising, like any exam, as the trick was to look both confident and friendly. In these examinations, you're being tested on both your person skills as well as your knowledge!
I got my results about a month later and was over the moon with a pass! Roll on Year 3...
Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Tuesday, 29 January 2019
Moving onto Symptom-Based Learning!
With Christmas term over, we now begin the second term which will take us up to Easter. In this section, we are doing symptom-based learning.
As I mentioned previously, the teaching is usually done by individual systems. So we are taught about the gastrointestinal system, the cardiovascular system etc. However, now, we are being taught about particular symptoms that patients could present with. This is really helpful for marrying that content that I had mentioned earlier. For example, “chest pain” can be caused by many things. It could be caused by the respiratory tract, it could be caused by the cardiovascular system, or even caused by upper abdominal organs. Pain can be referred so even if you have a pain at your shoulder tip, it doesn’t mean your shoulder is hurting but could be an organ towards the back of your upper abdomen!
Surrounding each symptom, we are being taught all the relevant details. So with chest pain, we are learning about cardiac problems and red flag symptoms of dangerous conditions like heart attacks. Each of the red flags we learn are fundamental in our history taking when we ask patients to describe what brought them into the GP or hospital.
With the system involved, we are being taught the examinations as well. So we are able to examine a patient and be able to link up what we have learnt. For example, in abdominal pain, gastric malignancy can be shown by an inflamed lymph node above your collarbone called the Virchow’s node. In lectures, we learn about how malignancy will cause the node to be a clinical feature of gastric malignancy, whereas our examinations teach us how to feel and locate this node, as well other associated symptoms we may be able to observe, palpate or percuss.
The symptom-based learning is far more interesting as the answer is not as direct as before. We still have our tutorial discussions based on cases that represent real patients. Whereas before, during say the respiratory case, we could exclude the chest pain of endocarditis because ‘we wouldn’t be taught this in this case as we are not doing cardiovascular’. However, now we have a broad scope of what the cause of the symptoms we are giving is. This is much more like real life and makes it more enjoyable in our tutorial sessions.
As I mentioned previously, the teaching is usually done by individual systems. So we are taught about the gastrointestinal system, the cardiovascular system etc. However, now, we are being taught about particular symptoms that patients could present with. This is really helpful for marrying that content that I had mentioned earlier. For example, “chest pain” can be caused by many things. It could be caused by the respiratory tract, it could be caused by the cardiovascular system, or even caused by upper abdominal organs. Pain can be referred so even if you have a pain at your shoulder tip, it doesn’t mean your shoulder is hurting but could be an organ towards the back of your upper abdomen!
Surrounding each symptom, we are being taught all the relevant details. So with chest pain, we are learning about cardiac problems and red flag symptoms of dangerous conditions like heart attacks. Each of the red flags we learn are fundamental in our history taking when we ask patients to describe what brought them into the GP or hospital.
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| Southmead Hospital at night, on the way home from a night shift on the wards as a healthcare assistant. |
The symptom-based learning is far more interesting as the answer is not as direct as before. We still have our tutorial discussions based on cases that represent real patients. Whereas before, during say the respiratory case, we could exclude the chest pain of endocarditis because ‘we wouldn’t be taught this in this case as we are not doing cardiovascular’. However, now we have a broad scope of what the cause of the symptoms we are giving is. This is much more like real life and makes it more enjoyable in our tutorial sessions.
Sunday, 21 October 2018
Back to Lectures...
The main clinical block was now over, meaning we were back in lectures. After having a summer away from it, I couldn’t wait to get stuck in again. There’s something about getting up, grabbing a coffee and spending time with your mates in a lecture on something that confuses you by the fifth slide.
The lectures from now until Christmas will involve the foundations that were taught from first year and help guide us into the symptom-based teaching of after Christmas.
In comparison to first year, we were taught about every system individually. Now, we are being introduced to more complex physiology, like the turnover of skin, and how this process can be disrupted and present clinically as a disease. This year is more disease-based than normal physiology.
