MSc completed

That’s it. Printed, bound and submitted. Three months of long days in the lab, countless sleepless nights in the library and it’s all over, MSc done. I stood outside of my course organiser’s office and contemplated my life without RNA. At first I felt lost and a bit disorientated, then I realised that I was severely sleep deprived and got myself home. As I lay in my bed the feeling of relief took over and I slept the sleep of angels. The relief is still overwhelming and know I can focus on my happiness and excitement at enjoying my summer and preparing for Warwick!

So in the midst of all the work and frustration I had the Acceptance Day at Warwick. It was a bit surreal walking into the medical teaching building and not having to convince anyone to pick me. Seeing all my future course mates it finally sank in that I will be a medical student come September. I even discovered that some people in my current Uni are due to start medicine this year too, its crazy that we met in Warwick when we’ve been sharing a building for the best part of a year.

We were ushered in the lecture theatre and bless them Warwick really tried to make it seem like we would all be ok. It wasn’t until the Q&A that they finally let us know the truth. Don’t get me wrong I always knew medicine would involve a lot of work but I didn’t know we only get two weeks of summer holidays after the first year! Well, as it was pointed out, it isn’t an abbreviated course it is an intensive course. Aside from that revelation I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and it made coming back to the lab a bit anticlimactic. That was a month ago, a long arduous month full of pipetting, journal reading and procrastination.

Oh and I’ve found out I’ll be a resident tutor next year, so that’s accommodation sorted. Just need to get student finance so that I won’t be totally destitute when I start Uni in September, I’ve got a couple of weeks of invigilating so I should have some pennies when I start and free accommodation helps. Now that this MSc is over my excitement is returning and I’m looking forward to focusing on preparing for medicine and enjoying one of the last long summer I have left. 

Filling in the gap

I am slightly ashamed at the length of time that has passed since my last post. Just a little over two months ago I received my offer from Warwick. I have just gotten use to the fact that I will be a doctor one day, though I still glow a bit inside when I think about it. There have been a couple of things going on since my last post namely exams and starting my project.

So exams… Throughout April I closeted myself in the library and tried to inhale as much information about the brain and nerves as possible. On the whole it worked out pretty well and the exams went smoothly a good test of knowledge acquired over the year. All except Module 3: Neurology in Clinical Practice… Seriously, it was like being trained as a chef and then being sent into war, armed only with a spatula and wooden spoon. The whole exam was an exercise is imagination, creative writing and cruelty. I think the thought behind it was to make it challenging for everyone… including the doctors, some of whom have already specialised in neurology! Why not just fulfil the purpose of a test and examine taught knowledge. Honest to God, one of the questions asked was ‘who was the founder of the university?’ Really you have me here learning about localisation, pharmacology and electrophysiology and ask me foolishness like that! The answer wasn’t even Google-able (believe me, I searched). Even the doctors, had to call upon years of training to get through the exam. At one point I had to use information gathered from a novel I once read in Year 8 to answer a question about delirium because not at any one point had we covered the topic. Well as you can imagine there was a mini uproar, in the end and the programme leader tried to assure us that the matter would be “looked into” and if there was a “general trend” the marking would be adjusted accordingly. We just have to wait and see.

Exams ended rather well, all things considered, and we immediately started our projects. This time around I am doing a lab project, which I was very keen to do. In my 3^rd year I did a history project; a case study that looked at the relationship between the government and forensic psychiatry. It was very interesting but not very investigative and I felt I missed out on experiencing real scientific research. So now I am in the lab looking after cells, running western blots and generally being clever. That’s the thing about working in the lab, it can make you feel like you know things, even though when it comes down to it you are just following steps and producing pretty pictures. It can be hard work though and slightly soul-destroying when your blots come out a smudged mess, but it is mostly really satisfying.

Oh! Most importantly my Warwick offer is now unconditional! So there should be no surprises come September. My DBS (aka CRB) certificate is complete and even student finance seems to be functioning properly. So I am slowly getting more and more prepared for Warwick this autumn. We have the offer day in just over two weeks and I am soo excited, it feels more and more real with each day. Just need to sort out accommodation and I really will be ready!

Acceptance

“Happiness can exist only in acceptance.” – George Orwell

Of course Orwell probably meant something philosophically profound like loving yourself or the world around you, but for me, at this moment in time, happiness is the fact that come September I will be an undisputed medical student!

