Burnout can be defined as a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion as a result of chronic stress. It is characterised by feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, cynicism and anger. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose interest and motivation, reducing your productivity in the long run as well as depleting your energy. The impact of the burnout is widespread and can infiltrate many aspects of your life e.g. relationships, outcomes, health etc. By recognising the signs of burnout and developing preventative techniques as well as ways to overcome it, we can possibly reduce the incidence of such in the long run. Medical school is an extremely competitive, challenging environment. The constant pressure and high expectations from those around you can quickly become overwhelming. From academic pressures and educational debt, to personal life events, learning environment and exposure to human suffering, contribute to heightened levels of stress and poor mental health in medical students. According to research conducted by Cecil et al, more than half of the participants (undergraduate medical students) (54.8%) reported experiencing high levels of Emotional Exhaustion, 34% reported high levels of Depersonalisation and 46.6% reported low levels of Personal Achievement. Overall, 26.7% of participants met the criteria to be considered ‘burned out’. As doctors and healthcare professionals the constant weight of responsibility, pressure to see a high volume of patients and the vast amount of rules and regulations one is forced to keep up with can negatively impact ones well-being. Being a doctor is certainly a great privilege, but it is also an enormous tax on the emotions and the high stress nature of the job makes doctors particularly susceptible to burnout. Doctors experiencing burnout are reported to be at a higher risk of making poor decisions; display hostile attitude toward patients; make more medical errors; and have difficult relationships with co-workers. Burnout among doctors also increases risk of depression; anxiety; sleep disturbances; fatigue; alcohol and drug misuse; marital dysfunction; premature retirement and perhaps most seriously suicide. RECOGNISING SIGNS OF BURNOUT Burnout has a way of gradually creeping up on you, it’s easy to ignore the subtle initial symptoms however as they progressively worsen, the impact can be detrimental and the sooner they are addressed the better. If you pay attention and act to reduce your stress, you can prevent a major breakdown. Common signs of burnout include: Chronic exhaustion Cynical Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness Loss of motivation Detachment Isolation Avoidance Lethargy Making of mistakes frequently Lack of focus Irritability Loss of interest Depression Low feelings of personal accomplishment CAUSES OF BURNOUT As individuals our responses to stress differ greatly, so particularly stressors vary in their impact on our wellbeing. Quite often feeling overwhelmed is a common cause of burnout. Other causes of burnout include: Unmanageable workload Lack of control Lack of direction Lack of sleep/lack of rest Perfectionist tendencies Monotonous/ unchallenging work Lack of support Big consequences for failure Impossible/ unclear requirements PREVENTING BURNOUT Schedule your rest and incorporate it into your daily routine Regularly talking to someone whether it be a friend, family or support worker Know your capability/ don’t take too much on Exercise/ engage in hobbies regularly Set aside relaxation time e.g. meditation Writing/ Journalling thoughts and feelings Healthy diet e.g. moderate alcohol intake, less refined sugar, more omega 3 fatty acids and avoid nicotine OVERCOMING BURNOUT Take a break/ Rest: This is probably the most important point of all. Separate yourself from your source of stress and take this time to readjust your focus and remember why you started. You need to take the time out to restore yourself to the best version of you and rediscover what really makes you happy so slow down and give yourself time to rest, reflect and heal. Treat yourself: When we give ourselves treats, we feel energized, cared for and contented, which boosts our self-command—and self-command helps us maintain our healthy habits. Sleep: Feeling tired can exacerbate burnout by causing you to think irrationally. Generally speaking, the more burned out you feel, the more sleep you’re probably going to require. You may have to force yourself. For your body’s sake. And your sanity. Change your environment: Sometimes a change space is enough to clear your head and remind you of your motivation. Removing yourself from a stressful environment can give you time to think and regain strength to approach the challenges you may be facing. Talk to someone: This can relieve the burden and you do not have to approach your challenges alone. Talking face to face with a good listener is one of the fastest ways to calm your nervous system and relieve stress. Outsource: Be realistic about how much work you can handle. Relinquish some of your power and hand over some tasks to someone else. Preferably the tasks you don’t feel like doing yourself. Set Goals/ Prioritise: This is about creating a practical approach to deal with your stress. Write down what you need to do in order of priority and separate your tasks into different days when you will address them. The process of writing down pending tasks makes it easier to visualise, more achievable and not a distant concept. Identify the cause of your burnout: This is essential to avoid being in the same rut in the future and will allow you to reframe the way you approach certain tasks or stressors in the future as well as help you to recognise difficulties you are facing in this area earlier on. REFERENCES Cecil, J., C. McHale, J. Hart, and A. Laidlaw, 2014, Behaviour and burnout in medical students: Med Educ Online, v. 19, p. 25209. Kumar S. Burnout and Doctors: Prevalence, Prevention and Intervention. Leggat PA, Smith DR, eds. Healthcare. 2016;4(3):37. doi:10.3390/healthcare4030037. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm

DISCLAIMER: As Melanin Medics we thought it would be a good idea to have a central source of potential questions which we have gathered questions from several sources on the internet (credited at the end of this post). There are a lot of questions below and we do not expect you to go through every single one and develop in depth answers for each but rather we recommend you derive a strategy to approach unexpected questions in a coherent, clear manner as well as get a feel of potential questions that may be asked. They are organised categorically so if you feel a particular area is your weak point, practise answering several questions in that category. We are more than happy to add to these questions as well as answer any queries you may have and make sure you have checked out our ‘Preparing for Medical School Interviews’ blog post. BACKGROUND & MOTIVATION Tell us about yourself. Take us through your personal statement. Why do you want to be a doctor? What do you want to achieve in medicine? What qualities do you think make a good doctor? What have you read or experienced in order to prepare you for medicine? Why do you believe you have the ability to undertake the study and work involved? Why do you want to be a doctor, rather than another profession that is caring or intellectually challenging? What do you think being a doctor entails, apart from treating patients? What branch of medicine do you think would interest you? Why? When you think about becoming a doctor, what do you look forward to most and least? What qualities do you think patients appreciate in a doctor? What qualities do you think colleagues appreciate in a doctor? What impact do you hope to make in the field of medicine? What one question would you ask if you were interviewing others to study medicine? What would you most like us to ask you in this interview? Why study medicine rather than any other health care profession? How do you think medicine differs from other health professions? What aspect of healthcare attracts you to medicine? Why do you want to be a doctor? If you were to become a doctor, how would you wish your patients to describe you and why? What steps have you taken to try to find out whether you really do want to become a doctor? What things do you think might make people inclined to drop out of medical training? There are many different ways of helping people. Why do you want to study medicine, rather than working in any other health or social care professions? Can you tell us about any particular life experiences that you think may help or hinder you in a career in medicine? How would you dissuade someone from going into Medicine. How old are you when you become a consultant? If you were not offered a place to study Medicine, what would you do? What do you think you will find most difficult about a career in medicine? KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICAL SCHOOL What interests you about the curriculum at [Medical School]? What previous experiences have you had of learning in a small group setting? When you read the [Medical School] prospectus, what appealed to you or interested you in the course here? Tell us what attracts you most and least about [Medical School]. What do you know about the course at [Medical School]? Why do you think it will suit you personally? What do you know about PBL? Why do you want to come to a PBL medical school? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of a PBL course? I expect you have thought about problem-based learning. Why do you think a PBL course will suit you personally? Tell us about 2 other aspects of the programme that will also suit you. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of coming to a new medical school? This course will require a good deal of independent study, how have you managed this approach to learning in the past? Why do you think problem based learning will suit you personally? How does this PBL school differ from the others? What previous experiences have you had of learning in a small group setting? What ways of learning work best for you? How does this fit with this medical school? What will you do if you are not accepted to medical school this year? Have you an alternative career plan? Are you aware of the main method of teaching at this Medical School? What do you think are the advantages of this style of teaching? Do you think cadaveric dissection is important for medical students? This university offers a wide range of extra-curricular societies reflecting the diversity of students and courses we have here. If you were a student here, which societies would you be interested in joining? What would you do if you fell behind on this course? DEPTH & BREADTH OF INTEREST Do you read any medical publications? Can you tell me about a significant recent advance in medicine or science? Why has this interested you? What do you consider to be important advances in medicine over the last 50 / 100 years? Have you heard about any public health campaigns recently? What is your opinion on the role of public health campaigns in medicine? Can you tell us about any significant medical stories in the media at the moment? Tell us about something in the history of medicine that interests you. Have you seen a film or read a book recently that has made you think, and why? What do you think is the most important medical discovery in the last 100 – 200 years, and why? If a benefactor offered you a huge amount of money to set up a Medical Research Institute and invited you to become its director, what research area would you choose to look at, and why? Can you tell us about a book or a film that has influenced you as a person or made you think, and why? Tell me about someone who has been a major influence on you as a person / in your life? What do you think was the greatest public health advance of the twentieth century? Can you describe an interesting place you have been to (not necessarily medical) and explain why it was so? Do you think putting a man on the moon money well spent? If yes – why? If no – how would you have spent that money? Tell me about a non-academic project or piece of organisation that you were involved in. How did it go? If you had to have a gap year, and could go anywhere in the world or do anything, what would you chose to do, and why? How do you think the rise in information technology has influenced / will influence the practice of medicine? If you could invite 3 people, alive or dead, to dinner, who would they be? Do you think/why is research is important? What are the benefits of research? What limitations are there of medical research? Can you give an example of how medical research has been beneficial? Have you thought about what you would like to specialise in? EMPATHY Give an example of a situation where you have supported a friend in a difficult social circumstance. What issues did they face and how dod you help them What does the word empathy mean to you. How do you differentiate empathy from sympathy? Is it right for doctors to ‘feel for their patients’? What thoughts and feelings might face someone offered alcohol to celebrate after receiving a liver transplant? A person with learning disabilities is regularly being teased by their neighbours. How might that affect them? What do you guess an overweight person might feel and think after being told their arthritis is due to their weight? A friend has asked your advice on how to tell her parents that she intends to drop out of university and go off travelling. How you respond? A friend tells you he feels bad because his family has always cheated to obtain extra benefits. How would you respond? TEAMWORK Thinking about your membership of a team (in a work, sport, school or other setting), can you tell us about the most important contributions you made to the team? Can you think of a team situation where your communication skills have been vital? Tell us about the situation and your contribution. Tell us about a group activity you have organised. What went well and what went badly? What did you learn from it? Tell us about a team situation you have experienced. What did you learn about yourself and about successful team-working? When you think about yourself working as a doctor, who do you think will be the most important people in the team you will be working with? Who are the important members of a multi-disciplinary healthcare team? Why? Are you a leader or a follower? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being in a team? Do teams need leaders? Modern day health care is very much a team effort. Please tell us a role that you have played in a team, and what you think you contributed. What do you think of nurses developing extended roles and undertaking tasks previously done by doctors? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of nurses replacing doctors as the first contact person in primary care? When you are a doctor you will be working in a team. Who do you see as the key members of your team, and why? How will you help the team to develop? What do you think is the role of humour in team working. Give an example. PERSONAL INSIGHT What ways of working and studying have you developed that you think will assist you through medical school? What will you need to improve? How do you think you will cope with criticism from colleagues or other health professionals? Is there such a thing as positive criticism? Give us an example of something about which you used to hold strong opinions, but have had to change your mind. What made you change? What do you think now? Have you ever been in a situation where you realise afterwards that what you said or did was wrong? What did you do about it? What should you have done? How do you think you will avoid problems of keeping up to date during a long career? What are your outside interests and hobbies? How do these compliment you as a person? Which do you think you will continue at university? Tell us two personal qualities you have which would make you a good doctor, and two personal shortcomings which you think you would like to overcome as you become doctor? Medical training is long and being a doctor can be stressful. Some doctors who qualify never practice. What makes you think you will stick to it? What do you think will be the most difficult things you might encounter during your training? How will you deal with them? What relevance to medicine are the ‘A’ levels (apart from biology and chemistry) that you have been studying? What skills do you think are needed in order to communicate with your patients; how do you think they are best acquired? Can you learn communication skills? How have you developed your communication skills? What interests do you bring from school/college life that you think will contribute to your studies and practice? What challenges do you think a career in medicine will bring you? What do you think you will be the positive aspects and the negative aspects of being a doctor? How will you handle these? What attributes are necessary in a good doctor? Which do you have, and which do you need to develop further? Can you tell us about an interesting experience, and what you learned from it about yourself? If you are a minority candidate, how do you feel your background uniquely prepares you to be, and will influence your role as, a physician? If you are a woman, how has your gender impacted your decision to pursue a medical career? If you are not a minority, how might you best meet the needs of a multiethnic, multicultural patient population? If you are economically disadvantaged or have limited financial means, how has this adversity shaped you? To what extent do you feel that you owe a debt to your fellow man? To what extent do you owe a debt to those less fortunate than yourself? Please explain. Thinking about yourself: what characteristics do you think you would most need to change in the course of becoming a good doctor? If you could only tell me one thing about yourself, to help me to get a sense of you as a person, what would it be and why? If you could change two things about yourself, what would they be and why? What do you think are your priorities in your own personal development? What qualities do you lack that would be useful for a doctor, and what do you intend to do about this? What qualities do you think other people value in you? How do you think other people would describe you? How will you cope with being criticised or even sued? Tell me about a time that you have been sad or confused. Which of your qualities do other people find frustrating? What might you do about this? You will probably have got high marks throughout school. On this medical course, most marks are awarded  as ‘satisfactory’ or not. How will you feel about seeming ‘average’ in this new situation? How will you cope with the death of a patient as a result of your mistakes? Think of a time when you had to say ‘sorry’ to someone. How did that change your relationship with that person? Some people are always very certain that whay they believe is right. Some people are never certain. What kind of person are you in this regard? What makes a good working relationship? ROLE OF MEDICINE IN SOCIETY What is wrong with the NHS? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the NHS? Should the NHS be privatised? What are your views on euthanasia? Should the NHS fund fertility treatement for people over 40? What are the ethical issues concerned with abortion? What problems are there in the NHS other than the lack if funding? What relevance has the Hippocrates oath to modern-day medicine? What would you prefer in a doctor? Bad communication skills with good clinical skills or good communication skills with bad clinical skills? Why? Would you argue that medicine is a science or an art, and why? How do politics influence health care provision? Is it inevitable? Why do you think we hear so much about doctors and the NHS in the media today? Do you think doctors should set a good example to their patients in their own lives? How or why might this be difficult? In what ways do you think doctors can promote good health, other than direct treatment of illness? Do you think doctors and the NHS get a bad press, and if so, why? From what you have read and found out, where do you see the health service going? What are the arguments for and against non-essential surgery being available on the NHS? What does the current government see as the national priorities in health care? Do you agree with these? How should the health service achieve a balance between promoting good health, and in treating ill health? What do you think are the similarities and differences between being a doctor today and being a doctor 50 years ago? Should doctors have a role in regulating contact sports, such as boxing? Do you think doctors should ever strike? Do you think patient’s treatments should be limited by the NHS budget or do they have the right to new therapies no matter what the cost? What does the term ‘inequalities in health’ mean to you? Do you think medicine should be more about changing behaviour to prevent disease or treating existing disease? What do you think is the purpose of the health service in the 21st century? What do you think are the chief difficulties faced by doctors in their work? Why do you think people in the north of England live, on average, 5 years less than those in the south? Do you think this should be a matter for government intervention? What are the arguments for and against people paying for their own health care as and when they need it? What do you understand by the term ‘holistic’ medicine? Do you think it falls within the remit of the NHS? How accurately do you think the media (particularly television) tend to portray the role of the doctor? Do you think the bulk of medical treatment takes place in hospital or in the community? What makes you think this? What do you think about the way doctors are shown in the media, say in the Simpsons or on the news? How do you think this will affect patients’ views of their own doctors? What do you think is the greatest threat to the health of the British population today? Ten years ago most doctors in hospitals wore white coats; now few do. Why do you think this is? What do you think are the arguments for and against white coats? Animals that are thought to be suffering are ‘put down’. Should human suffering be treated in the same way? Do you think more doctors or more nurses would be of greatest benefit to the nation’s health? What are the arguments for and against banning the sale of tobacco? In the UK at present 60% of medical students are female. Do you think we should have equal quotas for medical school places for males and females? What do you think will be the consequences of having more female doctors than male doctors? What issues should be considered in deciding to terminate or not continue a patient’s life-sustaining treatment? Medicine will bring you into contact with a vast range of different people, with different cultures; what experience have you had of different types of people? What are the consequences of obesity for health services? Why? Can you tell us about a significant recent advance in medicine or science? Why is it significant? Why has this interested you? Tell us about something in the history of medicine that interests you. Why was it important? What do you think was the greatest public health advance in the 20th century? People are living longer and longer. Should doctors take credit for this? What lessons can be learnt from how the swine fly pandemic was handled? What would you have done differently? How do you think the rise of information technology has influenced and will influence the practice of medicine? MMI A close friend in your 1st-year medical school class tells you that his mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. He feels overwhelmed by his studies and is considering dropping out of medical school to spend more time with his mother. How do you counsel your friend? Joe is a pizza delivery worker. The pizza shop he works for has a 30 minutes or less delivery guarantee or else the customer does not have to pay. On Joe’s most recent delivery, he spots a woman bleeding on the street. There is no one else around and the woman seems to be unable to move by herself. However, Joe knows that if he returns empty handed again, he will be fired from this job which he most desperately needs. What do you think Joe should do? Justify your solution in terms of practical and ethical considerations. “Liberation Therapy” (LT), a vascular operation developed to potentially cure multiple sclerosis (MS) in certain patients, has recently come under very serious criticism – delaying its widespread use. Among other experimental flaws, critics cite a small sample size in the original evidence used to support LT. As a healthcare policy maker, your job is to weigh the pros and cons in approving novel drugs and therapies. Please discuss the issues you would consider during an approval process for LT. Because of federal and provincial subsidy policies and return-of-service agreements, international medical graduates (IMGs) now make up an increasingly large proportion of rural doctors. As a consequence, the shortage of doctors in rural areas has prompted many family medicine residencies to increase their quotas for IMGs in their programs. Effectively, this development is leading to a relative reduction in spots available for Canadian medical graduates. Please discuss the pros and cons of such a development. Discuss one of your pastimes outside of school and how the skills you acquired from this activity will help you in your career. You are a family physician seeing Jane, a 67 year old woman with a recent history of multiple fragility fractures. You diagnose her with osteoporosis and prescribe some bisphosphonate drugs and other pharmacological treatments. Jane tells you that she has heard some good things over the internet about alternative medicine treatments such as Chinese medicine, and she is adamant on trying these as well. You are concerned about the use of these alternative medicine treatments and the possible negative effects they could have on Jane’s health. How would you handle the situation and what would you recommend Jane do? Discuss any ethical considerations that are present. You are on the committee for selecting a new Dean of Science. What characteristics and/or qualities would you look for when selecting an effective dean? In June 2011, the infamous Vancouver riots took place after their hockey team lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. Stores were ransacked and cars were burned. Hundreds of people were injured and sent to overcrowded hospitals. As the police chief in Vancouver, what measures or policies would you put in place to make sure this does not happen again? An actor hands you a card, telling you that, in this role play, you are a close friend of theirs. You have been house-sitting whilst ‘your friend’ has been on holiday and you have to explain to them that you broke their favourite ornament. When informed, the actor becomes hysterical and very angry. You are told that this weekend you’re going on a camping trip. Before you is a table of random objects. You have 20 seconds to pick 5 objects you deem to be of the most importance and value, and explain. You are faced with an actor playing a 65 year old man who has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He is coming to his GP for advice on how to cope with his diagnosis as he has heard a lot of stigma over the years about dementia and its burden on both his family and the healthcare service. Whilst talking to you he breaks down into tears. You are told that you are entering a hospital staff room 10 prior to performing surgery with Dr ‘X’. As you enter, you see Dr ‘X’ take a swig of a clear drink from a bottle and quickly close their locker, which you suspect is alcohol. Over the course of the conversation, the Dr beings to forget things and slur their words. You have 5 minutes to speak to Dr ‘X’. An actor hands you a card which states that you are playing the role of a GP and they are a 16-year-old girl who has come to ask for information about getting tested for STIs but is worried about her parents finding out. You are asked to instruct the interviewer on how to unwrap and open the box, without helping them or using your hands. It’s not straight forward as the examiner will be using no assumed knowledge and will be doing what you tell them only Clostridium Difficile (C. difficile) is a type of bacteria that increases its activity with most antibiotic use, and is therefore very difficult to treat. Research shows that the most effective way to prevent the spread of infection is frequent handwashing. However, many people have flat-out refused to wash their hands in hospitals. The government is contemplating passing a policy to make it mandatory for people entering hospitals to wash their hands or else risk not being seen by doctors and being escorted out of the building against their will. Do you think the government should go ahead with this plan? Consider and discuss the legal, ethical or practical problems that exist for each action option and conclude with a persuasive argument supporting your decision. Discuss an experience that allowed you to learn something important about yourself. How will this lesson help you succeed in your career? WORK EXPERIENCE What experiences have given you insight into the world of medicine? What have you learnt from these? What aspect of your work experience did you find the most challenging, and why? In your work experience, what skills have you learnt that you can apply to medicine? Can you give me an example of how you coped with a conflict with a colleague or friend; what strategy did you use and why? Reflect on what you have seen of hospitals or a health care environment. What would you most like to organise differently, and why? What aspect of your work experience would you recommend to a friend thinking about medicine, and why? What impressed you most about the doctors in your work experience? Can you think of a situation where good communication has saved the day and give a reason why? Thinking of your work experience, can you tell me about a difficult situation you have dealt with and what you learned from it? Have you visited any friends or family in hospital, or had work experience in a hospital? From these experiences, what did you see that you would like to change? Can you tell me the key things you learned from your work experience, in caring or other settings? What have you done on work experience/ in employment previously? What would you change about what you saw, if you could, and how would you set about this? What do you think would be the advantages, and difficulties, for a person with a major physical disability (e.g. blindness) wishing to become a doctor? Tell me about a project, or work experience, that you have organised, and what you learned from it? What did you learn about yourself from your work experience? What did you learn from the doctors and nurses from your work experience Research has shown that “Integrity” is an important quality in a doctor. What do you think is meant by this and can you give an example of a situation in which acting with integrity might be important? ETHICS Is it better to give health care or aid to impoverished countries? Why can’t doctors give a guarantee that a medical or surgical procedure will be successful? Should doctors have a role in contact sports such as boxing? Do you think doctors should ever go on strike? Do you think we should find out more about patients’ views of their doctors, their illness or their treatments? How would you set about this? What do you think are the major sorts of problems facing a person with a long-term health problem, such as difficulty breathing? What are the differences between length of life and quality of life? Is there a moral case against drug companies becoming as large and powerful as the market allows them to be? What are the arguments for and against the decriminalisation of drugs such as cocaine? Should alternative or complimentary medicine be funded by the NHS, and why? Should the NHS be involved in non-essential surgery? Should the NHS fund the treatment of self-inflicted diseases? With the growing problems of overpopulation should the NHS fund IVF treatment? How do you think doctors should treat injury or illness due to self-harm, smoking or excess alcohol consumption? Female infertility treatment is expensive, has a very low success rate and is even less successful in smokers. To whom do you think it should be available? Would you prescribe the oral contraceptive pill to a 14-year old girl who is sleeping with her boyfriend? What is your feeling about euthanasia? Would you perform abortions as a doctor? Is it right that Viagra should only be available to certain groups of men? Some Trusts are refusing to perform some elective operations on obese patients. Why do you think that it? Do you think it’s right? What do you think about the use of animals for testing new drugs? How do you respond and what do you feel when you see a beggar in the street? Do you think that Class A drugs should be legalised? Would being religious, and therefore potentially having a more positive view to death, be detrimental in your role as a doctor? A man refuses treatment for a potentially life-threatening condition. What are the ethical issues involved? A woman who is bleeding heavily refuses to receive a blood transfusion that you are proposing. Why do you think this might be? How would you handle the issue? You have one liver available for transplant, but two patients with equal medical need. One is an ex-alcoholic mother with two young children, the other a 13 year old with an inborn liver abnormality. How would you decide to whom it should be given? You have one dialysis machine to share between three patients with equal medical need. One is a 17-year-old drug addict who has just overdosed, one is a 40-year old woman with terminal breast cancer and only 6 months of life expectancy, the third one is a 70-year old marathon runner. Who gets the machine? Imagine you are on committee able to recommend only one of two new surgical treatments to be made available through the NHS. The treatments are: an artificial heart for babies born with heart defects, or a permanent replacement hip for people with severe arthritis. Both treatments are permanent, i.e. never need repeating, and are of equal cost. On what grounds would you make your arguments? CREATIVITY/INNOVATION Imagine a world in 200 years’ time where doctors no longer exist. In what ways do you think they could be replaced? You are holding a party on a medical theme. How would you make it memorable? Describe as many used as you can for a mobile phone charger. How many different ways can you improve the process of selecting students for this medical school? Imagine you had 6 months with enough money and nothing you had to do. Tell us the most imaginative (and no-medical) way you’d spend the time. Your house catches fire in the night. You are told you can pick only object to take with you when escaping. What would it be and why? Can you think of something fun you’d like to invent? Fashion has changed hugely over the past 400 years. What do you think we’ll be wearing in 200 years from now? EXTRA-CURRICULAR What do you do to relax? How will any hobbies or interests you have help you in a career in medicine? Who do you admire and why? What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it? Describe a situation you have been in which was stressful. How do you deal with stress? Have you taken on any extracurricular projects that demonstrate your interest in Medicine? SOURCES: https://www.medical-interviews.co.uk/topic/interview-questions-medical-school-interviews https://www.themedicportal.com/e-learning/interview/ https://www.princetonreview.com/med-school-advice/medical-school-interview-questions https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=192433&d=1357932026 https://multipleminiinterview.com/mmi-questions/ https://ocs.fas.harvard.edu/medical-interview

