A Memorable Year.

1 year ago today, I was thankful and nervous at the same time. Last year's exam was probably the largest hurdle of my degree. I didn't do as well as I had hoped in my exam, but still managed to pass. I was incredibly thankful to be able to pass as many of my friends had failed the exam. Some of which had to repeat the year. I made a promise to myself that the year 2012 will be my comeback year. I was determined to start on the right foot and to never make the same mistakes again.

This year zoomed by. I believe I made leaps and bounds in terms of knowledge and self-confidence whilst on the wards and in clinics. I still got to give lots of credit to my placement in Orthopaedics. I cannot be more thankful to my supervisor. Even my friends have noticed that after my Orthopaedics placement, I was a different medical student. I was no longer afraid to speak up. I was no longer afraid to participate and be proactive. I realized that if you don't ask, you will never know what will happen. The worst answer you can get when asking something is "No". What is there to lose...other than a hurt ego. So one tip for all of you is to be confident. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Again, the worst someone can say is "No". If the answer is "no", just shrug and move on and don't take it personally.

As you move through the degree, Medicine slowly dominates your life and you really got to make an effort to have a social life. As the months pass and you have some free time to reflect, you realize your friends start to drift away and it may get a bit lonely at times. Medicine needs a lot of dedication, but I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to relax and take some time out. Giving yourself a break does not necessarily mean you have to go take a vacation. Taking a break is different for everyone. It may involve going to do something you enjoy or meeting up with friends, or even just spending some time at home to relax and watch TV.  I didn't realize how important it is to take a break until this year when I have finally experienced a whole year of clinical placements, one after another. Work - Life balance. I know many people in my year who are taking a year out to do a BMedSci next year, not because they want to do research, but because they have burnt out.

To top off my memorable year, just earlier today I received confirmation that I have been accepted to present a my research poster at a national conference. Really unexpected as it's quite competitive, so I'm absolutely chuffed. What a way to finish up the year!

In general, I have made many new friends, matured as a person, and gained valuable skills for the future - I think this has probably been one of my most memorable year of my medical degree. Despite the many ups and downs throughout the year, looking back - overall it has been a very good year.

Got to thank those who have made my year so memorable and those who made my experiences so much better. Cheers to 2012, bring on 2013!

Happy New Year!

Request: The Future.

There was a request from one of the readers here asking:

"What are you planning to do after medical school? It would be great to get some insight to what Canadian medics plan to do after their studies in the UK."

To be honest, the future can always change directions and I know I will have to be prepared for anything that life throws at me. My first choice is to stay in the UK and do my specialty training here as I know the system,   and I have gotten to know quite a lot of doctors who can give me advice for the future. I will try my hardest to stay in the UK, but laws do change. Hopefully the law won't change to prevent international students who study in a UK medical school from practising in the UK. In my eyes, I have spent 5 years in the UK. Moving isn't easy. The last thing I want to do is moving back and forth between countries. When I set my mind to something, I like to stay on that track and I am a very determined and ambitious person. In a way some people see it as stubborn, but I set goals for a reason - it is something for me to look forward to and to work towards to. I used to be quite a high level athlete and giving up is not an option. I do not like to stray away from the goal and when I do, I do get disappointed. I set high standards for myself and yes I know staying in the UK will not be easy, but I have set my mind to it. I have moved my life over to the UK and I personally don't see much of a future for me in Canada.

Now I may be determined and ambitious, but I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot. Always have a back-up plan. Things can go wrong. Life can throw a curve-ball at you. Rules can change. Who knows. The future is unknown and the most you can do is to be ready. Yes I have my mind set to stay in the UK, but I am still planning to take the Canadian MCCEE so if push comes to shove and I have to go back to Canada, I can. Nothing worse than ending up jobless and stuck in that awkward grey area.

I know quite a few international students wondering about taking the USMLE. (Note: I am not trying to start an argument/debate with this topic - just a personal opinion. Sorry in advance if anyone takes this persona/finds it offensive...) Who doesn't want to live the "American Dream". So why am I not taking it? Because I am not seeking for the "American Dream". To be very blunt - I do not care for working in the US. Some people see it as a great opportunity to make some good money. Some people just like the environment more. How I see it - if you are looking for the "American Dream", I'm sorry to break it to you, but in today's economy - there isn't much of an "American Dream" anymore unless you become a very famous doctor. The US is a very competitive place. Remember not only do you have to take a sickeningly hard exam, but you also have to score well in it. There's no point in just scraping a pass - you have to have a competitive score to get a desirable job in the US. I personally have my mind set on a specialty and it is a very competitive specialty. If I wanted to go the US, I would actually have to ace the USMLE. I don't want to end up working in some small southern town in the states in the middle of nowhere. The UK schools aren't geared to take the USMLE. UK medical students are geared to become practising doctors...not to take a US registry exam. That means students who want to take the USMLE, have to spend a lot of extra time to study for the USMLE alongside with their UK course work/exams. It is a very tough thing to juggle and you really have to be determined to go to the US and be committed to do well. So do your research.

Having said that, those who are determined to go to the US and have their eyes set on the prize - will probably do well in the USMLE. These people would probably take the exam seriously and study hard for it. Some might not really care what specialty they want to go into. These people will probably get a job in a desirable location. I'm sure I wrote a post about priorities before. Personal preferences and priorities - what is important to you, may not be as important to the person sat next to you. To make your priorities work, you will have to make sacrifices. At the moment, my #1 priority is to get into my desired specialty. This will probably require me to make quite a few sacrifices as it is a competitive field. The most likely thing I will have to sacrifice is: location. Someone else who wants to do the same specialty may see location as a huge priority. He or she may rather stay in London than do specialty X or he/she may not mind doing specialty Y in order to stay in London. It is all down to you.

All in all, the future is a personal thing. Everyone has his/her own path. No one path is the same. Know your priorities and stick with them. Don't let someone else alter your priorities or talk you out or into things. It is your life at the end of the day.

That's It?

After some good banter after our critical analysis presentation for our SSC research attachment, we were told by our supervisor that we essentially will not go back in/see him until the LAST day of our attachment which is in 2.5 weeks. In the meantime we are supposed to do our final task: data analysis. I am absolutely ____ing my pants about this as I do not know anything about stats. Doh! This is definitely going to be a REALLY tough task and thank goodness we have 2.5 weeks to figure it out. At the same time when I found out we will not be going in for 2.5 weeks you would assume that I would be doing a victory dance the minute I left the building. Wrong. I was actually really bummed out. I hate to admit it, but I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed this attachment and I am having a really good time! I think it is because I have an amazing supervisor coupled with amazing group members as we get along extremely well. Once you get into med school and make medic friends you tend to talk about medicine with each other, but with my group members - we all play sports and we are quite athletic and to be honest - we NEVER talk about medicine when we are around each other. We actually have something interesting to talk about and it is quite nice. Such small things can make quite a big difference.

As well, we were promised at the beginning...okay not promised...more like notified that we will probably get to go to the gait lab to try out the equipment and test out what the volunteers will be going through in the trial. Because our supervisor has to leave for conferences and stuff, we apparently will not be going in. I was really excited about going to the gait lab and now seeing that we won't go in until the last day - we obviously will not be getting the opportunity to try out the machines. Boooooo. Super bummed.

So essentially our last day of attachment is 2.5 weeks away and that means we have already been at this attachment for 3 weeks now. It definitely does not feel like 3 weeks and I know earlier I was whining about doing a research attachment, but I loved it. I think the main reason is because of the tiny little things like a great supervisor and a great group really made things a lot more enjoyable. On top of that, my attachment is very clinical based and it was nice not being in a lab all day (actually we never went to the lab) and the hours were quite "slack". Definitely a good balance. Go in just enough to get a feel for the attachment, but at the same time we get enough free time to get some revision done for exams. When I looked at my calendar and looked at the last day of our attachment I said: "That's it?" Before embarking on this attachment I would NEVER think I would be saying this as I thought by the end of this I would be sick of the attachment and hate the attachment. I am soooooooooooooo wrong and I am happy to admit that it was wrong of me to have such a close-minded view of this attachment prior. Can't believe that this is it. Today was my last proper day of being at the attachment. The final session will be a quick presentation and then getting feedback. Wow. Time flies. Scary stuff.