Our labs contain more interesting practicals, such as understanding what flow cytometry is and how it can be used to work out which cells are in a sample to the metabolism of aspirin. This is definitely a more sciencey block which is quite nice after just finishing clinical placements and times on the wards.
In our clinical parts, we have been taught greater details on taking a well rounded history. For example, how to explore the different components of a drug history to make sure you don’t miss anything out. Like how people sometimes forget to mention their contraception drugs when giving the list of their current medications. Furthermore, we are completing system examinations on patients in the hospital and the GP after taking a history which is helping to marry together our findings!
The lectures from now until Christmas will involve the foundations that were taught from first year and help guide us into the symptom-based teaching of after Christmas.
In comparison to first year, we were taught about every system individually. Now, we are being introduced to more complex physiology, like the turnover of skin, and how this process can be disrupted and present clinically as a disease. This year is more disease-based than normal physiology.
Our labs contain more interesting practicals, such as understanding what flow cytometry is and how it can be used to work out which cells are in a sample to the metabolism of aspirin. This is definitely a more sciencey block which is quite nice after just finishing clinical placements and times on the wards.
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| The knowledge we have developed this year can help us work out what tests and investigations we may want to do. Using the results from investigations, we are able to work out a possible diagnosis of particular patient cases. |
In our clinical parts, we have been taught greater details on taking a well rounded history. For example, how to explore the different components of a drug history to make sure you don’t miss anything out. Like how people sometimes forget to mention their contraception drugs when giving the list of their current medications. Furthermore, we are completing system examinations on patients in the hospital and the GP after taking a history which is helping to marry together our findings!
Sunday, 23 September 2018
Paediatric Placement!
With my first lot of clerking completed, we then move onto the second part of the year’s beginning: Student Choice projects.
I chose my student choice project last year from a long catalogue of different options. These options ranged from laboratory based research projects, research into behavioural sciences and ethics and loads of different clinical encounters of different specialities. I had chosen from the list that I wanted to complete clinical work on the Children’s Unit at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
We caught the coach each morning to Bath so that we would get a handover from the nurses and care assistants about the children who were inpatients on the ward. It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to meet such positive children and see how the diseases we had started to learn can manifest and present differently in younger children. We also had the chance to walk around NICU and see the neonatal care delivered there.
My favourite part was meeting the Play Therapists. These amazing individuals are responsible for using fun activities and toys in their delivery of care for the young patients. Play therapy can be used as a distraction, with one therapist saying that the mobile play machine (a contraption on wheels with a disco ball, flashing lights, mirrors and sticky-out twistable colourful things) can be used to make the child look away from something fearful like a needle.
It can also be used to help teach the patient and engage them with what is going on. For example, I saw a play therapist explain what an MRI scan would involve to a child. The therapist and the patient both acted out what it would be like, by pretending to put on the headphones, making the loud “brrrrrrr” whirring noise and where the child is required to lay still and flat in the machine, they “shook all the fidgetness out!” by wriggling around in their chairs. It was fascinating to watch the child so engaged and understanding what was going on.
Lastly, the play therapists told me about how it brings together the family through bonding. I sat with a family who said that the hospital encounter has brought the family closer together. Mum and dad would be at work, so having their child in hospital had brought them closer than ever before and they were able to paint together, produce clay artwork together and play with hundreds of different toys in the playroom - “something we would’ve never been able to do usually at home” the mother told me.
The ward had also been given a brand new innovative idea called the ‘Magic Carpet’. This was an interactive machine which used a projector that took shadows as touch. This meant the bulb would project a massive area of leaves onto the ground, and as a child ran across them, the leaves would disperse. There were loads of different interactive projections, from fish that run away when you touch them, or fun games like acting as a goalkeeper in a penalty shoot out.
At the end of this section, I had to write up my experience on the Children’s Ward as a reflective essay and comment on the findings I had made through my research into whether the hospital provided good support for the parents whilst their children were inpatients.
