Hana Potter

My name is Hana and I am proud to say I am the most recent “student of the cohort” for Cohort 3 of The Sir Doug Ellis Pathway to Healthcare Programme.

Recently, I moved into Aston University to study medicine (as you can see from my tiktok on @path2healthcare) and I have settled in incredibly well, apart from a few cooking issues and accidentally breaking my flat’s freezer (somehow I managed to pull off the whole door and my flat mates weren’t too happy). This feeling of comfort and ease is mainly down to the pathway and its amazing team that helped me get here. Whilst the pathway certainly equipped me in studying medicine, another benefit I’ve noticed is that I can wake up 10 minutes before an on campus session and know my exact way around the campus.

If it wasn’t for the pathway and its many sessions and events, I would probably end up lost in a law lecture instead of in the medical school. At the height of a levels, the presence and support of the pathway team reinforced and reminded me of my passion and my love for healthcare. Honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed every single event on the programme and left each session feeling extremely motivated and excited. This could’ve been from either two options: the advice, support and inspiration provided from the staff and mentors, or the lunches given that never left me hungry. One of the main events that I personally found the most helpful was the chemistry Bootcamp. Don’t panic! You don’t have to do star jumps and circuits, you just learn some chemistry in a week intense course from various teachers that kindly give up their half terms to assist us.

Aside from the academic side, the programme has increased my confidence and social skills significantly. I have made friends for life, gained useful contacts and improved my team work skills through the course and I am undoubtedly grateful for the opportunity the programme gave me.

My first 3 months as a med student and adapting to online learning

We are all now deep into lockdown 3 and with the end of the pandemic indefinite, we’ve all had to adapt our lifestyle and learning in some way or another. As med students, the majority of our week is consumed by Blackboard and breakout groups. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing and over the last 3 months, I have adapted my routines to use the online resources and extra time to my advantage. 

COVID-19 initially appeared a great obstacle in my university ideas and the medicine course. After my flat mate tested positive in November, I was unable to attend my week GP placement that the rest of my cohort thoroughly enjoyed. I also could not attend my first formative examination that would’ve been a great opportunity to meet at least a few of my fellow year group and to gain a small insight in the facilities of the med school. However, the medical school themselves were extremely reassuring and caring when notified of my self-isolation with my tutor even offering to help me with any food shopping I needed!

Despite the lack of in-person communication, I have managed to make contacts and commit to social interactions online. I quickly involved myself as a student ambassador meaning I can make honest contributions to the medicine team and support other students when needed. The student ambassador team are all extremely friendly and honest, making the interactions enjoyable and productive. This also meant I was involved in a GMC (General Medical Council) meeting which personally improved my social skills and allowed me to see some of my cohort (even if it was just through their web cams). Aston Medical School have also made many opportunities for social interaction, including a meeting with dean. All medical students are placed into academic families which involves students from year 1-5. This allows easy interaction and support from older years and also allows for reflective conversations to ensure no one feels alone. This effort and involvement is truly appreciated by the students and it is great to see that the thoughts, feelings and mental health of students is prioritised at all times.

Another obstacle I first faced in medicine was the large amount of content to learn. I initially started my course making thorough, long, in depth, and “pretty” notes but after witnessing this was not serving efficient in my learning, I started trialling a method I was advised from several older med students. I now make all of my notes on an app named “quizlet.” This is an app that converts all notes into flash cards and mini exams to support the process of learning, revising and testing knowledge. As well as this, I can organise all of my notes into folders via the app and easily share specific topics to my group members if they need any extra help. I simply open quizlet on a different tab during my live lectures and make as many notes as possible, then add/alter post lecture when reviewing content and finally add any extra information from tutorial worksheets. Another application I swear by for medicine is “Anki”. This is, again, a flash card focused app where you can make your own or upload other peoples. The main reason I love Anki is that it is super organised and used by most of my cohort so many students share their decks and we can compare our knowledge to each other's. All the decks are organised into specific topics and you have a set study time so you can maintain your knowledge whilst not overloading your brain! I feel this significantly improved my knowledge, motivation, and time efficiency. Also, it is extremely refreshing and inspiring to see students support and help each other. Medicine truly feels like a family!

