All entries for Friday 09 December 2016

Autumn Term drawing to a close.

The autumn term of our third year is drawing to a close and it’s hard to escape the feeling of mild terror that surrounds me. It’s been a great term, and I’ve learned so much, but I know that things are going to get a lot busier for the rest of my time at medical school after the coming Christmas break.

First we had eight weeks of our Student-Selected Component, a research project designed to acquaint us with the world of medical research. Students could either design their own projects or use one which was arranged by the medical school. I elected to do my own, and after a herculean feat of organisation and form-filling, managed to spend a month in The Gambia collecting data for an audit on tuberculosis investigations. It changed my life. The research project was very interesting, and it piqued my interest in global health – and especially the plight of those outside of the UK who are far less fortunate than we are. I read a lot of articles about TB diagnosis and spent (probably) far more time than I would have ever thought I would poring through WHO reports.

After SSC, we enjoyed three weeks of Advanced Cases 2, which combined lots of familiar elements of our course. Over the three weeks, we had Monday and Tuesday in lecture, and Wednesday through Friday on the wards. The lectures have been either covering old topics, introductions to the upcoming Specialist Clinical Placement blocks or covering an entirely new topic afresh. It’s been great to spend some time in the lecture theatre again after a few months of being away. I appreciate the structure and have found that it helps me learn better.

We also met our new CBL groups – after the first two years with the same CBL groups, we have now landed with an entirely different bunch of people. But the great thing about our course is that (I strongly feel) the people really are selected because of, among other things, their ability to work with others. I don’t know anyone in my group terribly well, but I know that we’ll get on just fine because everyone in the cohort is a very easy and personable person to work with. Initial suspicions have so far proven completely correct.

I’m looking forward to the start of clinical placements but have a little bit of apprehension as well. When I think of what we need to know – and know automatically, without hesitation! – before our final exams, a mere 14 months away, I am frankly terrified. But a very wise GP (also a Warwick grad, of course!) once told me that the key to memorisation is repetition. The more you see something, the more likely it is to stick in your head. I’m hoping she’s right. Now it’s just a matter of getting all that stuff onto paper and seeing it in practice. I know what I’m doing over my Christmas break!

John

Luke Pemberton : 09 Dec 2016 10:31 |  Tags: John Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem