Year 4 medical student Priyanka believes that while medicine perhaps has a reputation for being a difficult subject, it’s very manageable if you have the right attitude.
I think it’s fair to say that medicine has a pretty tough rep. Before starting university, I imagined it involved having to memorise thick textbooks, staying up late on hospital-placement shifts, and having to sit near-impossible exams.
Believing all that, it’s a wonder that I actually applied! Luckily though, I can confirm that studying medicine is not nearly as difficult as some may think, and can honestly be quite fun. In this blog post, I’ll share some of the difficulties I’ve faced in the past couple of years to give an honest insight into my experience so far.
Clinical placements
Although there is a lot to learn, in Edinburgh the focus is on being able to apply your knowledge in clinical cases, rather than having to memorise lots of scientific facts. Clinical placements only start from Year 4 and are just for few a few days a week, with weekend or night shifts being very infrequent.
Work-life balance
In most years, we have exams at the end of each semester, and although these aren’t easy, they’re definitely nowhere near impossible (or I wouldn’t be sitting here to write this now!). It is also definitely possible (and important!) to maintain a good work-life balance while studying medicine. We’re really lucky to have quite a few medic-run sports, societies and events which are great for getting to know your peers across all years of medical school.
Although everyone has different study schedules, I try my best to keep evenings and weekends free from university work, giving me plenty of time to unwind and focus on hobbies, friends and myself!
My biggest challenges
My first few years at university were quite unique, seeing as I started in 2020 – the COVID year. During this time, most of our lectures and tutorials were delivered online. On one hand, it was useful to be able to divide up the workload how I wanted and choose the hours I studied. However, I also found it difficult to keep focused for long periods while studying alone. Hopefully, this shouldn’t be an issue for anyone joining university, as Years 1 & 2 now have most lectures and tutorials in-person. Though it may take some time to get used to the 9am starts, they honestly will be worth it – having live lectures and tutorials really helps to go through the course material faster. The lecturers are also really helpful in pointing out what information is key and relevant to our level of learning.
Knowing what to know
Knowing what to know is another challenging part of the course. When starting off, all the new terminology and ideas can make the workload feel a lot bigger and more complex than it actually is. The good thing about medicine is that the body is all connected: as you learn, you will become able to draw connections between different body systems and conditions, helping you to remember everything as a more cohesive whole. At the same time though, there is always more to learn! This makes it even more important to prioritise the key part of the syllabus, and not get bogged down too much by all the details.
I hope that this wee post has helped to reassure you that studying medicine isn’t all hard work! The process of applying to the degree is honestly one of the toughest parts, so hang in there if you are!
