Hosting the Student Wilderness Medicine Conference 2017

The SWMUK Conference is one of the largest events in the Student Wilderness Medicine calendar, attracting hundreds of healthcare students, of all ages and experiences, from universities across the UK (and beyond!) The term “conference” is deceptive, however, and those expecting a sedentary weekend of lecture halls and awkward small-talk will be sorely disappointed by …

My Clinical Phase 1 Experience

Hi, my name is Hayley and I am fourth year medical student on my Clinical Phase 2 placement. Moving to the clinical phases is an exciting time that us medics have been looking forward to the most- getting the patient experience and getting to do hands on tasks! It may also seem very daunting at the …

Running the London Marathon (Part 2)

It has now been a week since completing the 2017 Virgin London Marathon for Team Heads Together. My legs are feeling normal again and my toes still attached. Running a marathon is really tough! The method in my madness was to break it down into four sections – pretty much running four 10km runs. Marathon …

Placement in psychiatry and running the London Marathon (Part 1)

Dan Townley, one of our final-year graduate entry medical students, describes his placement in psychiatry and shares how it motivated him to run the London Marathon to help raise awareness of mental health issues.  I felt a little unsure about what to expect from my placement in psychiatry – perceptions undoubtedly shaped by my limited experience …

Life as an international student

Accents, bad stereotypes and a culture shock; the typical ABCs of being an international student. Coming from Singapore, a tremendously westernized country, I did not believe I would struggle with any of these when I moved here to study medicine. That’s where I was wrong. Food Life is so different here from back home in …

Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM)

What: It’s a shortened four-year medicine course for graduates. It gives people from different ages and backgrounds another route to come into medicine Advantages… Shorter course! Allows a different route into medicine to people who might not have been able to access it at 18 More independent learning NHS funding from years 2-4 to help …

Regional GP work experience scheme

A total of 20 aspiring doctors took part in a Health Education England-funded GP work experience scheme targeted at year 12 students across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. The aim of this initiative is to improve access to medicine for students from less advantaged backgrounds in the East Midlands. Eligibility to this scheme was designed to align with the …

What happens after Medical School?

Hi everyone, it’s TJ again. I’ve just finished my final exams at medical school and am busy sorting out what I’ll be doing when I start work as a junior doctor in August. Here’s a quick overview of what happens after medical school: The current training pathway After studying for 4-6 years at medical school, …

The wait for university offers…

If you’re still waiting for university offers, have a re-read of Fern’s great advice on how to stay positive! My name is Fern Buller and, in some sort of miracle, I am now a second year medical student at Nottingham. This past year has been the most amazing experience; I have loved almost every moment …

Medical school admissions — Multi Mini Interviews (MMI)

Hayley again, with some advice on MMI! The University of Nottingham School of Medicine has recently moved from the traditional interview style to the multi mini interview (MMI) format which many universities seem to be doing nowadays. What is the MMI format like? From my own experience of the MMI format at Bristol University, the …