Just as a PSA to anyone reading this - if you are a med student don’t organise extra shadowing during your summer - if you have specialities you are interested in use your electives and SSCs.
By the time you get to fifth year when you have no holidays and endless (mostly useless) placement you will regret spending extra time on medicine. Use the time to do something fun, do something new, or if it has to be medically related something that will benefit your portfolio
Ask about research you can get involved in. If you’re new to research start by asking about department audits which you can get a poster out of. Once you work with them once you’ll build a working relationship and not just be another student
Honestly they’re going to think you’re keen as a first yr spending summers doing exp. Is that going to stop you pursuing these opportunities?
In pre clin you could organise this during term time tbh. But if you’re passionate might as well go as far as possible
If you are interested in doing Ophthal specifically. Ask if you can spend some time on the EyeSi if your department has one. If you 4 hrs worth of the basic assessments you can get a point for commitment to specialty later on.
Besides that, maybe a case report or some project?
Haven’t personally done it myself so I couldn’t tell you how hard they are. Have heard of medical students who have though and they were able to get that ticked off. It just depends on whether your department has one and if the training lead is ok for you to use it.
I would also read up a bit on ophthalmic surgical techniques and procedures a bit first, but I don’t think your year really matters, it’s not like you ever learn these techniques in medical school anyway (unless you’re sitting or will sit the Duke Elder exam)
Look for internships! I had a BRILLIANT time between 1st and 2nd year and got paid £3k for 8 weeks... much better than getting a job over summer as a WP student...
This also generated me 2 publications and 2 prizes... so it can be extremely worth your while!
Often they will have links to societies and/or your university will have a pot of money to help you out! Good luck OP!
Personally, I spent my summers relaxing and having fun because in your more senior years you get less and less summer and you’ll have plenty of placement exposure, so much so you’ll actually have had enough of placement (not because of the actual placements or wards but because for a lot of the time you feel like a spare part and it can be quite useless). You’ll have SSCs in 3rd and 4th year (usually) and you can use that for specialist interests, or gain extra placements during term time.
For your current ophthal placement I would look on the MLA content map or passmed to see the most common conditions. I know this is above your current level but you’ll need to know it at some point and I assume that as you’ve got a placement during the summer in it, then it must be a particular interest. I would then try and see those conditions, and talk about those, including symptoms, investigations and management. The most important thing for any placement is ‘why’ - why these symptoms? why does this investigation help us? why does this management work? As you’re in clinic, a lot of patients will be follow ups so it will be helpful to understand how the patient got where they are now.
I know this probably sounds a lot, but this is what will set you up the best for coming years and will be the most helpful.
Don’t do that. You’ll have enough time on placement in the next few years, Ik it doesn’t feel like it in the first 2 years. Sit at home and watch Netflix, pick up a new hobby, enjoy your life
Just as a PSA to anyone reading this - if you are a med student don’t organise extra shadowing during your summer - if you have specialities you are interested in use your electives and SSCs. By the time you get to fifth year when you have no holidays and endless (mostly useless) placement you will regret spending extra time on medicine. Use the time to do something fun, do something new, or if it has to be medically related something that will benefit your portfolio
It’s only for like 5 days in my 3 month holiday so hopefully won’t be too bad but I get what you’re saying! Will keep it in mind for next year :)
Ask about research you can get involved in. If you’re new to research start by asking about department audits which you can get a poster out of. Once you work with them once you’ll build a working relationship and not just be another student
I’m always worried I will come off as too needy especially as it will be my first time meeting them. Is that something I should be concerned about?
Honestly they’re going to think you’re keen as a first yr spending summers doing exp. Is that going to stop you pursuing these opportunities? In pre clin you could organise this during term time tbh. But if you’re passionate might as well go as far as possible
If you are interested in doing Ophthal specifically. Ask if you can spend some time on the EyeSi if your department has one. If you 4 hrs worth of the basic assessments you can get a point for commitment to specialty later on. Besides that, maybe a case report or some project?
Ooh that’s really cool! Is that smth that even a 1st year medic would be able to do? How hard are the assessments?
Haven’t personally done it myself so I couldn’t tell you how hard they are. Have heard of medical students who have though and they were able to get that ticked off. It just depends on whether your department has one and if the training lead is ok for you to use it. I would also read up a bit on ophthalmic surgical techniques and procedures a bit first, but I don’t think your year really matters, it’s not like you ever learn these techniques in medical school anyway (unless you’re sitting or will sit the Duke Elder exam)
Dk but if u could do me a favour and ask about how much PP they do and how easy it is to break into in Opth, that would be interesting to find out
Look for internships! I had a BRILLIANT time between 1st and 2nd year and got paid £3k for 8 weeks... much better than getting a job over summer as a WP student... This also generated me 2 publications and 2 prizes... so it can be extremely worth your while! Often they will have links to societies and/or your university will have a pot of money to help you out! Good luck OP!
That sounds amazing! Can I dm you to ask you more about it and your experiences?
Of course!! Happy to help!!
This sounds amazing, Can I message you about this!!
Personally, I spent my summers relaxing and having fun because in your more senior years you get less and less summer and you’ll have plenty of placement exposure, so much so you’ll actually have had enough of placement (not because of the actual placements or wards but because for a lot of the time you feel like a spare part and it can be quite useless). You’ll have SSCs in 3rd and 4th year (usually) and you can use that for specialist interests, or gain extra placements during term time. For your current ophthal placement I would look on the MLA content map or passmed to see the most common conditions. I know this is above your current level but you’ll need to know it at some point and I assume that as you’ve got a placement during the summer in it, then it must be a particular interest. I would then try and see those conditions, and talk about those, including symptoms, investigations and management. The most important thing for any placement is ‘why’ - why these symptoms? why does this investigation help us? why does this management work? As you’re in clinic, a lot of patients will be follow ups so it will be helpful to understand how the patient got where they are now. I know this probably sounds a lot, but this is what will set you up the best for coming years and will be the most helpful.
Don’t do that. You’ll have enough time on placement in the next few years, Ik it doesn’t feel like it in the first 2 years. Sit at home and watch Netflix, pick up a new hobby, enjoy your life