Hi I’m Aastha Singh, a 3rd year medical student currently intercalating in Anatomy and Development. My interests include business, art, music and medical education and I am passionate about pursuing them alongside my medical career.
The renowned BBC Apprentice is replicated at the University of Edinburgh with our own ‘Edinburgh Apprentice’. In early, pre-pandemic 2020, I won first runner up in the Edinburgh Apprentice and although I did not win a partnership with Lord Sugar, I did beat Masters of Business students, narrowly missed first place, and won a prize.
Why the Edinburgh Apprentice, you may ask?
I was introduced to the term ‘portfolio career’ by an article in the BMJ. A portfolio career refers to an individual pursuing several different roles in a range of industries rather than following one career path. Despite being confident that medicine was the career I wished to pursue, there was a certain longing to continue my other interests which include business, art and music. The concept of a portfolio career highlighted that we are not bound to a single career path but can venture into other avenues and utilize our skillset.
The competition varies year-to-year; however, in 2020, it was a weekend-long event consisting of two tasks – the first being a group consulting task after which unsuccessful individuals were eliminated from the competition. The final task was an individual challenge in which I was asked to deliver a presentation to a panel of judges and an audience.
The brief of the final hurdle involved creating a financial and marketing strategy for a company looking to expand to North America, for which we were given less than 24 hours to prepare.
So, what was my winning strategy?
How do you approach a challenge in a field outside of your own, against expert competition?
1. The judges’ feedback informed me that the winning factor of my presentation was my clear focus on the task. Whilst preparing, my initial approach was to highlight the main requirements of the brief. What are they really looking for? I signposted this mentally as I created my proposition.
2. Confidence breeds success. It was essential I portrayed complete conviction in my proposal. There was a rather rigorous questioning session from the panel following my presentation. I offered the knowledge I had assertively, even if there were gaps.
3. Formatting and the structure of the proposition is critical to master. Crisp graphics and an innovative layout influence the audience’s experience of your presentation. Visual elements give you an edge and text should be kept to a bare minimum. The delivery of the presentation is as important as the content.
What was my shortcoming?
I tried to cover the task too comprehensively, covering all the practical aspects in the strategy which was not feasible with the presentation time restrictions. I consequently overran; keeping a strict time limit is essential.
This strategy can be applied to various challenges in and alongside your career, and forms a neat acronym:
Formatting, graphics and structure
Address the key facet of the challenge
Confidence breeds success
Time management is essential
Seeking success in a non medical field
Success in a field outside of medicine may be challenging but with a growth mindset and a keen interest, it is certainly achievable. Truthfully, there were several doubts in my mind which I battled: feeling intimidated by the business students competing with me and wondering if my proposal was of quality or severely lacking- I had never participated in a business venture before and the major obstacle to overcome was self-doubt.
I would recommend all medics to consider a portfolio career and to not neglect their extracurricular interests and skills. Hence, I recently founded Medic+ Club – a community and platform for medical students to share their extracurricular talents and skills. The aim of this endeavour is to nurture wellbeing amongst medical professionals and encourage engagement with a variety of industries and fields.
To conclude: with determination, one can achieve whatever you set your mind to- the limiting factor is a fixed mindset.
Aastha Singh is a 3rd year medical student, intercalating in Anatomy and Development. Her interests include business, art, music and medical education. Aastha is the president of Edinburgh Student Anatomy Society, Vice President of Edinburgh Renal and Urology Society, Publicity Director for Edinburgh Global Health Society, Graphic Designer for EdIntelligence, and Year 3 Representative and website designer for Student MedAID for the 2020/21 academic year. She is also the founder of Medic+ Club.
Instagram: @krystalmedic and @medicplusclub