Receiving interviews is a very daunting yet exciting time, you’re one step closer to your dream. Interviews are part of the process of selecting the right students, they enable to demonstrate your interpersonal skills and other essential skills for Medicine and expand upon your application so preparation is essential to success!  Interviews generally take place from November to late April. When you’re invited for an interview bears no relation to how favourably your application is being considered. So we’ve decided to explain the different types of interviews, our top tips, key questions and what to do on the Big Day! TYPES OF INTERVIEWS MMI series of short structured interview stations used to assess non-cognitive qualities including cultural sensitivity, maturity, teamwork, empathy, reliability and communication skills candidates receive a question/scenario and have a short period of time (typically two minutes) to prepare an answer prior to start of station either short exchange between candidate and interviewer or interviewer observes while the interaction takes place between an actor and the candidate candidate evaluated at each station Panel multiple interviewers, usually a clinician, academic or medical student more personalised questions asked conversational interactions each individual interviewer determining the mood and structure of the interview Some schools may have set goals for each interview; for example, each interview is given a certain set of character traits to evaluate and comment on, or may have a structured interview format where interviewers are given standardised questions with sample answers. Our Top Tips Be yourself The medical school have already shown that they are interested in you by inviting you to the interview; they would like your personality to shine through. By not being yourself you’re likely to mask what should you be your strongest selling point: you! Be honest, authentic and most of all be yourself; no one can ever tell you you’re doing it wrong. Be prepare to discuss your: academic background extracurricular activities work experience & voluntary work views on medical problems or ethical issues why you want to be a doctor/ study medicine Be prepared To give yourself the best possible chance of getting an offer, it is very important to prepare in advance. This doesn’t mean you should prepare answers, learn them off by heart and be rigid in your responses.  Be careful not to memorise answers to the point where they sound rehearsed and no longer genuine. However, you should have a clear idea of what you want to say in answer to the classic interview questions so that you are confident, ready and prepared when they are inevitably asked and an appropriate strategy for answering unfamiliar questions. Stay up to date with Health News For interviews, knowledge really is power. As you read more, you will become smarter which not only makes you more confident, but also makes you better prepared to answer any question. When you do read, read books and articles that provide relevant information in an efficient way. Here are the categories you should focus on: NHS Hot Topics: Stay in touch with current events, especially politics that may pertain to health care. Examples of useful sources include: British Medical Journal (BMJ), Student BMJ, New Scientist, The Guardian. Topics include:Staffing, Junior Doctor Crisis, 7 Day NHS, Organ Donation, Social Media use and Brexit. Scientific advances: Reading about medical topics will probably be the most directly relevant to your interview process. Read to learn about ethics, new research and technologies, policies, life as a doctor, and medical/scientific thinking. Healthcare bodies: It is important to understand that Healthcare bodies differ around the UK, e.g. NHS Wales differs to NHS England and NHS Scotland and so certain issues pertain to certain healthcare bodies while some remain unaffected. Personal Interest: Read any books or articles that you find interesting. It can be about anything as long as you find joy in reading them and you will be more passionate when speaking about them. Think ethically Four Pillars of Medical Ethics: Autonomy — Does it show respect for the patient and their right to make decisions? Non-maleficence — Does it harm the patient? Justice — Are there consequences in the wider community? Beneficence — Does it benefit the patient? Structure your answers STARR: It is necessary to use a clear structure when articulating your answers efficiently. This prevents you from rambling and ensures you cover the most important points. Situation: One brief line outlining the example Task: What was involved? Action: How you approached and performed the task Result: What was the outcome/achievement? Reflection: What did you learn and how will you apply it? Rule of 3: When asked open ended questions, make three clear, decisive points and conclude if necessary. These points should act as cues that you can expand upon providing sufficient examples in your answers. Use personal examples/ experiences Write out 3-5 “most significant” attributes that qualify you for medical school. These are the words, sentences, or impressions that you want the interviewer to remember. Write out the stories that support each of these ideas and anticipate the questions that will allow you to discuss them. Your experiences are what make you unique. Read GMC Tomorrows Doctors This will help give you a clearer understanding of a doctors role in different capacities as a scholar, practitioner and professional. Yes this a lot to read but it is worth it in the long run, this will also help you identify key buzzwords when identifying the different characteristics of a doctor; try and find examples to back up how you possess these attributes.  Do you meet other competencies as stipulated by the GMC in “Tomorrow’ Doctors”?  Are you empathetic, do you have initiative and resilience, can you communicate, are you able to problem solve, can you work in a team, do you have integrity and have you got an effective learning style? Consider both arguments & draw balanced conclusion When presented with multiple arguments, think about different perspectives and do not be narrow minded in your approach. Differential diagnosis forms a large part of Medicine so think about this when answering and consider several influencing factors. There is no correct answer as long as you can back up your point of view. Be mindful of your Body Language Your body language can impact the way the interviewer perceives you. It can go a long way in reflecting confidence. Stand up straight, have a firm handshake, and make eye contact when introducing yourself – it can make a big difference. Smiling goes hand in hand with good body language, but remember that medicine is in essence a service industry; people want a  friendly doctor. Similarly an interviewer will come away with a better impression if you can smile and make eye contact while talking to them. Just don’t force a fake smile and stare at the interviewer for 30 minutes straight, find a nice balance! Answer the actual question Some candidates are so keen to say something, that they’re determined to say it, whether or not it’s anything to do with the question they were asked. Not answering your medical school interview questions won’t score particularly highly. The best way to ensure you answer the question is by concluded your answer with the question as the ending statement. E.g. Why do you want to become a doctor? – I’d like to be a doctor because… Research the prospective university, course and city Don’t think just about the academic course, consider university life as well as the city itself. Try to get inside information that you cannot find on the school’s website. Talking to a current medical student who attends that school would be a good idea.  It’s a good idea to look over the course structure, content and teaching style of the medical schools you applied to. Appearance Look the part and you will be the part! It is important to be smartly dressed and well-presented. Doctors are in constant contact with members of the public and appearance is important. For girls, a knee length dress or skirt with a blazer/ cardigan, tights and smart shoes or a smart shirt and trousers and loafers are suitable choices of outfits. For guys, a full dark suit, shirt, tie and smart shoes (e.g. brogues) is an ideal choice. We have a Medical Interview Look-book coming soon, so keep an eye out. Others: trimmed facial hair, minimal body piercings visible (stud earrings). Know your Personal Statement You must know your personal statement extremely well before you attend your interview. Remember what you said and why you said it as your interview is the final part of your application story. Therefore, if you cannot recall the previous parts of your story, your interview may be disconnected from the rest of your application. For example, if you give a reason why you want to be a doctor in your personal statement but give a completely different reason on your interview, that might be a red flag. Work on time management Limit your answers to about 2 minutes. Check it out on a stopwatch. Your answers are giving the interviewer a feel for who you are, so you want to engage them, help them see the interesting things that have gotten you to this interview for medical school and that takes some time. Also assess the interviewers body language. Are they right there with you, leaning forward, looking for more? Listen carefully and Take your time Prompts are often given in the question so make sure you listen to the question thoroughly as this can guide the direction of your answer. Never dive straight into a question you’re not sure about. Take a moment to come up with a well thought out answer rather than to waffle for a while. To show you’re actually thinking and not just panicking, look up above the interviewer’s head and pause for a while. When you have your answer re-establish eye contact and shoot. Know your interview format Know what to expect from each school before you interview. You should know what type of interview you are walking into and also learn more about each school so that you could tailor your answers to be more appropriate for each school. A great way to learn more about a school is to talk to actual medical students who attend that school. Practise! Practise! Practise! (Mock Interviews) Ask friends, relatives, colleagues, doctors, research supervisors, professors, or anyone else you trust to help you do a mock interview. Try to simulate the real thing as well as you can and do at least 2 or 3 mock interviews before you go into your first interview & work on the feedback given. Additionally, make sure you are comfortable talking about yourself. You should be well aware of your personality, tendencies, accomplishments and experiences. Strangely enough, sometimes talking about yourself can be the hardest part about the interview, so practise! Take care of logistics You should be in your best mental and physical condition during your interview, so be conscious of your health. Consider necessary expenses and arrangements that need to be made e.g. transport, journey time, accommodation, school notification etc. This also means you should get enough rest before the interview, schedule travel that gives you sufficient time to mentally and physically prepare, and eat and drink properly. Prepare possible questions to ask the interviewer This is the final impression you will make on your interviewer. Take the opportunity to learn more about faculty, research opportunities, access to internships, or anything that else that is important to you when considering a medical school program. Avoid asking questions that you can answer yourself  if you research. Don’t ask questions for the sake of it. If you can’t think of any questions just say that everything’s been covered in the open day. Possible Questions: 1. What is your favourite or least favourite thing about this school? 2. Why did you choose to work at this school? 3. Can you tell me more about … program? 4. How do you think I should decide on which medical school I should attend? 5. Do you have any advice for me? 6. What is your favourite or least favourite thing about being a doctor? (if your interviewer is a doctor) 7. What are your thoughts about … issue? (You could ask this question if … issue was already discussed during the interview) KEY QUESTIONS TO DERIVE (ROUGH) ANSWERS FOR! Why do you want to be a doctor? What are the pros and cons of a career in medicine? Why do you want to be a doctor and not a nurse, they both help people? Should the NHS be free? What would you do to improve the NHS? What is the current structure of the NHS? What is a doctors training pathway?  . Read through your personal statement and be clear in your mind how your various experiences equip you to study medicine. Examples of leadership, examples of teamwork, Why should they pick you? What are your strengths and weaknesses?. What will you contribute to the university? Read around the history of the university, the structure of the medicine course- why do you want to attend that University specifically? We have several more questions in our Question Bank. Check them out! THE BIG DAY Arrive early Take the opportunity to talk to other other applicants and current students around Re-read your personal statement before Make a good first impression – smile, be confident, sit up straight and relax Take some time to think about your answer first before responding If you have struggled to understand a particular question, be calm and ask the interviewer to rephrase it for you Thank the interviewers for their time