I certainly have not felt the level of happiness as when I read the email subject heading: Warwick offer for Joint Degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery

Yes, that is correct subject to the submission of a Fitness to Practice form I shall commence my medical degree this autumn! My joy knows no limit!

The wait was agonising, but sooo worth it! I got the email when I was in the library, supposedly revising for my exams next week. I received very weird looks from people around me because of the squeal I released when I got the email and the laboured breathing that followed. The sheer relief that I will never be plagued with the UKCAT and UCAS, and elation that I am to begin living  my dream, was just so overwhelming. I wanted to laugh, shout and cry all at the same time. Needless to say I packed up sharpish and headed home, to let my family know and squeal to my heart's content. I got home to much jubilation and cake! I can always count on my family to celebrate properly, even with very little notice. 

It has been a long journey, after three years completing a BSc Neuroscience degree, a gap year slogging away in retail purgatory, a very intense MSc degree, not to mention three failed UCAS attempts; Glory to God: I have made it! I find myself within the hallowed circles of the initiated. Ok a tad melodramatic, but seriously after going through the whole application process four times over I feel like there should be some metaphysical manifestation of my acceptance.

… No? Well ok then. I’ll content myself with grinning like an absolute fool, dancing to no music and eating cake!

Fever Pitch

My medical application 2014 has reached critical point. I have now been officially rejected from Barts, Southampton and Birmingham. To be honest I’m not surprised; there was hope while they were doling out the interview invites, and even desperate dreams of a wait list offer as the interviews were in progress, but when people were discussing whether of not to firm offers from these institutions I realised that hope was futile and each of these universities were cruel. However, even with these realisations, common sense was not functioning when I received the UCAS updates. My heart stopped and my stomach flipped (especially Southampton, which came after my Warwick interview) when I logged into track to view my failure.

There remains only one hope that come 2018 I will become a junior doctor… That hope lies in the hands of the course selectors of Warwick Medical School. I keep asking myself what my contingency plan would be and honesty I have no clue. I can’t do another masters (though I am tempted), I refuse to do a PhD and spend 3/4 years not doing medicine, I have tried working and while aspects of it were enjoyable I refuse to be pressurised and made to care about inconsequential things (i.e. baguettes and the temperature of a bloody latte!). This leaves two options: Sleep for a year or get into medical school. Needless to say I prefer the latter… though I am known to indulge in a lie-in or two…

My mind keeps drifting back to the selection day, did my interviewer look bored as I babbled on about communication skills and helping people, should I have shouted more in the group task, did I spell my name correctly in the written task! Paranoia and anxiety are slowly edging into more of my waking hours. I have soo my revision to do for my exams I shouldn’t even have time to think about breathing let alone what I was doing two weeks ago, who react how and whether my shoes looked professional enough (should’ve gone with the low heels, for sure). Maybe all this worrying is a new cunning form of procrastination, to stop me from fully engaging in my current studies. If so, touché procrastination. Touché.

Selection Day

Today was the selection day for Warwick Medical School. I arrived in Coventry yesterday and spent the night in a Premier Inn, which was quite lovely especially the mini jams at breakfast (I love anything small… and sugar). I arrived at the Medical Teaching Centre early and registered, sorted out my documents and chatted with some of the other candidates. Everyone was really friendly and it was a very relaxed vibe. After a briefing the day began, we were assessed on three tasks: the group exercise, written exercise and interview. 

Group exercise

So this was the section I was most worried about due to the feedback I received back in 2012. I didn’t want to overcompensate for my previous performance and become an overbearing foghorn, but I was not going to be a shrinking violet either. To my surprise this section was the one of the most enjoyable; I made good input early on, which put me at ease and the whole group worked well together. At the end I even managed to forget I was being assessed.

Written exercise

This was always going to be a bit of a blind spot for me, just because there is no way of knowing what they are looking for. I tried my best to put down intelligent responses and apply common sense, but it is very difficult to gage my performance. The only good thing is that I finished the whole thing within time, whether that impacted on the quality of what I wrote is another matter altogether.

Interview

This was the best session, which is saying something considering how well the group session went. The lady interviewing me was very friendly but kept asking me ‘anything else?’ which unsettled me a bit until I suddenly began to talk about myself and realise I did have something else. I must admit I could have done with a bit more structure to my answers and they may have been a repeated sentiment or five, but on the whole I got out most of what I wanted to say

At the end we had a debrief where the head of admissions told us that out of the 545 people interviewed 230 people will be receive offers. Judging from the people I met in the selection centre the competition is going to be rife. Everyone seemed so credible and deserving of an offer that I don’t know how admissions are going to make their decisions. There’s nothing I can do about it now, the whole thing is in God’s hands.

Overall I am optimistic. I know optimism at this point is dangerous there is still so much uncertainty, I am not a good judge of my performance, I have no idea about my competition etc. But I have nothing else to go on at the moment and I have to choose to be hopeful. We have about three weeks wait till we hear their final decisions. The only hope for my sanity ironically is the impending deadline of our last essay next week and exams next month. O the joy…

Nearing an End

Time is racing by, back when I last posted I had two months until my interview now I have three weeks. I have been somewhat distracted from the stress of the medical application process by the latest essay and beginning my project. It’s quite good being back in the lab and the prospect of being scientific researcher as well as a doctor is exciting. Well as I get deeper into my project (more later) I can only anticipate time will travel that much faster. Another few blinks and this MSc will be over..

As it is, we are nearing the end of the taught component of course with only one more module to go. The last module was by far the greatest! Clinical neurology it was like being in specialist training, I found it the most challenging, as it was ultra clinical (I know, clues in the name…) our lectures assumed so much knowledge but in the end it pushed the non-medics to work harder and study more. There now is no question in my mind that my future will be involved with the brain. The only question is in which capacity: Psychiatry, Neurology or Surgery. I’ve narrowed it down to being a neurologist that consults in psych cases and performs emergency procedures, while conducting research of course. This role does not exist as yet, but I remain hopeful. I have been reassured that I have a lot of time to explore and make a more concrete (realistic) decision later, during or even after medical school. Right now we have quite a light module: Research methods and skills, which is great because it lends itself nicely to our projects and give some headspace for revision (which is vast!).

My interview at Warwick is fast approaching. I am worried about the level of preparation I need. I was so nervous in my last interview and I know I was quiet during the group exercise, but I have no clue about how to improve my performance. I am generally a contemplative person especially in unfamiliar situations, I like to think rather than rushing in, also the pressure not to appear competitive and forceful was at the forefront of my mind. I don’t want to say something for the sake of speaking, disagree with a perfectly reasonable point to appear original or repeat past mistakes by being too quiet. I also need to practice for the more traditional interview section of the day, which I can see myself easily taking for granted. In other related news, I was rejected from Barts about a week after hearing from Warwick and I have yet to hear anything from Southampton or Birmingham, so hope is dwindling. The news ranging from disappointing to nonexistent puts even more pressure on this interview, especially as Warwick may not only by my first choice but my only choice.

One step closer

So after all the whinging and whining yesterday, I woke up this morning determined to put things into perspective and concentrate on my latest essay. However, this decision promptly led to me watching the latest episode of American Dad. I was five minutes in when I was interrupted by a notification. A notification alerting me to this beautiful email:

Dear NeuroMed

Thank you for your application to the above course at The University of Warwick. We are delighted to be able to invite you to take part in the MB ChB Selection Centre…

Put simply, I am over the moon! I feel quite silly droning on and on yesterday about not hearing anything. But then again I am somewhat inclined to the theatrical… My interview is in March so I have about 2 months to prepare. I am one step closer to that offer of admission. Seriously if getting an offer is anything like getting an interview than I truly do not know how I will contain my excitement. 

Hunger Games

It has been nearly 3 months since I sent off my UCAS form. All I have received; is silence, bone chilling silence. Aside from a couple of generic emails about increased competition, I have no idea how far my application has been considered. So in order to have something to obsess over I turned to the forums for information and a little bit of reassurance, which at the start was fantastic! The thing about these medical applicant forums is that even though we are all striving for the same thing it is very supportive and there is a great sense of camaraderie. A place where other anxious applicants could air their worries, hopes and dreams in safety.

And then it began… The rejections.

One after the other, people fell like tributes in the arena that is the medical application cycle 2014. Like a chapter straight from the Hunger Games the rejections hurtled thick and fast like bullets. Now, I am approaching the clearing, cautiously raising my head above the parapet. This year the competition has been epic. The calibre of applicants that have been rejected is unbelievable, but I have to have faith in myself. I managed to survive up until this point so I still have a fighting chance. Right?

