Hey every1. Can't believe I never knew of this site before!
Anyhow. I'm starting medical school soon, sept 2008 and was just wondering
if anyone could give me a little bit of advice on life at medical school. I know this is a stupid question, but is it a major jump from A-levels? Am I still going to have a life by the end of it. I'm quite social and i'm jumping at the idea of spending all my time in my little bedroom reading hours on end. Maybe I'm just overreacting but any advice will be greatly apreciated
hi there muslimamedic, first of all well done!
I know how hard it is to get into a UK medical school, and the fact that you
were deemed good enough to get in should reassure you throughout the 'downs' of medical school.
Every medical school is different, but everyone of them will demand a lot more dedication than
A-levels. As long as you make sure you are on top of the work from week 1, you'll be fine. Your organisational
skills will be tested, because of the sheer quantity of information you need to be able to regurgitate at the end
of the year. The main difference to A-level is the quantity of info, (gone are the days where you could survive on just past papers)
then there is the breath of info depending on which med school you're at in your 1st year you could cover modules from epidemiology to pathology. For many ppl their first exposure to anatomy is a big challenge, again because of the amount of info and the detail required, you might also be dissecting cadavers.
There is no shortage of social events, these days there are many fellow muslims in medschool, and more likely than not there will be some sort of muslim association/students union.
I know somalis in half a dozen medschools, which one are you going to (my hunch is Sheffield, my sources tell me there's a bunch of somalis who got in this year.)? I'm sure you wont be alone.