Student Profile - Caitlin
Tell us about yourself and your experience applying to Medical School. Did you take part in any outreach programmes?
My name is Caitlin, I’m 20 years old and I’m from Leeds. I am currently in my second year of medical school at Hull York Medical School, and so far, I absolutely love it.
I would describe my experience applying to medical school as challenging, yet extremely rewarding and I learnt so much along the way. I took my A-Levels in Maths, Chemistry and Biology as well as an EPQ. I made sure to take part in as many extra-curricular activities as I could fit in also. These mainly consisted of netball, dance and volunteering work for the school. These helped me develop skills I could talk about at interview.
The application to medical school is very lengthy, especially compared to your peers, which can be stressful and de-motivating at times. I remember having periods where I doubted myself and didn’t know if it would be worth it in the end. However, I can assure you it is! I found exercise to really help me as a coping mechanism throughout the application process when it felt difficult. It is important to find ways to achieve a healthy work-life balance which will be useful throughout medical school as well.
In terms of outreach programmes, I took part in two over the summer between year 12 and year 13. Both summer schools provided me with some extra insight knowledge into what the medical field is like, and I also learnt skills such as how to answer interview style questions. I would recommend taking part in any outreach programmes you can as they can be helpful for your application. One of the main takeaways I got from the outreach programmes I attended, was the importance of reflecting on yourself. Reflecting on the activities you take part in can help you recognise the skills you learnt and developed and how you can improve for the future. This will be very useful when you get to the interview stage of the application process so a top tip from me would be to start a reflection diary.
Overall, my experience applying to medical consisted of lots of mixed emotions, but I learnt so much and it was all worth it in the end when I found out I was accepted on results day.
What advice do you have for writing your personal statement?
I like to think of a personal statement as like a blurb for a book. It needs to be short and sweet but give the reader enough information about you to want to find out more and invite you to interview. My top tips to do this would be to make a list of all the activities and achievements you have taken part in and then match them to skills you learnt or developed along the way. This way you can prioritise which achievements will be able to show you off the best. Also, remember to make your personal statement medicine specific (even if you have a 5th option which isn’t medicine)!
What advice do you have for preparing for admissions tests?
Practise, practise, practise. The earlier you start the better, but don’t overload yourself at the beginning. Make sure to build up your revision slowly and don’t worry if it seems too hard at first. It will get easier the more you practise. Admissions tests are not supposed to be easy. However, with enough time you will start to recognise the patterns to answer the questions. I would also recommend booking any admissions tests for before the school year starts again, so you can focus on your exams when back at school without having to worry about the admissions test.
How do you develop your communication skills?
Communication skills are vital in the medical field. It is very important you feel confident in communicating with a wide range of people from different backgrounds. In order to do this, I would recommend taking part in something which challenges your social skills. Whether that’s a new job, joining a sports team or volunteering in your local area, all of these will help you build up your communicating skills.
Would you recommend taking a gap year?
I personally didn’t take a gap year and I found the transition from school into university completely fine. I didn’t have the money to go travelling and I was just excited to start as soon as possible. However, I do know a lot of people who did choose to take a gap year and benefited so much from it. Those who took one say they enjoyed having a year to just have a break, whereas some used it to gain more experience and develop skills for their application. There is no right answer, you just have to do what is right for you at the time and don’t be put off if you think being a year older is going to have an impact. People start medicine at all sorts of ages!
What did you consider when you chose which university to apply for?
There were many things I considered when choosing which university to apply for. Some aspects being essential, whilst others were just added benefits. It is important you look into each university before applying because you are going to spending at least 5 years there. I would recommend collating all of your research into a spreadsheet to help visualise your choices. When I did this, I made sure to compare:
- Distance from home
- How expensive the city was to live
- Campus vs City
- Societies on offer
- PBL vs Traditional style
- How they sore UCAT/GCSEs/Personal Statement for interview
For me, I wanted to be close to home and ideally be living on a campus style uni. I also was very keen to join sports teams, so I made sure to choose universities which had lots on offer. Remember, you only get four choices, so make sure you spend some time putting in the research to ensure you make the right decision for you!
Did you have a back-up plan if you didn’t get into medical school?
