Medical School
I am a 4th year medical student at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. I write about my experiences throughout medical school and other things you might find useful.
Applications & Study Advice 🙇♀️
There are two main purposes of this section. One is to help college/sixth form students who are thinking of applying to study medicine. The other is to give study advice to current medical students, especially those in 1st to 3rd year.
When I was 17-18 years old, I was the only one applying to medical schools from my cohort. The college I went to did not have an extensive track record of helping students apply for medical schools in the UK, so I was pretty much on my own with regards to the UKCAT & BMAT, as well as the interview. Hence, I have a LOT of advice to give on what to and not to do for during med school application / A levels, especially if you are from a low-resource school where you do not get personalised coaching on your application.
As for current medical students, you do not really need me to tell you that the jump from A Levels/IBs/Advanced Highers to medicine is pretty daunting. I struggled to "learn how to learn" during first and second year, before finally finding my footing in third year. During third year, amidst a global pandemic, I was forced to re-evaluate the way I have been studying. I watched a bunch of Med YouTubers' videos and stumbled across Ali Abdaal's videos on active recall and spaced repetition. Those videos honestly changed my life, and after applying those techniques in my own learning, I definitely witnessed steady improvement in my revision.
Hence, for a start, I would recommend you read my post "How Active Recall and Spaced Repetition Helped Me Ace My Third-Year Exams" first because those two study concepts form the foundation on which everything else is built.
I also write about which app I use to revise anatomy, my revision schedule for third year exams (useful to those in 1st and second year too), and other academic stuff you might find worth your time.
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How Active Recall and Spaced Repetition Helped Me With My Third-Year Exams
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How I Revised For My Third-Year Medical Exams Within A Month 🙇♀️
Extra-curricular
Of course, your five (or six) years in medical school should entail more than just slaving away in front of your books. This is the time for you to explore your potential and interests outside of medicine.
For example, I love teaching, hence I have been helping out with teaching events since first year of med. I also love creative writing, so I chose to study this subject for my medical humanities course in Aberdeen. I thought I love swimming so I joined the swimming society in Aberdeen. Big mistake.
In this section, you will find posts about extra-curricular opportunities I have undertaken throughout medical school. These include doing a research project in immunology as a first-year med student, becoming a summer school mentor in first year too, and so much more.
I also write about topics like why you should sign up to become a PALS tutor to other medical students, or which medical societies you should consider being a part of.
Essentially, this is a nose-dive into my "CV world". Enjoy!
Experiences
We are story-tellers. Whilst anecdotes and verbal accounts have never been the most credible of primary sources, there is no denying that they are the most compelling.
In this section, you will find written accounts of my life experiences I find worth sharing. Since I am currently in medical school, most of these posts would be centred around this phase of my life. However, I write about a wide variety of experiences, not necessarily all to do with medicine.
There is a post where I wrote about how I internalised sexism when I was still in primary school. More recently, I wrote about my experience of getting vaccinated with Oxford-AstraZeneca (I'd bet Oxford is trying to not-so-subtly dissociate from this vaccine but hey, you cannot have both the cake and eat it).
I think my posts here will reflect my vulnerability as a human as well as how much more of life I am yet to experience. I will continue to make mistakes and these will show. However, one important aspect of sharing a part of my life online, with people who might not know me, is being unapologetically myself. Hence, let's make this platform a positive one where we share our experiences with each other, have a good laugh about them, then move on without regrets.
Aberdeen & Inverness
Finally, how can I have a blog about my medical school life without having a section on where I am currently studying! Before applying to the University of Aberdeen (UoA), I had never visited Scotland before despite having studied A Levels in England for two years.
In this section, I will share what it is like to live in Aberdeen, my advice when it comes to accommodation, and more. If you are not from Aberdeen and want to know more about this granite city, these posts should be helpful.
I would say this- the highlands are absolutely breathtaking. Covid and exams have limited my hiking trips this year, but I am so blessed to have visited Aviemore and taken the scenic route through the highlands during my first and second year. If you love nature and the great outdoors, Aberdeen is definitely the city for you!
I will soon be starting my 4th year and will spend the entire year in Inverness on the remote & rural programme. This programme is only available in UoA (as far as I know). If you are an Aberdeen med student, do follow my journey in Inverness!
I have never been to Inverness before so this is going to be a new adventure to look forward to!