50 at 50: No research about me without me! Welcoming the patient and public voice to research

A lot has happened in healthcare and research over the last 50 years since the University of Nottingham Medical School was born. Not just in breakthrough treatments and diagnostics, blockbuster drug development and in tackling our first pandemic since 1918; but also in opening up medicine and healthcare to include the views and experiences of …

The Elective

Hi, Rob again. As I come to the end of my degree, I thought I would write a blog about what is undoubtedly the highlight of medical school for many — the elective period. This is an opportunity for clinical phase medical students to go anywhere in the world for a set period of time …

Intro to CP1

 I’m Helena, a third year medical student reaching the end of my first month of our first placement, CP1. Having spent two years in lectures, half a year doing dissertation and countless hours working for exams it definitely felt like the time to finally get onto the wards. Now surrounded by the people putting this …

Top 10 Freshers’ Fails!

1. “I’ll leave all my revision notes till the end of term and do them all at once” Inevitably you will miss the odd lecture or you’ll sit through 4 hours of Behavioural Sciences and have no idea what you’ve just learnt. Make the most of the occasional free hour and do a bit of work …

More tips for the wards!

Hi everyone, Jon again with some more high quality wisdom for clinical placements! 3. Learn the surgical sieve This. Consultants have a habit of asking medical students what the causes of things are. My go-to move when that happens is to physically and mentally freeze up, look around me in a panic as if the …

What qualities make a good doctor?

This was a question I was asked during my med school interview at Nottingham. At the time, I reeled off the key qualities I felt were important, such as leadership, team working, communication and time-keeping skills as well as empathy. At the time though, I didn’t fully grasp how these qualities made a good doctor. …

A day on the wards

Hello! I’m Hannah and currently on the same rotation as Rob who posted last week (Obs and Gynae) and I thought I’d share with you my typical day. If there is ever such a thing in medicine… 8am: Ward round with my consultant. In obs and gynae this consists of seeing any new admissions that my …