So I’ll admit, I had a bit of writers block this week and struggled to decide what to write about but having posted consistently since the launch of this blog I wasn’t ready to end that streak just yet. So I decided to share what I’d been up to this past week in Medical School as a 2nd year medical student studying in the UK. It hasn’t been that interesting and truth be told I’ve been quite stressed due to my upcoming exams but I’ve managed to push through and I’m all smiles right now. If you have any questions feel free to comment below or email us and we’ll respond straight away! Anyway, enjoy the read! MONDAY: Live Venipuncture Having practised venipuncture on prosthetic arms in last weeks clinical skills session and actually carrying out a real venipuncture on one of my closest (needle-phobic) friends, we were given another opportunity to carry it out on another person. I cannot lie and say this was not an extremely nerve-wracking experience but I can say it was such an amazing learning opportunity. For those who don’t know what exactly venipuncture is, it is the process of obtaining intravenous access for the purpose of intravenous therapy or for blood sampling of venous blood; so basically collecting blood for a blood test. As a second year medical student this is a big thing for us, you’re  piercing another persons vein with the real life risk of something going wrong. When I carried it out on my needle-phobic friend, I was surprised by my ability to stay calm and collected and go ahead smoothly with the procedure whilst she was squirming, almost in tears and holding the hand of our supervisor. Although I’m not sure what I would like to specialise in, I now know that A&E can potentially be added to my list. Case Based Learning Every Monday and second Friday 10 of us gather in a room to discuss a particular case; let me quickly explain the entire process to you. So we are first presented with a case scenario which is read aloud and we identify any unfamiliar terminology and define it, we then go through the case line by line picking out key clinical and social aspects (it is important to think holistically when thinking about patient decisions etc). We put this all on a whiteboard, linking them together and explaining what we know about each. During this process we are able to identify holes in our knowledge and come up with learning outcomes that each of us must look into and answer over the course of the week. These CBL sessions usually last 3 hours and each particular case lasts for 2 weeks. In the first session we are given the scenario and come up with learning outcomes. In the second session we share our findings and knowledge from the previous LO’s and are also given a reveal from which we establish another set of LO’s. In the final session, we share our knowledge from the previous LO’s and that’s it! TUESDAY Tutorial Tuesdays will either be great, or terrible, depending on your timetable. Unfortunately for me I was in the group that started at 8:30am, yes 8:30am! I had a 2 hour tutorial about Immunology which consisted of us researching and answering the questions we were given and presenting our answers to the rest of the group. Prior to the tutorial you are given a series of hard questions which you will be answering in the tutorial. You’re supposed to look over these questions in your own time and do the pre-reading they assign, this makes the actual tutorial session a lot easier. When the tutorial facilitator goes over the answers during the session it is at this stage you will realise that the questions were in fact very easy and you completely overthought all of them. Make sure you do the work beforehand. Debate We then had a debate about ‘The Use of Paracetamol as an anti-pyretic in children’ and also about ‘Whether vaccinations should be compulsory’. It was a very heated debate but we managed to reach a conclusion eventually. Initially, I questioned the usefulness of such a session as it was almost 2 hours long but I soon began to realise the importance of understanding possible arguments patients might present to you in the future and how necessary it is for you to be fully aware of this. WEDNESDAY Lectures I had three lectures in the morning, 9-12. Nothing special but it was a half day giving me time to go to the library and study for my upcoming exams. THURSDAY Violence & Aggression Workshop As medical students we are potentially at risk of violence just as much as other medical professionals. This was a session where we were taught manoeuvres to help us in violent situations. We learnt how to recognise warning signs, to calm potentially violent patients and manage difficult situations as well as to intervene safely when violence happens. The number of reported assaults against NHS staff has increased by 8 per cent from 63,199 in 2012/13 to 68,683 in 2013/14.  The majority of these – 69% – occurred in mental health or learning disability settings. Genetic Counselling Tutorial This session was incredibly emotional, we watched videos about the impact of genetic disorders on children and discussed the difficulties of genetic counselling. As medical students it is so important to consider what families and patients go through when faced with tough decisions and it is vital to always be empathetic. FRIDAY CBL As it was the final session for this particular case we shared our findings and knowledge and that concluded the case. We also always have cake in our case sessions, to be honest that’s what most of us look forward to the most. Case Wrap Up In the case wrap up the whole year gathers in the lecture theatre, during this time we are given the opportunity to ask any questions we may have and also we are presented with Single Best Answer questions on that particular case so that we get a taste of the type of questions we will receive in our exams. Our case was on ‘Infectious Diseases’ and ironically 2 people in my year group came down with Mumps, so we got the opportunity to ask them questions. P.S. I hope you’ve had your MMR vaccines! SATURDAY ACMA Launch I attended the African Caribbean Medical Association UK Launch Conference in Cardiff and it was amazing to say the least. Upon our arrival we were greeted with refreshments and the opportunity to mingle with various medical students and medical professionals. The welcome address explained what lead to the creation of such an association, as the founders shared how they bonded over trials they faced half way through medical school and the desire to prevent such challenging times from arising again. We were then spoken to by Yvonne Coghill. Ms Yvonne Coghill is a qualified nurse who has played a key role in promoting race equality in the NHS. Yvonne is currently the Director – WRES Implementation in NHS England, and is a member of the equality and diversity council at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in the United States where she has helped develop their inclusion strategy, delivered workshops and was co-chair at their national forum in Orlando 2015. In 2013 Yvonne was voted by colleagues in the NHS as one of the top 50 most inspirational women, one of the top 50 most inspirational nurse leaders and one of the top 50 BME pioneers, two years in a row. Yvonne was awarded an OBE for services to healthcare in 2010. She spoke on the topic of Race Equality in the NHS and it was incredibly enlightening. Yvonne presented some very astonishing statistics, particularly about the contribution of BME staff to the NHS. With 40% of hospital doctors from BME backgrounds, why are so few attaining the top jobs? Healthcare professionals from BME backgrounds are more likely to be performance managed and over their careers will be paid less and afforded fewer opportunities than their white counterparts. Alot of organisations are resitant to recognising that there is a problem with Institutional Racism and so we need Senior Leaders to get it and understand the possible consequences and implications if there isn’t a resolution. It’s about equity, not equality – Yvonne Coghill OBE BME healthcare professionals are subject to micro assaults and stressors, e.g: being the only BME person in the room not being able to readily get the products for your hair and skin not seeing many people that look like you in high places feeling ‘other’ as your cultural norms are different receiving a reduced service in healthcare and in society generally knowing that you have to be twice as good to go half as far your children are more likely to be stopped by police people not believing your lived experience Our shared experiences are the reasons why it is incredibly important to have a support network with your best interests at heart. In the workshops we discussed barriers to success that we face as black people such as: lack of confidence and support, institutional racism, negativity and the fear of other people’s perceptions of you. Through this we established how important it is to read, understand and know our history as black people; what lead to the position we are in today and why we are where we are as a people. It doesn’t matter the mud that you stand in now so long you are walking to the top of the hill – African Proverb The entire event was great from start to finish and so I urge you to get involved! The change will not be immediate – it’s a marathon not a sprint. ACMA The African Caribbean Medics Association (ACMA) is a newly founded organisation that aims to inspire and equip Afro-Caribbean students to pursue careers in the field of medicine and healthcare as well as to provide a platform that facilitates networking and encourages medical students and doctors to accomplish their career aspirations. ACMA also aims to achieve an increased presence of Afro-Caribbean’s at every level in medical schools within the health profession. The objective of the Afro-Caribbean Medics Association are to promote good race relations and equality of opportunity within medical schools and the health profession in England and Wales as well as the wider community. INSPIRE – To inspire and equip Afro-Caribbean students to pursue careers in the field of medicine and healthcare. ASPIRE – To provide a platform that facilitates networking and encourages medical students and doctors to accomplish their career aspirations ACHIEVE – To achieve an increased presence of Afro-Caribbean’s at every level in medical schools and within the heath profession Check out a blog post written by one of their founders here: Duty of Care: the network supporting black medics and doctors Follow ACMA on their Instagram: @acma_uk or email them: acmassociation@outlook.com

So we’ve recently been asked about our tips for learning anatomy and we’re more than happy to share. Anatomy relies on memory so it is important to find techniques that make learning a bit easier. Physically perform the actions as you study. This gives you a sense of how they feel in person and you’re likely to remember it. Use flash cards – Greys Anatomy or Netter’s flashcard Make your own cue cards detailing the origins, insertions, blood supply and innervation’s with your own drawings and diagrams. The process of making our own helps to consolidate your knowledge. Think clinically about how damage to nerves or blood supply will affect actions and other clinical scenarios (Moore’s blue boxes). Medicine is basically the application of science to humanity, so thinking clinically helps you understand how anatomy fits into practise. Test yourself regularly. Find various ways of testing yourself because a lot of the time it’s easy to just memorise answers from flash cards. There are so many online free quizzes so check them For useful Resources check out: Ken Hub, Aclands, TeachMeAnatomy & AnatomyZone Watch videos! YouTube videos are short and sweet and straight to the point. Get creative. For example use one of your friends as a mannequin and use post it notes to label muscles (actions, innervations and blood supply). Start early and learn as you go.  It’s never too late to catch up if you feel behind, starting from somewhere is better than nothing. Repetition is a form of consolidation so repeat, repeat, repeat! Make clear notes to refer back to easily.  Instead of looking through pages of numerous textbooks, create a set of revision notes that are easy to refer to. Study with friends. Sometimes recieving information from your friends is easier to take in than receiving information from your lecturer. Also you can test each other and find cool ways of remembering things together. For example: me and my friends learnt a cranial nerves song on YouTube and till this day we can never forget. Feel free to comment below useful ways of how you learn anatomy.