Sorry for all the neurosis; the silence is just getting to me. Well while I wait, I just have to focus on doing well in my current degree which really took a back seat over Christmas. I need to raise the ante big-time now that we are starting our projects. I’ll keep you posted on any progress, hopefully with good news... preferably soon.

Christmas and New Years

I apologise for my absence, it has been a long time since I updated my blog, I’ve been busy writing essays, getting ready for Christmas and subsequently gaining at least 3 stones.

I handed the second essay out of 4 on the 18^th and was so pleased to be free from studying over the holidays, with exams in April I chose to forego revision (we will see if that was a wise decision in spring). Despite the ever-malevolent fiend known as procrastination I managed to submit on time. Two weeks prior we received our results for our first essay, I got a merit (Yay!), I don’t hold out too much hope getting any higher with this essay as I fell victim to the aforementioned menace, but if I manage to maintain my grade then it will be easier to improve my overall grade in the new year.

Christmas was such a fantastic time! I absolutely love everything to do with Christmas. The songs, the decorations, the warm tingly feeling of contentment and joy… Bliss. My brother came back from Boston early December and our cousin also came down to us on Christmas Eve to spend his holiday with us, so it was a full and lively house. I made Christmas dinner for a grand total of eight people, which was not as bad as previous years and even had help from my younger brothers (an true Christmas miracle!!). Well, after a few years’ practices things finally seemed to come together without a hitch.

Things have been silent on the GradMed side, only communication has been from Warwick to say that applicants have gone up by 30%, because of this, the selectors need more time to review the applications and we will receive offers and rejections in early January. The waiting was agonising, still is, but I have allowed myself the holidays to rest my frayed nerves and enjoy the festivities.

As we come to the end of 2013, I find myself in a state of reflection. This year has been a very good year, I quit my job (such a good thing, for soo many reasons), passed my driving test, my brother left the country (a bit sad), I went after him, started my MSc (By far the best thing to happen in 2013) and applied for medical school (prayerfully for the last time). I have made it through this year becoming even more optimistic and enthused for the future than ever before. Here’s hoping 2014 will be even better!

Fancy dinners and impending stress

Last Saturday night was amazing. As fundraisers go, it was quite a formal bash: 3 course meal, flowing wine, gorgeous dresses and sharp suits. The Hilton was absolutely lovely and the turn out was good and it was quite a mixed bag of people. The highlight of the whole night had to be the dance performance and subsequent dancing. It was so good to see everyone getting involve, shaking their tail-features, especially the President of the Oral and Maxillofacial Association doing the Azonto! All in all a fantastic night out! 

Don't worry if you couldn't make it, there are always opportunities to donate :) 

The end of last week also marked the midway point of the second module of my MSc. The time has just flown by! I feel like we just began the course yesterday. Alas we are very nearly half way through the entire taught part of the course, which means half way towards exams… I have just over 3 weeks before the second essay is due, which means another 2½ weeks of procrastination. After Christmas we begin our projects and that is when the real stress kicks in. This course is very full on but honestly after a year making sandwiches and serving coffee I am so glad to be exercising me brain again.

On the GradMed front, I haven’t heard back from any of my choices. Which I am hoping is a good thing since Warwick has been dishing out rejections so hopefully my application is still being reviewed. So for now at least no news is good news! 

Upcoming Charity Event

This is a small promotional piece for my friend:

There is charity dinner next Saturday if any of you are interested in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery. Nyarko Cleft Care is a small charity founded in 2005 by my friend's mum whose daughter (friend's sister) had cleft lip and palate. She, along with the lead surgeon and President of the International Oral and Maxillofacial Association: Professor Piet Haers and the rest of the team, will be there on the night.

The event is in the London Hilton in Euston on the 23rd or November and starts at 6:30pm. It should be a really good night, lots of food, drink, and dancing. If you have any questions about the project or the event you can leave a comment and I'll pass it along to my friend.

More info and tickets are available on the website.

I'll give a review of the night next week to those unfortunate few that won't be able to make it!

Originality and Critical thinking

The relief of sending off UCAS and butterflies of receiving the first few acknowledgements were sadly short-lived. My MSc has started in earnest, although I am thoroughly enjoying it, the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ threatened to overwhelm me. If it wasn’t for the fact the course is so interesting and encompassed everything I want to do for the rest of my life, I would have succumbed to the pressure. I did not, however, and I am thriving. There are a lot of doctors on my course who assure me the fast pace and vast content of the course is good training for med school. Seriously, if medical school is anything like this MSc I may expire from sheer joy! There is, however, one aspect I have not yet conquered: the essay.

It took me three years to learn how to write an original and critical essay and by the end of my first degree I was scoring in the 80-90s for my essays. I thought I had mastered the art of scientific writing. I was proved wrong. Our first assessment is proving to be my downfall. I have stressed for nearly 3 weeks about it and I am no closer to finishing the bloody introduction, let alone the essay! Here is the problem, I am used to showing my originality and critical thinking by my approach to answering the question. However, the questions posed have all been dissected, thereby taking you by the hand and leading you to a conclusion. How, within 2000 words, am I meant to be critical or original when you are holding me hostage at the teat? Our module leader has explained that it is about the quality of sources used and what we choose to include within the essay that will be assessed, somehow I not convinced. I have a suspicion that there is something hidden that only  the top 1% of the scientific world knows about, an approach or some sort of insight.  Half the question is asking you describe or define something, but what does that really mean? We can’t even use Wikipedia (I know, I know…) because he heavily implied he has read all the relevant pages to ensure he spots anything similar. That's the trouble with a small cohort: the supervisors have far too much time on their hands.

I don’t know, maybe I’m really over thinking this. Although the pressure to score highly is completely intrinsic, I feel the need to validate my decision to do this MSc with a good grade, a grade I know I am capable of getting. Maybe I need to take a step back and strip the question to the bare bones rather than procrastinate by making lists, timetables and action plans. I’ll just get something down, that is comprehensive and concise, rather than try to invent a new branch of science. 

UKCAT and UCAS

You may think that having sat the UKCAT three times before I wouldn’t be anxious or have to worry about it. You would be wrong. I spent the whole of June and July wondering whether I would flop the UKCAT again and ponder on my life choices. However, this year God seemed to take pity on me and I actually can breathe freely now I know I haven’t sabotaged my application with a naff UKCAT score. I did the UKCAT a week before I left for Boston. I had (with varying intensity) been preparing for two months prior. In the end I got:

VR: 570, QR: 660, AR: 770, DA: 900 and SJT: Band 1. That averages out to 725.

I am, needless to say, very happy with my score especially after the initial worry of new question sets (in VR and AR) and a whole new section (STJ, piloted last year). I am actually extremely happy due to the fact I did the wrong version of the test. I misread the SEN info on the website (Irony doesn’t even begin to cover it) and did the standard test when I am more then qualified UKCATSEN well my VR score suffered but glory be to God I pulled it up with the other subsections.

I have had to manage my expectations as far as university choices go. It seems, from stalking forums, that my score is quite average. However, I am still eligible for my first choice Warwick! And so for 2014 entry I will be applying to GEP: Warwick, Bart’s, Southampton and Birmingham.

The UCAS form has been sent off including a new personal statement (there really are not that many ways you can change a statement for the third time). However, I made sure to take my time with it, as I want this to be last time I ever have to spare a passing thought about UCAS. I fully intend to get in next year because I really, really, really, really, rrreeeeeaaalllyy never want to have to go through this process again!

In other related news. My two twin brothers are also applying for university one of them for medicine. They are in their last year of 6^th form so God willing all three of us will be studying in uni at the same time! I feel sorry for my poor beautiful parents who will undoubtedly have to foot the bill for three undergraduate student bums studying for the better part of a decade!

Neuro Motorist!

Today I passed my practical driving test! 

Considering that I arrived from the US a week ago where I did absolutely no driving and became quite accustomed to the wrong side of the road, I am astounded. Added to the fact that it was my first test I am in a state of disbelief, and if I’m honest a bit unprepared for the implications a full drivers license holds.

Now I know it is not uncommon to pass first time, but I am what you may call a ‘(unnecessarily) safe’ or ‘(overly) cautious’ driver so I was not expecting to pass due to either excessive hesitancy or frustrating the hell of the other motorists, especially as I hadn’t had long to practise. To be honest I got extremely lucky with my examiner, test route and day, which were friendly, easy and dry respectively. But when I heard him say "Well you have passed..." I felt manic laughter well up inside me at the pitiful joke he was trying to deliver. I managed to swallow my insanity long enough to confirm I had indeed been granted the right to drive unaccompanied on public roads... Alone.