For me, I knew medicine was the only degree I wanted to do. I had put all of my time and energy into applying to medicine and so I didn’t end up putting a 5th choice on my UCAS. I knew that any other degree I would have turned down if I didn’t get an offer to study medicine. This meant my back-up plan would have been a gap year to gain more knowledge and develop my skills in order to reapply to medical school the following year. This is because, for me, one extra year was nothing compared to another degree in something I wasn’t as invested in.
What is your top piece of advice for students applying to medical school?
My top piece of advice when applying to medical school would be to keep a reflection diary. A reflection diary consists of writing a small summary of what you have learnt from activities you take part in. You can write about any new skills you learnt or what you developed as well as how you could change to improve for the future. They can be extremely beneficial when it comes to writing your personal statement as well as answering interview questions. The skill of reflecting is also a great one to have before medical school because it is something you are assessed in all the time as a medical student and as a doctor.
Do you work alongside your studies?
Personally, I don’t have a job alongside studying medicine because for me, the balance between my studies, sport commitments and personal time fills my week up. However, despite not being able to work a ‘standard job’, I do work as an ambassador for the medical school which is extremely flexible to my timetable and provides some amazing opportunities alongside earning a little bit of money, so I would recommend looking into this if your medical school offers it! It is not impossible to manage a job alongside medicine, you just need to decide how you want to prioritise your time.
How do you manage the workload?
I think the key to managing the workload is to do little and often and to not compare yourself with others on the course. There is a lot of content to learn and it would be impossible to cram before an exam, so it is important to make time every day to cover some content. Taking breaks is important too and I would recommend joining a society, or having an activity that you enjoy doing which is separate to medicine, in order to give your brain some escapism when you need it.
Do you take part in any societies?
Yes! I play netball for both the University team and the Medics only team and they are one of my favourite parts of university. I have met so many of my best friends through netball as well as it being such a diversion from my studies to help me achieve a good work-life balance. I have also been fortunate enough to be on committee for the medics team, which provided me with new opportunities and helped develop my skills, which will be useful in the medical field, as well.
Despite medicine being an intense course, it is so easy to fit in societies with your timetable as long as you stay organised and ensure you prioritise what is right for you.
What is your favourite part of medical school?
My favourite part of medical school has got to be anatomy. We are given a booklet with the anatomy we need to learn each week before having an in-person session to consolidate our knowledge. In this session we get to learn though plastic models as well as being fortunate enough to use cadaveric tissue, which is fascinating. Biology was always my favourite subject at school, and it is amazing how much more I have learnt about the human body since being at medical school. Having the opportunity each week to visualise and see how the structures relate to each other on a cadaver is so valuable and I feel so lucky each week to be in the position I am in. Alongside anatomy, placement is also up there with one of my favourite parts. Each week I get to consult with a real patient and learn from them, as well as practise my communication and problem-solving skills. Yes, it can be daunting at times, but the rewarding feeling you get post placement is overwhelming and it excites me for the positive difference I will be able to make when I become a doctor.
What is the most difficult part of medical school?
The most difficult part of medical school for me is knowing how much content to learn in order to apply my knowledge. Medicine is a very content-heavy course and there is always more you could know about a topic. This becomes difficult especially during exam season when you start to compare yourself with how much you know against your peers. It’s important to do little and often in terms of your learning and to have a form of pastime to break up your studies. It is very easy to become stressed when your peers know more about something than you do, but I have learnt to recognise that I most likely know more than them about another topic. It is also beneficial to work with your medic friends to teach each other what you have learnt to both consolidate your own understanding and learn from others. Overall, medicine can be stressful at times, and it is easy to become unmotivated, therefore it is vital you have foundations in place before you start in terms of coping mechanisms which work for you and the ability to stay organised and on top of your learning.
What are your plans for after university?
After I graduate, I plan on staying to complete my first two foundation years in the UK and then I am hoping to complete a third foundation year abroad, hopefully in Australia. Once I have experienced this, my plan is to specialise in paediatrics, as this specialty has always been of interest to me, however I am going to wait until I rotor through all the specialities to decide which one suits me and my lifestyle the best.