So this is a very much requested blog post and I’ve been very excited to share my technique of note-taking. It’s nothing special but has proven effective for me in time past and has helped me to learn and consolidate my knowledge. It’s a 4 stage process for me, so here is the breakdown. 1. Note-taking before the lecture If the lecture slides are released earlier, making notes of the lecture content is great for gaining exposure to the topic before the lecture. This can also guide your pre-reading, so you may decide to watch a YouTube video or read a specific chapter in a textbook to introduce you to the topic. I wouldn’t say this is compulsory but it is very useful in the long run. 2. Note-taking during the lecture For the majority of the time, you will have access to the slides if not before the lecture, then after the lecture. Whilst making your notes in the lecture focus on what the lecturer is saying, they often mention things that aren’t in the slides so pay attention. I try and write down as much as possible, whether relevant or not as I don’t want to risk missing out important information that can make my process of understanding a lot quicker. Always make notes of headings and they are good in the future for structural organisation 3. Note-taking after the lecture Go back to the slides and fill in my notes (where I have missed any information out) I also listen to the recording if needs be, to again add to my notes things I may have misheard during the lecture I then do some further reading using relevant textbooks but I also make sure I don’t go into too much detail An alternative to hitting the textbooks is watch YouTube videos; these are great for animations and are very concise Any additional information I gain I incorporate into my notes 4. Note-taking for revision purposes I condense my lecture notes by making them fit on one side of an A4 sheet of paper on my laptop (1 and a 1/2 sides at most) to consolidate my knowledge) Then I make my mind-maps using these condensed lecture notes in my sketchpad An alternative to making mind maps is making flash cards ALL ABOUT MY MINDMAPS As my course is Case Based, this makes organising my mind maps a lot easier. Each case so far has covered a particular sector e.g. Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Neurological and Women’s Health. I have also covered the basic sciences so some of them have their own mind maps e.g. Pain & Nociception, Immunity, Nutrition etc. Why do I make mind-maps I’m a visual learner I’m very creative Everything is clearly organised Easy to retrieve information I can look for everything in one place It’s my own personalised revision guide Forms the basis of my knowledge Having them in a sketchbook means it’s portable Organised chronologically A study by Farrand, Hussain and Hennessey (2002) found that Mind Mapping improved the long-term memory of factual information in medical students by 10%. They reported that “Mind Maps provide an effective study technique when applied to written material” and are likely to “encourage a deeper level of processing” for better memory formation. How my Mind Maps are structures The Case or topic in the centre Each separate colour scheme indicate the notes from a particular lecture and subtopics in that lecture (Case Mind Maps) Each separate colour scheme indicates subtopics of that particular topic e.g. Adaptive Immunity Topic, Cell-mediated Immunity sub-topic, Humoral Immunity sub-topic etc. (Topic Mind Maps) I add necessary diagrams where needed I use a variety of formats: tables, notes, diagrams Miscellaneous Pages – random notes related to that case/ topic and can always be added to DISCLAIMER: What works for me may not necessarily work for you. For some people this may be very long winded but it’s what I use to learn and most importantly consolidate my knowledge. It is very difficult to keep up with and it is also very time consuming and requires dedication. I don’t follow these exact steps all the time, so it is okay to have down days. Please do not assume this is the standard for all medical students because I am most definitely sure that some people make their notes differently. So feel free to adapt this method to what suits you. The Sketchpad I use Farrand, P., Hussain, F. and Hennessy E. (2002), The efficacy of the ‘mind map’ study technique. Medical Education, Vol. 36 (5), pp 426-431

With so much content to cover during medical school it is important to find various methods to consolidate your learning as well as heighten your knowledge and understanding. YouTube Videos tend to explain topics in a concise however detailed manner and utilises visual aids. Maybe you’ve decided to watch a YouTube video before your lecture or tutorial to gage an idea of what the topic is about or maybe you want to go over it when revising old topics; YouTube videos serve multiple purposes and are always there for you to go back to. We do not recommend that you depend solely on YouTube videos, as they are relatively short they may negate some necessary information so do not abandon your textbooks just yet! Here is a list of helpful YouTube Channels that we have previously used: Khan Academy Medicine https://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademymedicine Armando Hasudungun https://www.youtube.com/user/armandohasudungan Osmosis https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNI0qOojpkhsUtaQ4_2NUhQ Shotgun Histology Anatomy Zone https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAnatomyZone Physiology Zone https://www.youtube.com/user/physiologyzone MedCram https://www.youtube.com/user/MEDCRAMvideos Handwritten Tutorials https://www.youtube.com/user/harpinmartin Geeky Medics https://www.youtube.com/user/geekymedics123 Ken Hub https://www.youtube.com/user/kenHubCOM

Studying medicine in the United Kingdom is no easy feat. Studying medicine in the UK as an international student from Canada can be even more difficult still. From the differences between schooling systems to cultural differences, studying medicine as an international student has been an interesting experience to say the least. Personally, it has been equal parts exciting and terrifying. To start at the beginning, the first few days of medical school were actually rather easy. That is, until the realisation dawned that my lecturers had managed to summarise my last three years of high school in a matter of hours. Many people wonder what benefit there is from studying abroad, when a person could just stay in their home country and study the same degree. For starters, in North America, medicine is a four year long post graduate degree. This means, before a person can even apply to a medical school of their choice, they must have already completed a first degree (this normally takes four years). In the UK, medicine is normally a five or six-year undergraduate degree. Another reason people choose to study abroad is the competition to get accepted within their country. Using Canada as an example, there are a little over 15 medical schools in the entire country. The majority of medical school applicants in Canada get rejected for the simple reason that there just are not enough spaces. On the other hand, in the UK alone there are 34 medical schools, meaning more opportunities to get accepted. The Universities and Colleges Admission Service, or UCAS is a UK based admissions service used to assist both universities and applicants in the application process. Through UCAS I was able to apply to five British universities, upload my personal statement, as well as be notified of the progress of my applications. UCAS was a major tool for me to smooth an application process that had the potential to be very complex due to the nature of applying internationally. Personally, adapting to a different country was not exactly a huge issue as I used to live in Ireland and spend summers in England with my family from a very young age. Still, the language here took a bit of getting used to. For any international students that are as confused as I was, “You alright?” means “How are you?”, not “What is wrong with you?”. Nevertheless, I do understand that the transition can be difficult for most. I would recommend befriending other international students as it can be helpful to know that there are others in situations similar to your own. I study Medicine at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and although I cannot speak for all schools across the country, UCLan medical school provides each student with an academic advisor and access to a pastoral tutor, both which are available to speak to for support and to help ease the transition from one country to another. The School of Medicine at University of Central Lancashire is an undergraduate medical program lasting five years with a tolerance of one year if you decide to intercalate. The school uses a spiral curriculum, meaning it approaches learning by mixing lectures, problem based learning, and inter-professional learning. Additionally, integrating clinical science, clinical skills, and communication skills in year one, through the use of volunteer patients, truly hones skills that many students do not begin to develop until second or third year. Concerning the educational aspect, coming from high school in Canada, the learning curve in medical school was extremely steep, and easily the hardest thing I have ever had to in my entire life. My advice, stemming from personal experience, if you did not school in Britain, I would highly recommend either doing A-levels or a foundations course in medicine before going into medical school. I recommend this because, going from a North American high school straight into medical school is almost equivalent to finishing GCSE’s and then entering university. Undeterred by this jump in learning, some people still go through their first year of medicine with very few issues. A tip for both home and international students – know your learning style. Knowing and understanding the best way for you to learn will ultimately save you a lot of time and stress. Also, remember, what works for everyone else may not necessarily work for you. Do not get agitated or upset because it looks like those surrounding you are studying less than you, more than you, or differently from you. As long as you are learning and understanding the information you have been given, stick to your own study method. Many things can be learned about oneself through an experience like studying medicine. Despite the late nights, unholy, amounts of caffeine ingested, and the occasional wondering of whether it is even possible to finish school with your sanity – one thing can be concluded – a medical degree is an extremely unique degree and one of the most fulfilling degrees there is. Through the trials and tribulations as well as through the times of joy and excitement, it is important to understand that bumps in the road are part of the journey. Not understanding a concept, having to do a resit, or even having to repeat a year does not mean the end of the world. As long as there is a willingness to keep pushing, and continue working until your goal has been met, success will be your portion. Written by Ayomide Akinmokun Youtube Channel: Made by Mide Instagram: @ayomibae

Whenever I think back to applying to Medical School, I am always blown away by how much is demanded of you. As well as trying to keep on top of your A-Levels, you have to think about work experience, your personal statement and entrance exams, one of which is the Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT). The BMAT, unlike the UKCAT, is done with pen and paper. It takes 2 hours and is divided into three sections. Like the UKCAT, you can only take the BMAT once in an admissions cycle. When I took the BMAT, it was not as popular as the UKCAT, for which there are two main reasons: 1) It was only required by 5 Medical Schools in the UK (Imperial, UCL, Oxford, Cambridge and Leeds) so if you didn’t have any plans to apply to those schools, you didn’t need to focus on it. 2) You took the BMAT in November AFTER you sent off your UCAS application. This meant that you were taking a BIG risk, and assuming that your performance would be good enough to get you an interview. Note: This has now changed and you can take the BMAT in either September or November. Now, the BMAT is used by 8 Universities, they are: – Brighton and Sussex Medical School – Imperial College London – Keele University – Lancaster University – University College London – University of Cambridge – University of Oxford – University of Leeds If you are planning to apply to any of these schools in the UK, it is worth noting that you will have to take the BMAT however they all give your score different weighting so it is worth checking their websites to make sure you understand how the BMAT will be used if you apply there. THE TEST Section One: Aptitude and Skills This is the first section and it is 60 minutes long, with 35 multiple-choice questions that are based around problem solving and critical thinking. This section is not too time pressured but there are several chunks of text to read and answer questions from so if you’re a slow reader, it Is vital that you practise scanning texts. Below is an example of a problem solving question: Simon, Liam, Ian, Dylan and Eric make up the boy band Slide. Their surnames are Doyle, Floyd, Hyde, Rush and Shore, but I can’t remember which surname goes with which first name. My friend tells me that no letter of the alphabet appears twice in any of the boys’ full names (first name and surname combined) and the surname of each boy has a different number of letters from his first name. What is Ian’s surname? The answer can be found here:http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/images/324081-bmat-section-1-question-guide.pdf A few tips about the critical thinking questions in this section are to make sure that you can: – Identify reasons, assumptions and conclusions – Differentiate between assumptions and further implications – Come to a conclusion based on what is in the text alone Section Two: Scientific Knowledge and Applications This is the second section and it tests your scientific knowledge (this includes Maths), it is 30 minutes long and there are 27 questions. In my opinion, this is by far the most time- pressured section of the BMAT. You will be tested on Biology, Chemistry and Physics, so if there is one science that you are not great at, I would strongly advise brushing up on it. Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing say that you only need GCSE knowledge for this section however, I found that the questions that I was asked were closer to A-Level style questions because of the way they required you to think. In this section, you can get a maximum score of 9.0 and this means getting around 24 out of 27 questions right. The average candidate gets 5.0 and in 2013, this meant scoring roughly 11 right. However, this changes yearly depending on the cohort, in some years getting a 5.0 may require 14 or even as low as 9. How can you prepare for section two? – An invaluable resource that you can use is the BMAT Section 2: Assumed Subject Knowledge guide which can be found on the official website (http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/preparing-for-bmat/overlay.html). USE THIS RESOURCE. It puts together all the concepts that you are expected to know and can be tested on. – Fractions are your friends. It is easy to rely on a calculator but brushing up on your mental maths will save you time, especially for the Maths and Physics questions! – Complete past papers and focus on the timing! There is no point in doing questions without timing yourself because you will be able to answer the question! Section Three: Writing Task This is the final section of the BMAT and it is framed as a short ‘essay’ but it is actually a few paragraphs. It is 30 minutes and you have to choose a task from a choice of three questions. Many people who apply for Medicine don’t do essay subjects and worry about this section but there is no need to. You are given an A4 piece of paper and have to complete your essay on one side. The essay options are statements or quotes and they aren’t necessarily related to medicine. You are asked to explain what the statement means, argue for and against it and then reach a conclusion in which you state how much you agree with the statement. An example question is: “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” (Pablo Picasso). Explain what is meant by this statement. Argue to the contrary. What are the real limits of technology? What can I do to ace Section Three? – Read. To be able to form arguments, you need to know what arguments there are. Reading newspapers, journals and even fiction will help to expand your mind as well as your vocabulary. You can’t know what questions they may ask but you can try and prepare. – Plan. Look at past papers to see questions that have been asked and plan an answer to them. This will get you familiar with forming an argument. – Ask teachers to help mark your practice essays. It is very hard to mark them yourself and be critical, get a teacher to review your essay and give you tips on how to improve. GENERAL TIPS: – Complete past papers. This is the only way to see how you will be examined on the day. It is advisable however to treat past papers like gold dust, only attempt them once you feel you have prepared enough. – Take a deep breath. You are smart enough, it is easy to feel discouraged when looking at the BMAT but it can be done! To revise, I would strongly advise using the ‘Preparing for the BMAT’ book, it has practice questions and tips on how to get quicker at Sections 1 and 2. Some people also take BMAT courses and these are often very expensive. You do not need to take one and it is important to know that they can’t guarantee success, only hard work can do that. More information about the BMAT can be found on the official website: http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/ Good luck! 📷Written by: Tomisin Otenigbagbe Follow her on Social Media! Twitter: @tomisinoten Instagram: @tomisinotenigbagbe Email: t.otenigbagbe@gmail.com

Hello! I’m currently a 4th medical year student, and my course included a foundation year, so essentially the complete duration of my course is 6 years. The first year of my course is counted as “year 0” and from then on, the small 30 odd of us in the foundation year join the large cohort to enter the typical 5 year programme. I’m going to explore the different types of foundation year courses and studying medicine in general. TYPES OF FOUNDATION COURSES Just to clarify there are two types of foundation courses, and their structure and content vary in different medical schools, but you will attain the standard MMBS/BMBS/MB etc doctorate degree at the end of the course.  One type is for students who do not hold the required science A-Level(s) or equivalent qualifications and therefore the foundation year, is used to summarise essential basic sciences, so these students can be fully equipped for pre-clinical and clinical medicine.  These courses tend to hold around 20-40 people, with the intent that they will join the larger cohort after their foundation year. Grade requirements often vary, so check with specific medical schools. The other type of foundation year course aims to widen access to medicine and encourage disadvantaged or non-typical students to study medicine. In the 2015-16 academic period, medical schools across the UK were made up of 48% White British students, however roughly 30% of medical students were BME, and shockingly only 3% of medical students were Afro-Caribbean, as reported by the General Medical Council. As you can see, widening access foundation year courses, aim to select students with potential to become a great doctors, but are held back by low quality of teaching in school, no exposure to higher education in immediate family etc. To apply for these courses there are particular criteria you must fit, and often these courses have adjusted entry requirements, whether it be lower A-Level grades or focusing more on your personal statement and UCAS statement rather that your UKCAT score,  to take into account the background of students. However, you still need to show the competencies of becoming a safe and great doctor. You must pass the foundation year, and some medical schools require that you obtain a certain grade, in order to pass on to the 5 year programme. CRITERIA So how do you know if should apply for a foundation year course? Well the main themes are: If you haven’t got a science background, whether that be in your GCSE, A-Levels/IB If you didn’t achieve the standard AAA (or above) which is required If you fit particular eligibility criteria such as attending a non selective state school, being the first person in your family to enter higher education, having a low household income, being in care, living in a deprived area etc WHICH MEDICAL SCHOOLS OFFER FOUNDATION COURSES? Bristol Cardiff Dundee Durham East Anglia Keele King’s College London Manchester Nottingham Sheffield Southampton St George’s MY EXPERIENCE I will explain briefly my experience of studying medicine with a foundation year as a black British working class female. To start off, I didn’t intend to be a doctor during my pre-adolescent years. However I discovered my passion for medicine whilst studying basic medical sciences during my GCSEs and A -Level, a passion that I explored more thoroughly. I’ve also had a  number of medical conditions or medical events in my immediate family, and I would often spend a lot of time in hospital and was really interested by the role of the physician. Initially studying medicine was something I thought “would be nice to do” or like a dream, as I didn’t believe I was good enough for it, compared to my peers who I would be competing with for the same spot, even though I had potential to become a doctor. I then discovered foundation year courses, especially those aimed at disadvantaged students, and realised they were targeted for students just like me!  My school wasn’t the best in my area, I lived in a very deprived area where the thought of even going to university didn’t really exist etc. I knew to apply using my strengths and I knew I would have a better chance of getting into medical schools if I applied for FY courses rather than the standard 5 year courses. That’s what applying to medical school is all about, you need to be strategic and compose something almost like a game plan, apply using your strengths! If you know a university priorities amazing GCSEs and you have 9A* under your belt, then go for it! Also, don’t apply to a university that specifically asks for a UKCAT average of over 780 if your score is 600. I applied to all 4 medical schools, and all the courses I chose had a foundation year and were widening access courses. The application process can be very nerve wracking, as often admissions will take a long time to contact you or often your peers would be getting responses when you are left with “in progress” on your UCAS account. However, patience is key and positivity is also key, as this will help you when you pass your interviews or even fail them.  I was very lucky to get all 4 interviews and 2 conditional offers at the end of the process. In summary all medical school (including foundation year medicine) applications include all these elements A captivating but non-generic personal statement which includes your motivation for wanting to be a doctor and proof that you know its for you, work experience which doesn’t have to be shadowing the clinical lead and consultant in surgery, but rather an impressive account of reflection during your experience. You should also include why the medical school should select you and not the peer next to you, include any books or articles you have read regarding being a doctor or a student and of course the many fantastic extra curricular things you do whether it be running a blog or being a leader at your local church etc. The medical school want to see that you are like any other young person, who is well rounded. An exceptional UKCAT score, we are talking 800 avg or above.. Only kidding, different medical schools ask for different scores, however do aim to achieve the highest score you possibly can An insightful interview, where you have managed to portray your personality, empathy, knowledge about the NHS and basic medical sciences, an insight into the medical school, your motivation to become a doctor, and sound answers to ethical questions etc. A UCAS statement written by teachers at your school/college about how great of a student you are and how you are capable to study at university despite your personal circumstances. Best grades you can achieve at A Level My medical school is a great, and the course really fits me! In my foundation year, I met 29 people with similar backgrounds just like me which made settling into medical school comfortable for me. I could really relate to my course mates, in terms of our interests, our ethnic backgrounds etc. The year consisted of learning, a summary of the first year of the 5  year programme, so we were very prepared when it came to entering the 5 year programme. They offer a lot of help, whether it be with academics, financially, or mental health, the help is always available! You will be well equipped and have a good knowledge of how the university works, where different locations are and etc when entering the first year of the 5 year programme! I would really encourage anyone who identifies with my brief story to try applying to foundation year courses and not to lose hope! If its for you, you will get there eventually! I am now going into my first clinical year, feeling very equipped to be on the wards and seeing patients. In the future, I hope to work in General Internal Hospital medicine or as  General Practitioner hopefully having other non-medical related projects on the side! TIPS & ADVICE My tips for applying to medical school and being a medical student in general is: Believe in yourself, self-belief is so important when applying to medical school seems dreary and almost impossible, because it will continue to motivate you and it is an important trait to have during medical school and even when you are the doctor on call and you have a very ill patient under your care. Once again apply using your strengths! Research what each medical school favours, and see if you match up to it! Don’t compare yourself to others, you are in your own race and your own personal goal, focus on yourself and your strengths. Get as much work experience as possible, doesn’t have to be at the best hospital in London, exposure to anyhealthcaresetting is required, but what matters most is what you got out of it, reflection is so important when practicing as a doctor. Don’t apply to medicine for the money, status or because of pressure. Honestly medicine is a time consuming and one of the most stressful degrees out there, full dedication is needed. If money is your motivation, the salary will not be worth your sleepless nights, stress etc Make friends with different types of people! These are your peers, and you will be working with them in the future. Enjoy the ride! 5-6 years is a long time, and here you will make some of your closest friends and have many memories, learn so many skills, and you will look back during your senior years and say you enjoyed it. Some helpful links : https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_School_Foundation_and_Widening_Access_to_Medicine_Programs http://www.getintomedicine.co.uk/medical-school-foundation.php 📷 Written by Perside Mpisi Sources used : GMC 2015-2016 medical students report (https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=http://www.gmc-uk.org/2015_16_MSAR_medical_students_numbers_and_national_demographics.xlsx_68229188.xlsx).

