A Week in the Life of a Medical Student at Ulster University
Already I find myself in week 8 of the postgraduate medical degree here at the Magee campus and I am wondering how time has flown so quickly?! Being a medical student is busy and you have lots of work to do so let me show you a week in the life of being a medical student!
Monday
Every Monday morning we sit down in our problem-based learning (PBL) groups from 9:15am – 12pm. This week was particularly interesting as our case was about the birth of a premature baby at 28 weeks who seemed healthy at first but started to develop complications. Throughout the morning we went through the case and brainstormed the potential problems whilst learning about different treatments to help the baby.
Normally on a Monday afternoon we are free to work through our PBL, however this week we got a seminar taught by a group of specialists on neonates and breastfeeding. The talks were excellent and linked in with the work we had done that morning.
The seminar ended at 4:30pm so I decided to hit the library for 2 hours, before returning home to go for a walk and chilling out for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday
Tuesday is always our longest day of the week as we have 3 lectures in the morning followed by clinical skills in the afternoon, however, we only had two lectures this morning. This gave me time to attend our GP Society meeting, where we talked about the first event we will host this semester so keep your eyes peeled for that!
In the afternoon I really enjoyed clinical skills as we were given time to revise all the examinations we have learned so far. I focused particularly on the respiratory examination and ECGs. After this was over at 3:30pm I went to the library for 3 hours to do some revision for the test we have on the 29th of October. If you are doing long sessions in the library I would definitely recommend the coffee in the Scullery to keep you going!!
Wednesday
Wednesday this week was our third GP visit where we got to observe an 8-week baby check-up and vaccinations. I was also able to talk to the mammy about her labour experience and the excitement of bringing a new baby home. I really enjoyed this as paediatrics is one of the areas I am interested in.
For lunch I decided to treat myself to the Green Cat in Eglinton which I would highly recommend if you are ever in the area! Afterwards I then finished of the rest of my day in the library.
Thursday
This is the day we do our second session of PBL from 9:15am-12pm. The case always gets more complicated on a Thursday and there are more words we have to add to our learning intentions to understand, particularly for me this week was the foetal circulatory system.
Our afternoon is then dedicated to independent study, so you guessed it…I went to the library!! I find the library the easiest place to do work as there are no distractions and the seats on the third floor looking out on the city are where it’s at.
After the library I went home to grab a bite to eat before going to my training at St Johns ambulance. We went through CPR and different scenarios all in preparation for the Halloween madness next weekend in Derry. I am both excited and nervous to be part of the first aid team for the event.
Friday
Friday is also a long day for us in uni as we have class all morning from 9:15am-12:30pm, followed by class in the afternoon until 4:30pm. However, I thought the day flew in as we had interesting lectures from a neonatologist and an excellent physiology lecture from Dr Breen.
On Friday evening and always try and finish up as much work as possible from the week as this means I will have the weekend free to spend time with family, friends and walk my dog Hamish on the beach!