Week in the life of a 2nd-year medical student at Hull York Medical School

In this blog, I’ll be taking you through a typical week in my life and what I get up to!

In the 2nd year at Hull-York Medical School, the week starts on a Friday. On Friday, we have PBL, which stands for problem-based learning. This is where we are presented with a clinical scenario that we discuss in our groups and talk about the main areas of focus related to the case. I love PBL as it’s a great way to improve teamwork skills and an excellent way to learn from your peers. After discussing the PBL case, we all created learning outcomes, which formed the basis for our research over the weekend. The PBL cases are always linked to the lectures, clinical skills, and anatomy, which makes it easier to join all the learning together. We also have clinical skills sessions on Friday, and the main aim of these sessions is to improve communication and examination skills. One key aspect of clinical skills sessions that I like is that we practice examinations on each other, which helps us understand how patients might feel when they are being examined.

On Monday, we have lectures that are linked to the week’s learning outcomes. I prefer to review lecture slides over the weekend, as that enables me to have a better understanding of the topic on Monday and also aids my engagement with the lectures. Lectures are currently a mixture of live and online recorded, which works well for me, as I can complete the recorded lectures over the weekend and then attend the live lectures in person on Monday.

Tuesday is the day we have the PBL review. In this session, we play fun games to test our learning, and it’s a great opportunity to fill in any missing gaps and teach each other. These sessions are highly engaging, and our PBL facilitator ensures that we have all researched the learning outcomes in the correct depth. We also review pharmacology on this day, and the drugs are always related to the cases too, which helps put everything into context. Apart from the PBL review, we also have anatomy on Tuesday, and this is where we look at prosections relating to the topic that we are learning about. I enjoy anatomy sessions because it’s fascinating to see what real-life specimens look like, and I love the way we get quizzed about anatomy, which aids my learning!

Wednesday is normally free; however, we sometimes have workshops. These workshops are normally ethics-based, and they provide us with an opportunity to have open debates on hot topics. On this day, I like to catch up on any work and prepare for the week ahead.

Thursday is my favourite day of the week! This is the day we have placement, either at the hospital or with a GP, and speak to patients who have problems relating to what we’re learning about. I love that everything fits well at Hull-York Medical School, just like a jigsaw puzzle! In my opinion, placement is the perfect way to put everything that you have learned from the week into a clinical scenario, and it checks if you understand key concepts well.

As you can see, it is a busy week; however, it’s vital to ensure you find time for yourself to relax and do things you enjoy. I always make sure I go to the gym and meet up with friends! I hope you enjoyed this blog and keep your eyes peeled for future blogs! Also, if you have any suggestions for blogs, then please let me know!