Maintain a Professional Image University is a life changing experience and should be enjoyable, but always remember that university is setting you up for your future career. This means you have to carry yourself in the way you would like your employer to see you. As a medical student you are also viewed as a student doctor by the majority of the public, therefore you have to behave as such but remember you are not a doctor yet, your journey is only beginning. Watch the way you speak about your medical experiences in public places, the patient or cadaver you may be speaking about may have a relative in the viscinity. Always remember that being a party of the medical profession is a great privilege. Your fitness to practise can be negatively impacted by engaging in any illegal activities. Your social media needs to be closely monitored, be careful of what you post and make sure you switch set your privacy settings to ‘friends only’. Look after your Health Medical School is incredibly stressful and it very easy to become overworked. The fact of the matter is you will not know everything but what you can do is study strategically. Make sure you establish some ‘me time’ in your schedule plan a schedule for reading a book, sports, hanging out with friends, cooking a nice meal, or a similar activity that will allow you to recharge. Also do not neglect your health, make sure you register with a local GP and if you become overwhelmed speak up. There are several people you can talk to family, friends and student support officers, so do not suffer in silence. Try and get enough sleep University tends to be filled with late nights and early mornings but it is incredibly important to plan your time. Sleep deprivation can negatively impact your studies and daily functioning meaning you will not be performing to the best of your ability. Be ready to learn Medical School hits you like a tonne of bricks on the first official day of lectures so it is important to be prepared. Make sure you start organised, have your note taking strategy ready as well as any other equipment you may need to make the learning process easier e.g. Dictaphone, notebook etc Make Friends Everyone tends to be in the same position at the start of the semester in university; having left home and desperately in need of new friends so it is okay to be nervous. Try and be friendly and sociable, speak to you flat mates as well as course mates and the rest will be history. The process of finding friends in university tends to be quite seamless and natural so don’t stress about it. Budget Living at home is much different to living by yourself. Now you are in complete  control of your income you need to decide how and where to spend your money as well as consider saving. You can’t spend ridiculous amounts of money on nights out and then be left with nothing to eat for the rest of the week. Check out our Money Management Blog Post. Join Societies You have the opportunity to try a variety of new things and a fair amount of free time. Through this you can make friends as well as refine certain skills and characteristics as there are opportunities for leadership and community interaction. There are several medical based societies giving you an insight into different specialties through practical workshops, talks from doctors within that speciality and opportunities for work experience. Learn how to cook You will soon learn that living on takeaways is not an option, not only is it expensive but it is incredibly unhealthy and quite frankly not a feasible way to live. There are many University friendly meal recipes available e.g. The independent Freshers recipes Modify your expectations University is not all fun and games, it is tough mentally, emotionally and physically. At time you may feel you aren’t good enough, but remember you earned your place at Medical School, the admissions team saw something in you and felt you will make a great doctor. Everything about Medical School is different to A-Levels, the depth, style and pace of teaching is a big jump. But do not worry, everyone is in the same boat. Don’t rush into buying textbooks Medical textbooks are expensive and heavy and there are so many to choose from. We recommend you wait a few weeks before buying your textbooks to give you time to ask for advice from older year medical students or you may just decide to borrow them from the library. Some universities also provide online versions of particular textbooks. Check out our Recommended Medical Textbooks Blog Post. Keep up-to-date with current medical affairs As you will be entering the healthcare field it is important to understand what you are going into, what challenges is this sector currently facing. Keeping up with what is going in the NHS is particularly important as it a major part of the healthcare sector in the UK. Also try and read about recent medical advances, research and journal articles. The world of medicine is evolving at a rapid pace and as you’ve devoted yourself to a career involving a lifetime of learning you need to stay updated. Keep in contact University can become a very lonely place, it’s easy to be surrounded by people but still feel lonely. You have to make the effort to keep in contact with your family and friends regularly. They can support you and also provide you with advice and motivation when needed. Form good relationships with your lecturers Do not be afraid to ask questions, lecturers are a great source of advice and they tend to be the one’s who write your exams. Talk to your lecturers and let them know who you are, this is a good way to help you pursue a speciality you are interested in and possibly get work experience.

Live within your means Know how much money you are working with and do not compare your spending to other people. If you know you cannot afford to buy something or go on a night out, then be wise and don’t go. Resist the pressure to have the same material things as the people around you and even the people on social media. Don’t try and live a lavish lifestyle with a low budget, be realistic. 2. Distinguish between what you want and what you need This is important, sometimes we convince ourselves that our wants are necessities but in reality they aren’t essential. Prioritising is a great tool to direct your spending,we definitely advice prioritising bills as late fees can eat away at your money. 3. Hesitate before you buy things Sleeping on it or calling that frugal friend for advice before you make a purchase can be enough time for you to realise that maybe now is not the right time to buy the desired items. Writing a list before you set out also makes you slow down enough to review your planned purchases. 4. Avoid Overdraft Believing that your overdraft is free money is a naive perspective to have. If you genuinely want to avoid raking up a crazy amount of debt whilst your young, I would suggest you avoid an overdraft and only get it if you really, and I mean really need it. When your young you set the foundations of habits that will last a lifetime so if you end up getting an overdraft to improve your credit, get once you know you have disciplined yourself with your money. 5. Look for deals Take your time to look for deals and compare prices. As students, you are privileged to get Discounts in several shops with NUS or Uni-days, make use of it. 6. Plan your time to make your own meals A lot of our money tends to be spent on buying food while we are out and as an African mother would often say, “there’s food at home”. Taking that extra time to plan your meals at the start of the week and prepare them in bulk or the night before can make a lot of difference and save you a lot of money. 7. If you can avoid paying for it then do so I know this point can easily be misconstrued and I’m not telling you to go and steal or engage in fraudulent activity  but what I am saying is if your parents are willing to help you with particular expenses then accept their support. Asking for financial support for the odd textbook or something you know your parents would be willing to pay for, is perfectly reasonable however if your parents are not in the position to provide financial aid then do not exploit them or place them under additional pressure. 8. Save/ Plan for emergencies We recommend that you create a savings account that you only have access to through going to the bank; knowing your money is accessible means you are less likely to view it as your savings and more likely to dabble into it. Another alternative is if you have 2 bank accounts and decide to use one as your savings give your card to a trusted family member, or if you are in university leave it at home, this way you can’t easily access it.  Have a target of how much you intend to save per week or per month, no matter how small, it all adds up at the end of the day. I would recommend that you have a certain amount of money in your account that you do not touch, but only use in the case of real emergencies. 9. Budget Budgeting ensures that you are spending less than you are bringing in and planning financially for the short and long term. Alongside setting a budget, it is very important that you also track your spending and keep up to date. Life is unpredictable so try to review your budget and your spending and be flexible if there’s a change, or at least every couple of months. Here’s the link to a great University Budgeting Template: University Budgeting Template – Created by Temi