My favourite part of medicine is anatomy, social and psychological aspects of health, and clinical practice. I love clinical practice because my current desired career is a GP so it is exciting to act as a GP during roleplays and gain the skills required to treat patients with respect and dignity. ICP is also more interactive. I also love social and psychological aspects of health as it concentrates on the ideas of medicine other than physiological abnormalities; it is a topic I have never learned before so it is very new and interesting. Anatomy, whilst difficult, is fascinating and definitely a preferred subject. I can only imagine how passionate I would be about body structure if dissections were still attainable.

My top tips for going into medicine are

1. Keep on top of emails! When you are at university, most communication is done via email meaning you get hundreds of emails a day, but they always include important content and deadlines so read them all! If there is a date/deadline, write it on your calendar! 
2. Get involved on group chats and discord. This is especially beneficial if everything is online still. Group chats break the ice between members and are a super easy way to ask and share work. I have met some of my best friends via medicine group chats so take advantage of the power of social media!
3. Remember everyone is in the same boat. When you first attend medical school, you go from being top of the class to the same level as everyone else. This can be intimidating, and you may feel that everyone knows something that you don’t. This is not true; everyone simply has strengths and weaknesses. Always contact your lecturers and contribute to discussion rooms. 
4. Do not overload your brain. Whilst there is a lot of content in medicine, the content itself is manageable and easy to breakdown but this can only be done if you are in the right mindset. Sleep well, revise for no longer than 50 minutes without a break and maintain a positive attitude. You have made it to medical school! You have the capabilities, so overcome challenges and give it all you’ve got!
5. Mindset is everything. Confidence in yourself and positivity brings the motivation you need to succeed.
6. Quality is better than quantity. Understand the content at the time rather than when revising later. Make concise and easy to understand notes rather than re-producing all of the lecture and not gaining any information. 

My favourite medical resources:

- Simplemed - Khan Academy (whilst this is American, if you search for specific videos the content is the same!) - Osmosis

More in-person learning and exams!

I have now finished my second teaching period for medicine and have just begun my Easter break. As much as I love medicine, this is definitely a break that I needed! I absolutely loved teaching period 2 (TP2) and I even had multiple opportunities to go to Aston Campus for some tutorials. I learned how to perform ECGs, Basic Life Support and learned how to use my stethoscope to perform a cardiovascular examination. This felt like normality, despite covid restrictions still being maintained (e.g. social distancing, masks, sanitisation, and PPE). It was a great opportunity to fully see the medical school and to see my group for the first time (not only their heads and shoulders over laptop cameras!). This opportunity made me more excited for when restrictions ease and we are able to take advantage of Aston campus and the med school’s highly impressive facilities.

TP2 has consistently been becoming positive. After extremely cold weather and a strict lockdown, the sun has been making an appearance and easing of rules meant that I could move back into my uni accommodation and now attend Birmingham’s outdoor areas. This has completely changed the atmosphere and mood of my flat, the campus and most likely, the country itself! It has also given me an opportunity to meet med students for the first time which is something I personally struggled with and felt neglected with. I have loved hearing from my tutor group and supporting them in their chemistry, and I have also participated in other work opportunities for Aston University which has helped my social skills and to gain contacts.

Exams, exams, exams. Despite me specifying that I am currently in an end of term holiday I have been pressuring my family into examining their pulses and taking their blood pressure; and doing multiple flashcard and practice questions a day has not stopped to prepare for my exams. I have very important exams in May and so a significant part of my break is dedicated to my studies. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I changed my note style in TP2 (as you’d remember in my second blog post) and so the majority of my TP2 notes are already flashcards and a revision-friendly format. This has made revision way less intimidating and gives me motivation and a plan of action.

Revision is also very satisfying when you give yourself a plan, time limits and do it in a way you enjoy and don’t dread. For me personally I enjoy writing flashcards, testing myself on the flashcards (apps like quizlet are amazing for this), drawing on diagrams/images (visual learning is very effective!), complete practice questions and re-do my worksheets I was assigned during term time. At this moment in time, I am feeling very positive about my upcoming exams however this is not to say I haven't struggled and had moments of doubt. I had multiple moments of stress and upset especially at the end of this term, but this is normal and fortunately, I had my extremely supportive personal tutor giving me advice and listening to my worries. Giving yourself time to rest and to spend time with loved ones is important for yourself and essential in a demanding course like medicine where you may struggle sometimes with the workload.

