All 2 entries tagged Joanne

Bring on Christmas!

Phew, I can honestly say I have never enjoyed myself so much or been more exhausted as I have been in the last 11 weeks. Semester 1 has really flown by and I can’t believe I have completed two full blocks of medicine already! At times I’ve felt like I don’t know which way is up anymore with the constant stream of lectures, CBL work, clinical skills and then our community days which bring their own challenges with them. I am finding medical school hard but I am also proud of all that I have achieved so far.

I know I’m not only one lacking confidence in their knowledge and skills on this course. This course has been more intense than my previous undergraduate degree and even my PhD. We have a full timetable of lectures during the week and then every Friday is spent at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, by the time Friday night comes round I’m usually asleep by the time my partner comes home from work! Medical school isn’t all work and no play though. I have joined the Medics Mixed Hockey Club and even survived a hockey tour in Southampton while dressed as an Alien from Toy Storey!

The things I’ve enjoyed most are Friday’s at the hospital. I start my day with Clinical skills where we are taught by practicing doctors and practice in small groups. We have all become very good actors while practicing histories and I can actually use my stethoscope properly now! In the afternoon I have clinical anatomy in the surgical training centre where we have access to anatomical specimens and use 3D TV’s to see the structures from our lectures in incredible detail. I’m hoping that if I work hard at Anatomy I may be able to secure a place on the summer anatomy course in Grenada - a fine way to spend my last long summer!

I have also really enjoyed working with my CBL group. We have had to constantly re-evaluate how we are working in order to optimise our time in CBL and we have spent a lot of time the last few weeks teaching each other when we have been struggling with particular topics. This is where working with all graduates and from different backgrounds is so helpful-we all have different area of expertise and can all bring something unique to the group. We have all worked so hard this semester but we have had fun as a group too, we have enjoyed some lovely lunches in Leamington Spa on our community days, we have had several birthday cakes and also had our own CBL Christmas party at the postgraduate halls on campus.

I’m looking forward to the Christmas break - I’m going catch up on my notes and flashcards (a lifesaver in medical school if you don’t already use them) for the first couple of weeks and then I plan to put my feet up and relax!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from a tired but very happy first year medical student!

Megan Earle : 15 Dec 2014 10:22 |  Tags: Christmas Joanne Mbchb Student Wms |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Hi my name is Joanne…

Hi my name is Joanne and I’m a first year medical student here at WMS and I still can’t believe I’m able to say that! This is my first blog post and I hope you enjoy hearing about my experiences (positive and negative) of been a fresher all over again.

The path to medicine for me has been quite long with a few twists and turns along the way. At school it was my lifelong ambition to become a doctor but whilst studying my A-levels, working part time and volunteering something changed and I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t feel able to commit to a 5 year medicine degree and instead decided to study a degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Sheffield. I made the most of my first degree and developed an interest in medical research. After my degree I decided to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience at Newcastle University (my home town).

After another 3 long years I finished my PhD and went out into the real world for the first time as a Postdoctoral researcher, but something was different. I didn’t feel like my research was really making a difference to patients. I was talking to clinicians about my work and where it could lead but found myself wishing I was in their shoes as they went off to their clinics to actually put their research into practice and I headed back to the lab. I knew then that I wanted to study medicine, but I had to be sure. Making the decision to return to university and change career was not easy but the time I spent volunteering with patients and shadowing clinicians and speaking to other graduates studying medicine convinced me that even if I was crazy I wasn’t the only one!

Receiving my offer from Warwick was a dream come true. Warwick’s emphasis on early contact with patients really appealed to me. Also the fact that the course is graduates only mean that you have people from a variety of backgrounds who all have their own unique experiences to bring to the course. This has really helped with our case-based learning sessions, in my group we have students who are qualified chiropractors, teachers, civil servants as well as students who have recently graduated and have great study tips for those of us who have been out of education for a while.

The medical school here at Warwick has a real community atmosphere to it, as I walk from the main campus past ducks and geese on the pond and through ancient woodland up the hill to the medical school the contrast between Warwick’s campus and the city-based universities I’m used to could not be more apparent. I’ve become a regular at the café here at the medical school and already have my favourite spot in the BioMed Grid (the library and study area here at the medical school) and the first term isn’t even over yet! Life as a medical student here at Warwick is hectic, I have learnt so much already, but there is time to enjoy ourselves too - more about that in my next post!

Megan Earle : 09 Dec 2014 09:23 |  Tags: Joanne Mbchb Student Warwick |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem