Returning to the wards…

Well it’s the final working day of my 8 week student selected component (SSC2) and unfortunately I haven’t quite finished my project, things always take longer than you expect and data analysis is no exception. I’ll have to work hard over the remaining weeks to meet the deadline but at least the problem I have is too much data rather than too little! I’ve really enjoyed my project, it’s been totally different to any research I’ve ever done before and the results are quite interesting so hopefully I will be able to publish them in a journal. As we have entered third year we’ve already had talks on the application process for the UK Foundation programme, one of the things you can score points on is publications. While I was lucky to publish during my PhD, for other students, SSC2 is a unique opportunity to get involved in a project that they could publish and boost their score (and their CV!).

I’ve also been settling into my new role as President of the Psychiatry Society, we’ve had a few meetings now and had our first event, which was a great success, and are planning a West Midlands wide symposium on Forensic Psychiatry before Christmas. I was already interested in psychiatry due to my previous degree but it’s not the most popular speciality. Been involved in a society puts me in touch with like-minded people and gives everyone an opportunity to get involved in something they are passionate about. There are societies for lots of different branches of medicine here at Warwick so no matter what your interests you’ll be able to find a group of like-minded people to work with. As well as all the extra-curricular activities you’ll find within the medical school if you look a little further there are lots of amazing opportunities out there. The medical school inform us of prizes or conference bursaries we might want to apply for and I myself decided to apply for a Pathfinder fellowship from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, this is a scheme designed to nurture people interested in psychiatry from the end of medical school until they apply for speciality training. After a scary interview in London I was told I had been successful so I’m really excited to be part of this national scheme. All the Royal Colleges have discounts and prizes for students and many of them offer mentoring opportunities. It really pays to keep your eyes open for these opportunities as they are great for your CV and sometimes the purse strings!

Next week the 3rd years return to lectures two days a week and then spend the rest of the week in hospital. This is Advanced cases 2, lectures to prepare us for our speciality blocks in January and a chance to refresh our clinical skills. I’m going to be based at the large hospital in Coventry, UHCW. Myself and a group of other students have been assigned to a cardiologist, gastroenterologist, palliative care doctor, oncologist and some anaesthetists who we can all spend time with. I’ve not spent time in some of these specialties yet so I think I’ll try and make the most of them as next year our timetables aren’t as flexible.

Medicine is really what you make of it, be it how many extra-curricular commitments you have, how you use your clinical placements or how you study from lectures. Sometimes I make life difficult for myself by trying to squeeze too much in, but if I’ll only be a medical student once and I’m determined to make the most of the freedom being a student brings.. at least until I have to start revising for finals!

Joanne

Luke Pemberton : 22 Nov 2016 13:08 |  Tags: Joanne Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem