How did you get involved in Medic Mentor and why?
Studying medicine seemed like a haze in the distant future. I had no exposure to medicine from both a school or family perspective with my initial exposure to the hospital setting being my S4 work experience.
After completing my placement, my school informed of the Medic Mentor Family to gain more information on medicine as a career and the application process, providing me with the opportunity to attend the Get Into Medicine Conference.
What were you most scared of/worried about when it came to applying to medical school?
The scare of the competitiveness surrounding medicine is always communicated however gaining advice and guidance is equally as challenging. As an individual wanting to study medicine, the fear of failure was instilled within me especially prior to gaining the support of Medic Mentor.
Describe your experience of the Get into Medicine Conference
I attended the Get into Medicine Conference in March 2020, right before the pandemic hit, allowing me the opportunity to attend it in person. The conference was one of the most important factors allowing me to make the informed decision to study medicine. The motivation I felt after attending was surreal. I managed to network with like minded students and doctors to gain that addition propel towards my goals.
Describe your experience of the Awards Programme
The Medical Awards programme has been essential in ensuring that everything that I dedicate towards my application is kept organised and conducted in a timely manner.
The Medical Awards ensured that I kept a log of my reflections, certifications and references to bring ease when completing my application and to reduce the burden of having to find pieces of work during the application process peak.
Describe your experience of the Summer School
The Medic Mentor Summer School has been the best investment into my career pathway. It was a dedicated week to just completing and perfecting my university application with fellow scholars and applying students, with the doctors overlooking the whole time.
Although one tends to discuss that residential week, I also received constant monitoring throughout the year-long Summer School programme and 6 weeks of UCAT training as part of the package, allowing me to reach my full potential while receiving guidance from scholars who had been through the pathway.
Describe your experience of writing personal statements, what was difficult and what helped?
The first sentence of the personal statement is always the most challenging. As our mentors usually say ‘what is the hook of your story’. This captivates the audience and since I was a Summer School student during the application process, I gained 1st hand guidance on writing my personal statement and constantly reading and refining my application. This alleviated a lot of stress as I knew that I had 1 whole dedicated week for my personal statement and had done the bulk of my work with the awards programme.
Describe your experience of preparing for the UCAT, what was Difficult and what helped?
The UCAT is an exam that is like no other. It’s based on the way you think and your problem solving skills, unlike our school exams which are based on revision and theory.
The most difficult experience of my UCAT was preventing my peak from occurring too quickly. I had planned to do my UCAT exam at the end of August however due to circumstances I had to change the date to mid September. This meant that I was hitting 6 weeks of intense studying and began to burn out. I contacted the team at Medic Mentor and their guidance prevented me from peaking too early and spacing out my revision to ensure that I didn’t burn out.
Describe your experience of preparing for the interviews, what was difficult and what helped?
My interviews were done online for all 4 universities, but each one had a different style of interviewing. This meant that I had to learn 4 different interview styles as well as prepare for the interview questions. Even with interviews it comes to the reflections that you have done over the last couple of months.
One top tip that I followed in the lead up to interview season was reflecting on everything. Use the GIBBS model and write a short 100-150 word reflection on everything you do. This gets you into good practice of reflection and is one of the best ways to prepare.
Describe your experience of preparing for school exams, what was difficult and what helped?
School exams are based upon theory and active recall. The method that works best for me is a fusion between creating mind maps and the blurting method. This is a study technique that I also use to revise for my medicine exams. This allows me to elaborate on all the key aspects that I know about the topic from recall and then anything I do not recall in a different colour. This allows a focussed revision session as humans have a tendency to revise over topics that we find easy and allows a small removal from our comfort zones.
Why did you choose to apply for the scholarship programme?
The scholarship programme is an invaluable experience to network with other medical students and work together to give back to Medic Mentor. The programme has also allowed me to continually work on my professional development for factors such as portfolios and applying to specialities.
I have also gained an invaluable mentor along the way (Dr Chantelle Smith) who has provided me with amazing insight and opportunities to enhance my skills, as well as reminding me to take a break along the way.
How have you found being a medical student?
The jump from high school to university is challenging and finding your people takes time but it makes the whole process a lot more enjoyable. The 1st year has been so memorable, from attending my first dissection labs to experiencing our PBL sessions and creating lifelong friendships.
When applying, medicine can seem like a distant dream on cloud nine but the hard work and dedication will be worth it in the end.
Good luck, you have got this!