The biggest take home reflections I made from my placement was how amazing (and fun) the play therapy on the wards is. I had my face painted and got a different glitter tattoo each day of the three weeks!!
I chose my student choice project last year from a long catalogue of different options. These options ranged from laboratory based research projects, research into behavioural sciences and ethics and loads of different clinical encounters of different specialities. I had chosen from the list that I wanted to complete clinical work on the Children’s Unit at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
 |
| Playing and creating are two things children love doing! So as part of their care, we are encouraged to interact with the children to help combat boredom and fear of being in hospital. |
My favourite part was meeting the Play Therapists. These amazing individuals are responsible for using fun activities and toys in their delivery of care for the young patients. Play therapy can be used as a distraction, with one therapist saying that the mobile play machine (a contraption on wheels with a disco ball, flashing lights, mirrors and sticky-out twistable colourful things) can be used to make the child look away from something fearful like a needle.
It can also be used to help teach the patient and engage them with what is going on. For example, I saw a play therapist explain what an MRI scan would involve to a child. The therapist and the patient both acted out what it would be like, by pretending to put on the headphones, making the loud “brrrrrrr” whirring noise and where the child is required to lay still and flat in the machine, they “shook all the fidgetness out!” by wriggling around in their chairs. It was fascinating to watch the child so engaged and understanding what was going on.
Lastly, the play therapists told me about how it brings together the family through bonding. I sat with a family who said that the hospital encounter has brought the family closer together. Mum and dad would be at work, so having their child in hospital had brought them closer than ever before and they were able to paint together, produce clay artwork together and play with hundreds of different toys in the playroom - “something we would’ve never been able to do usually at home” the mother told me.
The ward had also been given a brand new innovative idea called the ‘Magic Carpet’. This was an interactive machine which used a projector that took shadows as touch. This meant the bulb would project a massive area of leaves onto the ground, and as a child ran across them, the leaves would disperse. There were loads of different interactive projections, from fish that run away when you touch them, or fun games like acting as a goalkeeper in a penalty shoot out.
At the end of this section, I had to write up my experience on the Children’s Ward as a reflective essay and comment on the findings I had made through my research into whether the hospital provided good support for the parents whilst their children were inpatients.
The biggest take home reflections I made from my placement was how amazing (and fun) the play therapy on the wards is. I had my face painted and got a different glitter tattoo each day of the three weeks!!
Monday, 17 September 2018
Consulting Placement!
We all have returned back to university! And by "we", I simply mean the medics! All of my friends don't actually start their lectures for another two or three weeks, so as they enjoy their final bit of summer, I'll be on placement.
Placement began at Southmead Hospital where we got involved in hands-on experience. Like I have said previously in a historic post, it's the most "doctory" we have felt so far on the course!
We were in hospital for three weeks. Each one was dedicated to a particular system: cardiovascular first, respiratory second and then the final week was gastrointestinal.
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| Waiting in the staff room! |
The teaching was structured like this:
- We had tutorials and small hospital-based lectures that taught us how to take a full medical history from a patient.
- We had a practical tutorial which taught us the clinical skills for each individual system during their case week. For example, we learnt how to perform an abdominal examination (from keeping an eye out for tremors and visible clinical indicators on the body to being able to auscultate and percussion of the abdo).
- We learnt how to perform other clinical skills such as taking a manual blood pressure and completing a full cranial nerve assessment.
- Each of the weeks had a dedicated 'patient' case associated with it. This was very similar to the case-based learning we have embarked all year. However, there was more information provided with these cases: from radiology findings (X-rays, MRI scan images etc), blood results and examination findings. This provided a more 'clinical' feel to the teaching we were receiving.
This was so far the highlight of the degree because of how 'medical' we felt. The teaching was more clinical which showed us the important of different disciplines when it comes to both diagnosing and treating a patient. For example, one 'case' was a female with pulmonary embolism. Her X-ray appeared normal but her CT scan showed the 'polo-ring' mass occluding one of her pulmonary arteries. Her blood results further supported our potential diagnosis and her history. This is why we were taught such greater detail about taking a history from a patient, because this can help support a certain hypothesis you may have (and help you exclude others).