All in all I passed with only 5 minors, which included driving too slowly beside cyclists (because I didn’t want to alarm them!) while overtaking. I am now facing the reality that I can be unleashed on my own, in a motorised vehicle, amongst other unsuspecting road users. Well, I just need to get a set of P plates, which I will most likely be using for the next 5 years, you know, while I gain confidence and the such.

Vacation

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

I am almost certain I am the only one reading this blog; so I won’t make too many apologies for the long absence. The reason for the hiatus is simple: NeuroMedic was in Boston! Throughout the month of August I visited my brother, who has just moved out there for work. So instead of a holiday I was in actual fact there to be his unpaid PA/maid/cook. However, I did all the things expected from a tourist: Harvard Yard, Duck tours, Faneuil Hall etc. as well as furnished a flat and establish a working household (you’re welcome, bro).

Due to the fact that my brother was working Monday to Friday I had to acclimatise myself very quickly to the city. Fortunately it is very well connected and easy to get around so I was able to navigate and entertain myself during the day. Needless to say by the end of the month I was very much at home, which made arriving back in London quite strange. It put me in mind of the quote above, there really are no foreign lands, which is made all the more apparent when you have to acclimatised to your own home. It did not take too long though once I had gotten over my jet lag I was able to appreciate the wonders of London: driving on the left, gloriously unpleasant faces and of course the correct usage / horrifying abuse of the English language.

Quick word of advice: Do Not under any circumstances connect within the US without at least 3 ½ hours, especially with Delta, it’s a bloody joke and you will miss you’re flight (and may cry). If the only alternative is to ride a donkey to your destination then you may want to consider a non-direct Delta flight. However, be warned: They will lull you into a false sense of security with a painless and pleasant first leg then frustrate the you with incompetent and insultingly slow staff and flights that are cancelled and rescheduled for different terminals of their bloody airport (obviously I have yet to get over my bitterness).

Well it is now September; I am back in the UK and about to embark on a master’s degree. The summer is over and I am preparing to go back into education with I am actually very excited about. The next few weeks are going to be full of DBS checks, occupational health checks and forms… Well, maybe not that excited.

Reflections on rejections

“There's nothing like rejection to make you do an inventory of yourself.” – James Lee Burke

It is a gulling feeling to be told you are just not good enough. To have the door to your dream closed once again. However, it also is a fortifying time where you revaluate your choices and discover more about your motives and what you want out of life.

This will be my forth time applying to medical school. The first of course was in year 13; I was very under prepared and quite unsurprisingly rejected. The second time was at the last year of my neuroscience degree, I was at a better place in terms of maturity and had a clearer picture of where I needed to be. I made it to interviews, but nerves got the better of me and I was again rejected. The third attempt I was determined not to let my nerves or anything else get into my way, unfortunately my focus was more on the interview process than my UKCAT and I got a considerably lower score than I had the previous year, I was rejected before interviews, leaving me with yet another ‘gap’ year.

The part that most upsets/annoys me is the wasted time. There is nothing worse than doing something you know you have no business doing for a prolong amount of time without a clear picture of where you are going to be. The uncertainty and fogginess of the situation is by far the hardest part. I know I will become a doctor. It is just a matter of when. I can’t in all honesty continue on in limbo for many more years. It is ridiculous.

Which is why I'm so glad I'm doing my MSc. Instead of having another year of mind numbing employment, I should enrich my mind and train myself for a lifelong study. So I have decided to view the latest round of rejection as an opportunity to invest in my future and bolster my future prospects.

Neuro Medic

I would never regret the three years I took to do my BSc Neuroscience it was by far one of the most important things I have done thus far. It taught me so much about the area I want to spend the rest of my life in. It also didn’t hurt that I had three years to enjoy the joys of university life at one of the best student universities in the UK. However, it cemented the fact that medicine is for me.

Alas, it seems medicine has not received the memo.

So I am going on to do an MSc in Clinical Neuroscience, after a year out of education I am so happy just to be a student once more. Alongside my masters I will also be tackling UCAS and medical applications for the fourth (Yep, that’s right: the number 4!) time.

The decision to go back into study was not made lightly (£9000 is no joke). However, it is the best option for me as my main aspiration is to become a neurologist, hence this blog’s nifty name. This MSc bridges the gap between lab based sciences and medicine, and means I have the right foundation for further research.

Right that just leaves one more little thing to do: Get into medical school…

You know what they say: 4^th time’s a charm!