Our Student's Guides to Medical School at UEA

Niamh Rogers

For me, the advantages of a Problem Based Learning (PBL) curriculum are numerous. UEA teaches real clinical medicine from day one, training you to think and critically analyse like a doctor. PBL prepares us with the essential tool of researching in clinical practice; it develops the skills needed to find out vital information quickly and usefully. This structured learning programme enables students to become responsible for their own study, develop self-directed learning skills and empowers us to seek and build up our medical knowledge. 

For the knowledge thirsty and academically hungry medics to be, PBL is a brilliant way to keep you intellectually stimulated. As well as learning the basic sciences, as first year students we are given the opportunity to explore pathologies relating to each week’s learning outcomes, which just like medicine, are diverse. One week you could be researching Multiple Myeloma and the next Parkinson’s disease, which although they are very different, both are linked with the Locomotive system. Spiral learning (revisiting topics) becomes evident as the years go on, the products of this fantastic system are the fantastic clinicians UEA has produced so far! 

In Norwich Medical School you will find spirited and enthusiastic students who are ever willing to give a helping hand to their colleagues. A team spirit is evident throughout the medical school and in my opinion has stemmed from the course structure. Medicine, regardless of where it is practiced, requires a team effort, with different specialities and health professionals working together with the same aim of treating patients. IPL (Inter Professional Learning) is a key component of UEA’s teaching. During IPL we become privy to the roles and obligations each healthcare professional has in the Multi-Disciplinary Team, establishing the professional relationships that will one day be used by us in hospitals throughout the UK and abroad. 

Students here share one thing in common, a burning passion to succeed and become a knowledgeable, trusted and approachable doctor. The best aspect of this course for me is the early patient contact. Each week we spend one day in primary care seeing the diseases we have studied and researched in textbooks and compare to examples in reality. We have become aware of the person behind the illness, the importance an excellent bedside manner makes to a patients experience of being ill and in the overall effect of the treatment given. We are encouraged to focus on understanding disease from the patient’s perspective. There is no room for personalities similar to House M.D! 

I feel privileged to be studying in one of the most forward thinking medical courses in the UK. I was thrown straight into the deep end, immersed in all things medical from my first week and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I spent secondary care placement assisting in surgeries, shadowing consultants and consulting patients undergoing treatment. Medicine is a vocation and I feel proud to be a student at Norwich Medical School.

 

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Anna Iqbal

We’ve all heard the med school horror stories… endless work, blood, sweat and tears. I was scared that I wouldn’t be cut out for it- but thankfully it really wasn’t the uphill struggle I expected. Don’t get me wrong, it IS hard work but you don’t have to be a martyr - you are here to work hard so don’t forget to play hard! 

Medicine for 5 years is a huge commitment. It’s a marathon. Personally, the only way I could imagine passing the finish line was by recognising what motivated me and choosing a course that provided that. I mean there’s no point getting in, if I can’t hack it while having a good time too… My biggest motivation is early patient contact, which at Norwich you receive abundantly from the first week. From regular GP placements to hospital attachments, with each module you’re regularly reinforcing the theory – allowing you to remember people with the condition not just textbooks. For me that was the dealmaker. 

The week’s variety keeps things interesting. Here, a subject is taught in many different ways, meaning we explore all aspects from diagnosis to ethics to management and there’s plenty of time and opportunities to clarify understanding – really making it all stick. There are lectures, GP placements, and talks by a patient with that condition. Teaching from the PBL group is often creative, fun and memorable too. Finally Clinical Relevance sessions reflect on the week’s learning objectives and applies them to a clinical presentation. This really gets us thinking like doctors, while not forgetting our communication skills - teaching with trained actors can get us talking like them too!

Additionally we have regular deadlines such as weekly PBL work, which we must submit and teach. Initially I feared I’d struggle with the workload, but surprisingly I found the deadlines aren’t a bad thing – we keep on top of work, improve time management and efficiency, and it means that come exam time it’s not a disaster. Within our PBL group we’re responsible for each other’s learning, making us take more pride in our work. For me, PBL really works. I have a great relationship with my group, and by receiving constant feedback I feel comfortable that I’m on track and doing well.

A jam-packed schedule it seems, but with allocated independent study time it’s actually all well paced. We have independence and space to direct our own learning, which I find refreshing, and it means that I can juggle my time to really enjoy the best parts of being a student. Also, a formative first module, and excellent feedback provided after each exam discussing areas of difficulty, allows us to learn from our mistakes, which helps to eradicate LOTS of stress! 

We absorb so much more than just the syllabus. Throughout this course we’re being instilled with life skills essential to being a good doctor. Professionalism is learnt at attachments, and by writing up patients in logbooks, a personal revision resource is created. During PBL we’re practicing teamwork, communication, presentation and diplomacy skills; gaining experience of working in the MDT. 

Within the marathon that is medicine, I have to admit sometimes I feel the pressure. The truth is medicine is hard, but by getting used to this early on, I feel better equipped for the future. And by recognising it there’s such a strong support network to rely on– my PBL facilitator, my Personal Advisor, my GP tutor as well as a variety of student counselling services available. 

I think the reason why I find this course so suited to my learning style, is because at Norwich we are part of a growing medical school – where students really do have a voice. Due to regular feedback forms, and staff student liaison meetings, the course is regularly adapting and evolving to our needs. With students shaping the curriculum it makes sense why it works so well for them.