The best part of the cycle was being able to go onto the wards and actually apply what we had learnt in the clinical skills room and our own independent learning. I was able to go on the wards and perform a cardiovascular examination and sit with patients and understand their full story to why they had been brought into hospital.
The hardest part of the cycle was probably trying to come up with differential diagnoses. These are the 'back-up' ideas you may have about a patient's condition but you may want to run more tests to help support for or against your other diagnoses. At the end of the day, there is a million and one things that could cause breathlessness - so you can't just jump on the first thing that you believe is the strongest diagnosis.
In case you are interested, this was the kind of clinical work we were completing in our tutorials before going to practise on real patients: https://geekymedics.com/cardiovascular-examination-2/
Wednesday, 15 August 2018
A-Level Exams Results Day
Hello everyone!
Hope you are enjoying the summer as much as I have been! But, it's come to the dreaded month of August which contains the fortnight of results weeks. It is the most dreaded day of the year... even exceeding that stress you experienced when you sat the exams.
So in the summer period, you have sat your A-Level exams, hopefully one of them being Chemistry and usually the two others being another science and/or maths etc. I really hope that they went well for you and now your results will shine through.
As I think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, throughout the year I did shockingly bad in my mocks. I could never achieve my target grade and my motivation was constantly being knocked. My school did for some bizarre reason use a method of collating extremely hard exam questions into a bank that we were tested on pretty much monthly - this of course screams "You're not gonna pass." whenever you got the results of another B, C and sometimes even U.
But you can imagine my astonishment on results day, a year ago, when I opened my envelope to see that I had achieved my entry requirement to get into the University of Bristol.
The main message I am trying to convey here is that sometimes exams don't go exactly how you plan them. You need to remember that you will only remember the BAD from the exam. Why didn't I put that? I can't believe I ran out of time to answer that question... Why on earth did I put that AS THE ANSWER? But you never think of the possible 50-60% of the answers that you did really well on! And sometimes, your 5/6 mark answers will still bag you half marks! These marks all add up and hopefully will give you the result you are looking for.
What if it all goes wrong? Well, getting into medicine has no deadline at all (apart from the application deadline in October!). So, if you open up those results and you didn't achieve the AAA, oh well! Either call through to Clearing and see if you are able to go into another university to study Medicine (where I believe they give a short interview on the phone. so I've heard?) and you may still be able to bag a place. However, if that isn't available, then I would certainly recommend to consider retaking.
By retaking, you can have another attempt at achieving the grades required.
Hope you are enjoying the summer as much as I have been! But, it's come to the dreaded month of August which contains the fortnight of results weeks. It is the most dreaded day of the year... even exceeding that stress you experienced when you sat the exams.
So in the summer period, you have sat your A-Level exams, hopefully one of them being Chemistry and usually the two others being another science and/or maths etc. I really hope that they went well for you and now your results will shine through.
As I think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, throughout the year I did shockingly bad in my mocks. I could never achieve my target grade and my motivation was constantly being knocked. My school did for some bizarre reason use a method of collating extremely hard exam questions into a bank that we were tested on pretty much monthly - this of course screams "You're not gonna pass." whenever you got the results of another B, C and sometimes even U.
But you can imagine my astonishment on results day, a year ago, when I opened my envelope to see that I had achieved my entry requirement to get into the University of Bristol.
The main message I am trying to convey here is that sometimes exams don't go exactly how you plan them. You need to remember that you will only remember the BAD from the exam. Why didn't I put that? I can't believe I ran out of time to answer that question... Why on earth did I put that AS THE ANSWER? But you never think of the possible 50-60% of the answers that you did really well on! And sometimes, your 5/6 mark answers will still bag you half marks! These marks all add up and hopefully will give you the result you are looking for.
What if it all goes wrong? Well, getting into medicine has no deadline at all (apart from the application deadline in October!). So, if you open up those results and you didn't achieve the AAA, oh well! Either call through to Clearing and see if you are able to go into another university to study Medicine (where I believe they give a short interview on the phone. so I've heard?) and you may still be able to bag a place. However, if that isn't available, then I would certainly recommend to consider retaking.
By retaking, you can have another attempt at achieving the grades required.
- Some universities are rumoured to 'not accept retakes' by students that failed the year before and then apply again the following year. This is not particularly true. What I can gather from open days, if you didn't achieve the exams because of extenuating circumstances, there is a chance you could be shortlisted for an interview the following year.
- Some universities will not accept a candidate reapplying the following year after failing exams without extenuating circumstances.
- Through my own research and recommended by open days, universities will not accept a candidate who is applying after applying previously, being accepted and getting the grades but then doing a late deferral for no extenuating circumstance = eg. "I want to take a gap year, despite not putting on my application that I wanted to when I applied."
- If you are going to retake, do you want to stay in the same school? Do you think college would be better suited for you this year? Or possibly transferring to sixth form if you are already at college? You need to take chemistry, but what about the other two options? Maybe drop Maths and pick up Physics? Or drop Physics to pick up Biology?
- Finally, remember it is not all in the schooling to why you may have failed. Consider in your retaking year what may have led you to slip. Did you go out too much? Did you prioritise your time incorrectly? Did you not concentrate, slip behind work, stop attending? Maybe you hadn't mastered your revision technique correctly? This year, make sure you build on this 'mistakes' to ensure you achieve those results for next year!
I hope this post has provided some ease and I promise this time tomorrow you will be much more relaxed no matter the outcome. I hope you will be sat with your family having a nice meal celebrating your success in securing a place in medical school.
Massive good luck to you all!
Friday, 29 June 2018
Speaking at Villiers Park Fantastic Futures Event
I then had the opportunity to speak at the Villiers Park Fantastic Futures event that also celebrated the hard work of its student participants this year.
The Fantastic Futures programme exists to help provide support to students of Year 10 - Year 13 in the Swindon area. The programme includes the mentoring scheme I was part of and has the opportunity to have an e-mentor who is studying the course and/or is studying at the university a student is interested in applying to. They also have exhilarating opportunities to go to universities as part of residential trips to engage in set tasks and practice those teambuilding and leadership skills!
It was amazing to hear all of the great student stories at this night too! I had a fantastic opportunity to speak to some parents as well who wanted to know more about the work of Villiers Park from a student alumnus because at the end of the day, I don't work for Villiers Park but individually endorse them so much! Thank you so much if you did come and speak to me at the event! If you were interested in the blog and I sent you in this direction, thank you for visiting! If you are interested in keeping updated on my journey, please do submit your email on the right hand side of this page under "Follow by Email!" to get updates when I post (which isn't too frequent, but usually when I have something to post!). Feel free also to read back on my journey for advice from Year 11 and onwards!
In this speech, I discussed my struggles again throughout A-Levels but how rewarding it was to secure my place at university. I have included my speech below in case you wanted to read this also. It is slightly repetitive compared to the last one (but remember I did only go through school once so the experience is the same! haha) but I did adapt it to tailor for this evening.
My speech:
Hello! My name is Josh and I am a student who worked quite closely with Villiers Park to fulfil my aspiration of studying medicine at my first choice university. I have been part of Villiers Park for the past five years when I went into Year 10 at Lydiard Park Academy.
The journey into university unfortunately wasn’t a straight and narrow path. But Villiers Park helped either eliminate or reduce every obstacle that I encountered.
Through mentoring sessions, I would meet with my mentor to discuss my recent activities. I would explain to Julie how stressful I’m finding things, how I’m worried I’m not going to get the grades and how I cannot find a balance. I was struggling very much through Year 13 as I still wasn’t reaching the entry requirements of my offer from Bristol University. I suffered in silence from the beginning and telling myself that I could deal with the issue independently because I felt quite embarrassed and ashamed that I wouldn’t fulfil the expectation of going to university this year. However, when I spoke to my mentor about my situation and how I was on the verge of giving up, she gave me that confidence again that I could do it. And by talking and developing plans of actions, I knew I could cope for another two-three weeks before the next session. I found the mentoring sessions as an opportunity to vent about my struggles but find solutions to them. My mentor would have open ears and be a voice that provided that guidance and support I needed. As soon as I had opened up about not coping with the change in learning style and needing to adapt my revision regime in A-Levels, my grades improved!
Before this, Villiers Park helped me decide on which university I wanted to apply for. I attended sessions of ‘MedSoc’ from Year 10 which was a group of aspiration medics who wished to study medicine, like me. Here, I could hear from guest speakers directly about their experiences, ideas for placements and even how to construct the perfect personal statement. When it came to exploring universities, I went on many open day trips to different unis. It was fantastic having the mentors with us at the open days because their experience and advice meant that we were asking questions at the open days which I may not have thought of if I had gone with my parents. For example, when going around open days with family, you mostly think of cost of living, student loans etc. Whereas I was asking questions about the course structure, unit content and about placements because we had been informed about the significance of asking these questions. For this reason, I was able to eliminate my long ‘perfect’ uni list to just the five I was going to apply for – with Bristol being my first choice because I felt that course would suit me the best. I have also been running a blog that follows my journey throughout my medical training which I hope has been helping the current prospect medics with their decisions to pursue the degree and what to expect.
The residentials I have been on with Villiers Park has allowed me to develop skills which have benefited me throughout my school years and I’ve carried it on into university. We would learn investigation skills, how to be involved participants and how to manage time appropriately. Anyone can practically work in a team, but I feel that through Villiers Park, it taught me how to work in a team effectively. Three years on, I am still in contact with a lot of my peers and it’s interesting to discuss the differences in the medicine courses in Bristol to Nottingham to Liverpool.
University has been an amazing experience so far. I’ve learnt how to balance my priorities and juggle the time I spend on work and learning with maintaining a social life! My course has been everything I expected and more! I have had fantastic opportunities to become more stuck-in and enjoying placements so much, I am now working as a healthcare assistant in Southmead Hospital! I have made great friends while at university. You are surrounded with people from diverse backgrounds that differ from your own but you all share similar passions and interests! I would recommend university because I feel it is an experience like no other! You will enjoy studying more when it’s in a subject you’re actually passionate about. You meet likeminded people and grow an exciting social life while developing yourself as you grow independently.
As well, before Villiers Park, I would not be stood here in front of you now speaking. I learnt ways to become more of a confident speaker all through the events and activities that I attended throughout the year.
University has been such a challenge but a reward for all the hard work it was worth! It’s so much better finally learning content that I am passionate about and enjoy reading. I am really happy that Villiers Park are still in contact with me because I feel I owe a lot to them. From the staff in Foxton to the mentors, past and present, who have helped me – thank you. And I say it every year but it won’t add up to how grateful I actually am. The skills Villiers Park have taught me has made me the person I am today.
Thank you for listening.
The Fantastic Futures programme exists to help provide support to students of Year 10 - Year 13 in the Swindon area. The programme includes the mentoring scheme I was part of and has the opportunity to have an e-mentor who is studying the course and/or is studying at the university a student is interested in applying to. They also have exhilarating opportunities to go to universities as part of residential trips to engage in set tasks and practice those teambuilding and leadership skills!
It was amazing to hear all of the great student stories at this night too! I had a fantastic opportunity to speak to some parents as well who wanted to know more about the work of Villiers Park from a student alumnus because at the end of the day, I don't work for Villiers Park but individually endorse them so much! Thank you so much if you did come and speak to me at the event! If you were interested in the blog and I sent you in this direction, thank you for visiting! If you are interested in keeping updated on my journey, please do submit your email on the right hand side of this page under "Follow by Email!" to get updates when I post (which isn't too frequent, but usually when I have something to post!). Feel free also to read back on my journey for advice from Year 11 and onwards!
 |
| Photo credit: Villiers Park |
 |
| Villiers Park logo. |
My speech:
Hello! My name is Josh and I am a student who worked quite closely with Villiers Park to fulfil my aspiration of studying medicine at my first choice university. I have been part of Villiers Park for the past five years when I went into Year 10 at Lydiard Park Academy.
The journey into university unfortunately wasn’t a straight and narrow path. But Villiers Park helped either eliminate or reduce every obstacle that I encountered.
Through mentoring sessions, I would meet with my mentor to discuss my recent activities. I would explain to Julie how stressful I’m finding things, how I’m worried I’m not going to get the grades and how I cannot find a balance. I was struggling very much through Year 13 as I still wasn’t reaching the entry requirements of my offer from Bristol University. I suffered in silence from the beginning and telling myself that I could deal with the issue independently because I felt quite embarrassed and ashamed that I wouldn’t fulfil the expectation of going to university this year. However, when I spoke to my mentor about my situation and how I was on the verge of giving up, she gave me that confidence again that I could do it. And by talking and developing plans of actions, I knew I could cope for another two-three weeks before the next session. I found the mentoring sessions as an opportunity to vent about my struggles but find solutions to them. My mentor would have open ears and be a voice that provided that guidance and support I needed. As soon as I had opened up about not coping with the change in learning style and needing to adapt my revision regime in A-Levels, my grades improved!
Before this, Villiers Park helped me decide on which university I wanted to apply for. I attended sessions of ‘MedSoc’ from Year 10 which was a group of aspiration medics who wished to study medicine, like me. Here, I could hear from guest speakers directly about their experiences, ideas for placements and even how to construct the perfect personal statement. When it came to exploring universities, I went on many open day trips to different unis. It was fantastic having the mentors with us at the open days because their experience and advice meant that we were asking questions at the open days which I may not have thought of if I had gone with my parents. For example, when going around open days with family, you mostly think of cost of living, student loans etc. Whereas I was asking questions about the course structure, unit content and about placements because we had been informed about the significance of asking these questions. For this reason, I was able to eliminate my long ‘perfect’ uni list to just the five I was going to apply for – with Bristol being my first choice because I felt that course would suit me the best. I have also been running a blog that follows my journey throughout my medical training which I hope has been helping the current prospect medics with their decisions to pursue the degree and what to expect.
The residentials I have been on with Villiers Park has allowed me to develop skills which have benefited me throughout my school years and I’ve carried it on into university. We would learn investigation skills, how to be involved participants and how to manage time appropriately. Anyone can practically work in a team, but I feel that through Villiers Park, it taught me how to work in a team effectively. Three years on, I am still in contact with a lot of my peers and it’s interesting to discuss the differences in the medicine courses in Bristol to Nottingham to Liverpool.
University has been an amazing experience so far. I’ve learnt how to balance my priorities and juggle the time I spend on work and learning with maintaining a social life! My course has been everything I expected and more! I have had fantastic opportunities to become more stuck-in and enjoying placements so much, I am now working as a healthcare assistant in Southmead Hospital! I have made great friends while at university. You are surrounded with people from diverse backgrounds that differ from your own but you all share similar passions and interests! I would recommend university because I feel it is an experience like no other! You will enjoy studying more when it’s in a subject you’re actually passionate about. You meet likeminded people and grow an exciting social life while developing yourself as you grow independently.
As well, before Villiers Park, I would not be stood here in front of you now speaking. I learnt ways to become more of a confident speaker all through the events and activities that I attended throughout the year.
University has been such a challenge but a reward for all the hard work it was worth! It’s so much better finally learning content that I am passionate about and enjoy reading. I am really happy that Villiers Park are still in contact with me because I feel I owe a lot to them. From the staff in Foxton to the mentors, past and present, who have helped me – thank you. And I say it every year but it won’t add up to how grateful I actually am. The skills Villiers Park have taught me has made me the person I am today.
Thank you for listening.
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