September 3, 2014, by studentcontributor

Echolalia!

When I was at school I had it all planned out; my favourite subjects were art and graphics and I was going to carry on with those, become a graphic designer and maybe, just maybe, get the dream job of being designer for a glossy magazine. Then I did my work experience in the art department of my local hospital where I helped out running art workshops for children at the cleft lip and palate clinic and was completely inspired by the work of the surgeons done there. It was after this that I had a change of heart and decided to apply to medical school.

Two years later I found myself starting at Nottingham. Even though I did not regret coming to study medicine, I wasn’t quite ready to let my old ambition go and at the end of my first year got involved with setting up the medical school magazine, Echolalia. As far as we knew, we would be the only medical school with a magazine and we wanted it to be produced entirely by healthcare students. I was given the job of designing the magazine and creating all the branding. It was hard work but great to be doing what I had enjoyed for so long. It wasn’t until we started that we realised just how much planning and work went into creating a magazine. The first issue finally came out six months later and the team were all really proud of what we’d produced. Even though it wasn’t what I had imagined all the way through school, I had achieved my ambition in some way – I had not only become designer for a glossy magazine but a magazine that I had helped to set up, promote and write for and the first of its kind!

Three years later and Echolalia is still going strong. I’ve managed to recruit a team of designers and become deputy editor-in-chief, in charge of editing all the designs and collating the final magazine. We’ve also expanded our team and welcome new writers for every issue.

If I could say anything to you as future medical students it would be that it doesn’t matter if you have wanted to be a doctor since childhood or not. Medical school is entirely what you make of it. If there is something you are good at or have always wanted to do then do it. You’ll never know if you can achieve it unless you try.

Have a look at the latest issue of Echolalia here:

http://www. issuu.com/echolalia_magazine/docs/online_issue/1

Mei Henry

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