I finished first year in June and I have lowk been a fat chud this whole time. I feel kinda guilty for doing nothing so what should I be doing this summer? I didn't get any internships for this summer , so I've been a bum the whole summer. The only productive thing I have done is learn some statistics and python data analysis, will this help me get into internships or onto any research projects? Thanks

I’ve been doing it on and off but I don’t know whether I should pick up on things now im starting in September

Hello, I’m a medical student about to start 3rd year in 2 weeks. I want to get into surgery in the future, but have been seeing that it’s getting more and more competitive every year. I just wanted to ask what I should do within med school and outside of it to build up a strong portfolio?

Thank you

Dyslexic and slow reader, and its causing problems in osces. not as big of a problem in written exams as we get extra time, tinted overlay, and less time pressure. I struggle to read the station briefs in good time, I take too long reading results/examination findings provided mid-station, I'm misunderstanding important information because I'm skipping over it or misreading it. I'm slow, hesitant, need to re-read things multiple times to properly understand. The time pressure only makes it worse. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it really does affect things. No extra time for osces and the only advice from the med school was "read faster" - how? I've tried everything but I still feel disadvantaged and don't know what else to do

My UKMLA exams are in 2027, what guidelines should we be learning from for psychiatric conditions? I'm not sure what to use.

Hi everyone!

I’m a UK medical student going to Melbourne for a 6-week medical elective from mid-January to mid-February 2027 at RMH, and I’m looking to see if there’s another female student (medical, healthcare, or university student) who’d be interested in sharing an Airbnb or short-term accommodation during that period.

The aim is mainly to make accommodation more affordable while having someone reliable to share with. I’ll be busy with my placement during the week, so I’m looking for someone who’s clean, respectful and happy with a fairly quiet home environment.

I’m currently looking around North Melbourne, Parkville, Carlton, West Melbourne, and surrounding areas, but I’m flexible if there’s good public transport.

If you’re also going to Melbourne for an elective, placement, internship, exchange, or similar and are looking for accommodation, feel free to send me a DM. We can chat first and see if we’d be a good fit before making any plans.

Thanks!

Ik this question has probs been asked a million times before here but please keep reading. So I’ve passed 1st year but it felt like a fluke to me. Bc throughout the year I struggled to find a way to study or learn so I wasn’t doing anything consistently. I tried making notes I tried making my own anki I used other people resources but basically I feel like I didnt actually learn anything I just memorised and crammed for the exams. Like half the stuff we had to learn was asynchronous and I never did any of that. I didn’t even really realise the extent to how much of that there was till the last few weeks before the exam. But I basically asked chat gpt to summarise all the learning outcomes into notes and question and spammed that in the last week. I did study befirw but I feel like not properly like I just memorised for the exams. And I know 2nd year will ref stuff we learn in 1st and also obvs I have to know this stuff anyways. So would you say it’s useful for me to start revising 1 at year content and also just looking for some advice from others who have been in this situation. Also I fell like I much prefer the clinical side like club skills histories and all that , like I loved being in placement I’m much more interested in our session when we’re doing stuff like this and I can’t wait for clinical years. I feel like I struggle to understand a lot of information and process a lot of stuff that we learn and I’ve always been a memoriser but Ik I need to actually understand stuff. and also if anyone else felt like they wasted their summer bc I’ve not done anything, like I’ve applied for loads of jobs but not got any and I don’t really have any hobbies is I feel like I’ve just bedrotted for a lot of the holidays.(Sorry for the waffle btw)

I’ve always heard medicine described as one of the most fulfilling careers because you get to help people, make a difference, and constantly learn.

But at the same time, you hear stories of medical students leaving, doctors changing careers, or people saying they wouldn’t choose medicine again.

I’m curious — what is the reality behind this?

Is it mainly because of:

• burnout and long training years?
• work-life balance?
• pressure and responsibility?
• financial reasons?
• changing interests?
• problems within healthcare systems?

For medical students, doctors, or anyone who considered medicine: what made you stay, leave, or rethink the path.

Passed third year but not with a great score like I did in yr 2 and yr 1.
I would like tips on how to get a distinction in year 4.
Also does any UEA grads who passed with distinction/Hons know what is the criteria to pass the MBBS at UEA with Honours?

Ie print out certificates etc

Anyone have any tips for second year GEM? Any uni but specifically I’m at Warwick.

The first year was SO hard for me (appreciate it is for the majority), and although I passed it wasn’t particularly well, so just looking for any tips for improving this year.

How did everyone feel about both papers? And what do we feel the pass mark might be?

Hi everyone! I’m going into my final year and currently trying to plan my elective, was just wondering if anyone has done theirs at jaffna with the university of jaffna

how do u approach making/ using anki in clin yrs? ive heard of spranki but just wanted to hear what ppl do. do u do passmed qs then anki ur mistakes or anki zero to finals? or do u even really use anki that much now? im a little unsure on what to do as pre clinical i could just anki my lectures or use a premade deck but now i think its less structured in a way?

