October 3, 2017, by studentcontributor

A peek into 2nd year of medicine

Hey! I’m Shreyashi and I’m currently in 3rd Year. I thought that I’d share some insight into how 2nd Year was for my friends and I.

2nd Year starts off with you being plunged into the wonderful yet intense world of anatomy; covering the wonders of the digestive system, the nether regions, head, neck and brain (my personal favourite!) Hopefully, by this time you’ll be accustomed to the gruelling sessions and the dreaded questions at the end of the weekly 3 hours.

Alongside anatomy, you will study Alimentary System and Nutrition (ASN), where you will be introduced to the world of acid reflux and Barrett’s oesophagus. You’ll have the joy of being taught by Dr Dunn (Yes, he comes back!) and explore the world of nutrition with Dr. Tsintzas. Additionally, you’ll learn about the complicated functioning of teeny tiny nephrons in the module on renal and endocrine systems. The second part of this module consists of the endocrine systems and how hormones carry out their functions and how they affect one another.

Only 3 modules- sounds pretty good right? Don’t be fooled! You’ll be bombarded with 6/7 modules after January exams. One of them is CLS, the infamous year-long module- don’t neglect this module in the first semester, if not you will have a huge number of lectures to rewatch on top of everything else! The optional modules are A13 level and are examined mainly by essay writing, bar a few. The actual essay writing isn’t too bad- it’s the preparation for it that is challenging because it’s the first time you will have to do a significant amount of self-guided research. (For some modules, the amount expected is significantly greater as well.)

A word of caution, Year 2’s second semester is quite challenging- it’s rumoured to be the toughest of the five pre-clinical semesters. Everyone feels overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of lectures and the enormity of some modules. (GBP is a godsend in that sense.) Don’t forget your communication skills coursework either! Remember to finish of your patient interviews as soon as possible!

To add another dimension to 2nd year, you’ll have to produce a 500 word essay which is based on interviewing numerous patients for the communication skills module- it is quite different to first year! You will speak to patients with hearing difficulties, children and those who are distressed to name just a few.

To sum up everything, this year will be full of decisions (when March rolls around, you will have to think about homebase selection- watch out for my article on that in the future). As a heads up, you’ll have lectures after Easter holidays (despite exams being in two weeks!) and they aren’t to be taken lightly, some of the lectures can be quite challenging. As for homebases, you’ll have made the decision before you leave for Easter, so you won’t have to worry about that during study leave.

Good luck!

Written by Shreyashi Verma, Third Year Medical Student. WAMs Committee

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