For revision, my top tips are:

1. Have a rest first after the term. Take 1 or 2 days to digest the content of the last term and have a breather. The final part of terms is questionably the hardest part so take a few days to have a rest or if you want to do something, add any missing parts to your notes or read over them briefly.
2. Create a timetable/plan for your break and set aside some extra time every single day and at the end of the week in case something comes up. Sometimes, you are ill, not in the mood to study or something happens. This time is essential to prevent using your time to sleep, eat or time to study other topics.
3. Get into a good sleep schedule. Sleep is one of the most important aspects for concentration and overall health.
4. Revise in the way that you enjoy. Some people like visual learning, some audible. Do whatever suits you and is evidently effective.
5. If revision gets boring, switch the topic or switch the style of revision. Usually, after some time of doing flashcards or doing practice questions, I start to get bored or lose concentration, so I switch to more fun activities and topics that I find more interesting. I will then label a diagram, watch a video or go over case studies.
6. Revise for set amounts of time. 50-minute intervals is the golden time to revise for, taking 10/15 minute break after and then resuming the revision in the next 50 minute slot. –
7. Do active activities and those that are actually effective. Flashcards, questions, labelling diagrams, writing instead of typing, are all examples of active revision styles. Reading over notes, highlighting, and typing out notes are all passive styles so should be avoided. My top resources: - QUIZLET - I love quizlet and have recently purchased the Quizlet plus subscription where I can add images to all my flashcards and highlight them. I can organize all my revision on Quizlet and it has deadlines, time limits and different tests for the most successful pass on exams.
8. Pass medicine – this website is free to all medical students for a year and has thousands of exam questions, case studies and practice that is very similar to the exams that Aston medical school uses.
9. Simpledmed – this website also has lots of practice questions and quick reviews of topics.
10. Pathologia- this website has lots of histological practice that is a common struggle for med students.
11. Osmosis- this is paid but a very helpful resource for every aspect of medicine
12. Geekymedics- this is very beneficial for OSCE specific topics, questions and practical procedures

The end of my first year as a Medicine student

I am very proud but also very surprised to be saying that my first year of medicine is finished. I cannot get over how quickly it has gone! This year has flown by and yet so much has changed. My brain is overflowing with anatomical terms, my room is full with post-it notes and I cannot believe how much I have learned in one year, especially with most of it being online teaching.

As first year finished, the country also lifted all COVID-19restrictions. This is a major shift for the whole country and I was lucky to see some of the easing during my exam period as my exams were all on campus. This meant that I did have a chance to see some of my university friends, despite how stressed we all were. A great tip for medical exams is to find a study buddy. I met consistently with my friend Dylan in the few weeks before exams to go over medical content; we printed off worksheets and practice questions and worked through them together. This was very beneficial in the final weeks where we both started to lose motivation, so we used each other to fill in any knowledge gaps and for general reassurance and uplifting.

I also was fortunate to have a 2-week GP placement in May where I developed my patient experiences. The staff were all extremely helpful and even allowed me to independently carry out phone consultations to many patients to take my own patient history and to come up with a diagnosis (which they then of course checked and confirmed). One diagnosis especially tested my medical knowledge: a middle-aged man complained of back pain and urinary issues to which I quickly notified the doctor of the red flags and he was sent into hospital to confirm cauda equina. We had learned about cauda equina in lectures and so it was an interesting yet unfortunate case to have heard over the phone.

Over summer, I am planning to prepare for year 2.I will go over anatomy with my gray’s anatomy flash cards (I am obsessed with these flashcards, they have become my holygrail) and I will review the rest of year 1 content with the simplemed articles and my anki decks. However, my main focus of this summer will be to have a break and recharge my energy for September. I am feeling more confident for next year as I am aware of the commitment and time needed for medicine now and I know I can establish a strict healthy regime early on to balance the heavy workload. I am also hopeful for more in-person activities and more practical learning (I am dying for a dissection –no pun intented!)