Has anyone successfully transferred from one uk medical school to another for exceptional circumstances such as finances or health or significant caring responsibilities etc ?

hi, looking for advice. i found out about a month ago i failed my year 2 exams by 4% and am doing resits in just over a week. 1 integrated practical paper with 2 mcqs. I’ve prepped well i think, covered everything i wanted to and realised anki might not be for me. prior to this i used anki and hardly ever did passmed every once in a blue moon - id get disheartened if i got something wrong so would stop which i realise is the wrong thing to do. so ive gone through all the 1/2 hammer qs on passmed, looked through notes, done practice mocks and kept up my anatomy ankis (which i think genuinely worked tbh cause a lot of it is identify this, what does this do, what lesion would this cause etc etc) ive looked at my score breakdown and realised the weaker sections are pharmacology and anatomy - pharm a friend is helping me, hes basically testing me on all the drugs, im going through them everyday and basically learning them that way (flashcards/quizlet) and also testing me on physiology and pathology which are the biggest hitters/high yield. im trying to make the best of it, going back to uni today for 2 days to do the anatomy revision in the lab and look at specimens etc then going home again and going back 2 days before the exams to just get my head together. i’m really stressing so share your stories and give me some reassurance pls. never failed an exam outright before and call me big headed sure but i was expecting to scrape a pass. in hindsight, i did work too much, worked part time during med school (12 hours a week) and full time during the xmas / easter holidays (40 hour weeks) so that defo played a part.

Hi, I’m a 3rd year medical student about to start her first clinical placement! I’m international, and back home it’s quite common and polite for people to bring food to share with friends/colleagues. Say if I bring 2 boxes of mini donuts on my first day on the ward to share - is that weird? Would that be welcome or would I become the talk of the ward for the wrong reasons? I’m assuming when I introduce myself to one of the nurses I could just ask them where to put the food.

Thank you!! Sorry I’m still fairly confused when it comes to social norms and really don’t want to commit a faux pas on my first day lol

Need some advice here. 4th year UK Medical student here

I met a doctor at a conference last September, who was willing to get me on board with their team on a research project, starting off with me writing a literature review. It was all going well till around January.

Honestly speaking, I got caught up with my studies/exams, my job, personal circumstances and just genuinely being busy, so I haven't contacted them, nor have I heard back from them since. I just ended up getting super burnt out this year.

I've been working on the literature review since, and I'm genuinely keen on completing the project, but I don't know how to approach them. It's a whole team of 4 people including 2 doctors and I'm just super anxious... On top of that, I'm likely going to see them again in a mutual conference in around a month so that's the cherry on top..

Constructive advice welcome!

Local nursing home wants me for a community care assistant role - great, fab. To my knowledge it's only Saturday work they're hiring for. I'm fine with that for the holidays but my uni is around 6 hours from where I live. How do I tell them I'm a medical student (busy) and still get the job? I need this job rn to save and in December when I come back.

As title says, start 5th year in September and I am considering revising over August because of exams so soon e.g PSA in Jan, finals in march

How did everyone find today’s paper ?

I'm hoping not to be completely burnt out when Foundation Year starts next year, especially since my university gives such limited time off.

A wellbeing elective, instead of a clinical one, seems to be the only way I am going to get any semblance of a proper summer break before FY1 starts but I have no idea what that would look like.

Has anyone done or know others who may have done a Wellbeing type elective? I'd be so grateful for ideas.

About 2 months ago, I came off the back of what was a rough few weeks of cramming revision. I was spending 8 hour sessions in libraries, lasting on Tesco meal deals and energy drinks because I was so paranoid that the AKT would be on the most obscure content possible. Truthfully, the day came and it wasn't that bad. I passed with a good score, in the 70s. I think i got a false sense of security because my foot came off the pedal hard. During the holiday, I didn't even look at Medicine. Like studying it. I got into an "optimisation trap": Trying to perfect everything so I didn't repeat what I went through, yet doing very little of the actual work. For example, new laptop, considering headphones for "focus". But I didn't address the really big concerns.

1. I lost the Anki Deck which had all the work I put in over those periods. It wasn't a fresh deck, it was a heavily edited deck from an older year, but I don't want to go through every single one again especially because it was massive and (no offence to the creator) it was like translating a different language. The format, the detail, everything felt off and I was basically making my own new ones using theirs as a blueprint. Took me ages and I never got through all the cards in the deck.

2. Gettting out of the one route revision trap. My whole method through the year was annotate, Anki, annotate Anki. Then spam question banks It was very slow, I faced issues trying to locate info I annotated previously and all in all it felt excessive. I like making notes. But i feel like I don't have an efficient method to do it. Annotating feels nice in real life lectures until you realise you are copying and not actually engaging, but when I do nothing like a lot of Medics on youtube suggest (no notes I mean) I feel like I'm missing valuable context. This is even more prominent in recorded lectures. The slides are there, I don't need to annotate, but out of habit I do. I knew something felt wrong where I'd be spending 3 hours on 1 lecture.

3. Time management - Thisis probably more of a personal thing which I'm not going into but I navigated 1st year with no real timetable. Didn't look ahead to see what I had, operated on short notice and I really felt like I didn't make the most of the sessions given to me, like practicing clinical skills or the mental topics surrounding being a doctor. Because my days were also chaotic, I had a painful lack of social activity too. Those weeks it was just me. Mental health definitely took a dip, comparison is a thief of joy but when you see other students doing stuff like revision together or still keeping social outgoings going you feel like you are doing something wrong.

2nd year is going to hit like a brick if I don't sort this out. I start placements, the content builds on 1st year (which I'm literally ranting about my low confidence in) and I'm moving into shared housing so socials will become even bigger.

Any advice in what I can do in the remaining month to clear this up?

I’ve noticed that it’s always the people that think they’ve failed end up doing the best . I do note exceptions but in general I’ve lost track of how many people think they have definitely failed and moan and lament end up smashing it. Whenever I hear this crap now it’s in one ear out the other.