Blog posts

5 Realistic Tips For Goal Setting

Medicine

It’s that time of year again, everyone is trying to move into the new year with resolutions and goals to achieve to get closer to their ideal selves. Whether it is academic, financial or personal, here are my five tips that I have found useful for goal setting.

  1. Breaking down long term goals into smaller daily manageable actions makes it easier to stay consistent in working towards your goals. If you want to pass upcoming exams, breaking that goal down into a plan to have smaller study sessions every day builds a sustainable system to easily integrate into your life. For a lot of goals that aren’t achieved, the intimidation of starting a goal that seems like you can’t succeed puts people off from even starting.

My First Surgical Attachment

Medicine

This is the third academic year of my degree but I am more nervous than when I first started. This year is a lot more clinical than the previous years. Lecture halls have been replaced with hospital wards, practicing taking histories by simulation on my peers has been replaced with actual patients with real illnesses and instead of just learning about management of conditions I am seeing it play out in imaging, surgical theatres and in outpatient departments. I am just coming to the end of my surgical attachment at Charing Cross Hospital where I rotated through several specialties including acute gastrointestinal/general surgery, anaesthetics, breast and urology.

How Many Doctors Do You Think Patients See In Hospital?

Medicine

In this term, one of the assignments we had was to create a Quality Improvement Project on a subject of our choice to present to our clinical fellows. This includes identifying a problem that we notice on the wards or in surgical theatres and designing a research to find out more about the problem and an intervention to implement to improve this problem. My team were stumped for quite a while on what to choose before we settled on continuity of care. Every day we came to our surgical placement and it was difficult to keep track of who was in and remember all the doctors, so how difficult must that be for patients that may be uncomfortable, in pain or confused?

Horizons – What is it and what’s the point?

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Although the MechEng course is pretty intense, it is a good idea to be involved in at least one extra-curricular activity. Personally, I found unlike school, studying all the time at university tends to be counter-productive- you end up spending more time making less progress than if you had just taken a break and come back to working. Especially if you are moving away from home, it is incredibly important to have some sort of extra-curricular unrelated to your degree to keep you sane.

One way you could do this is by taking a ‘Horizons’ course. For MechEng, in ME1 & ME2 (first and second year) any Horizons course you take will be for extra credit, though in ME3/4 (third and fourth year), it can count towards your degree.

No idea on career trajectory? You’re not alone

MEng Mechanical Engineering

At 18 during my interview for Mechanical Engineering I quite confidently stated that I intended to pursue a career in consultancy engineering and eventually become a Chartered Engineer. And the basis for this? About 2 weeks shadowing at a consultancy company and thinking that it might be what the interviewer wanted to hear.

Ultimately, the reality is that when you are applying to university, or even during your degree, you may not have a concrete idea on what career path to pursue. There probably is that one person who knows exactly what they were going to be at 5 years old and is on it from Day 1, but rest assured you have time and resources to decide your vocation.

Craving For A New Study Environment?

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Having gone through more than a year of online learning, I’m sure all of us are tired of staring intently into our computer screens in our dingy little rooms, and all crave for a new atmosphere or environment to work in. However, with everyone flocking back into campus as it reopens, it can be difficult to find study spaces in the library too during the day. I find that my mood is significantly dependant on the atmosphere around me, and have thus been going around searching for study spaces around the vicinity. I thought that this could be useful for some of you reading this as well, especially for days when you just crave for a short adventure/trip.

A Few Top Tips for Medical School Interviews

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

A couple of weeks ago, a family friend asked if I could look over their medical personal statement. This made me realise that it has been three years since I submitted my own UCAS application. Three years feels like a pretty long time. Hence, I thought now would be a fitting time to refresh my memory on my application experience as it was ultimately what led me to Imperial. Seeing as the UCAS deadline has been and gone and any prospective students will have already sat the BMAT, I’ll focus this post on the interview and see if I can give you a few tips or tricks which might make the experience feel a little less daunting.

Setting My Priorities For My Final Year

Yee Tong Siow

MEng Mechanical Engineering

Being in one of the most prestigious universities in the world comes with its pros and cons. Coming to Imperial has helped pushed me in ways I have never thought imaginable. Looking back, I find it hard to believe the progress I have made and the development I have gone through with the encouragement and support of the university and my fellow friends. However, being in a competitive environment like this can also lead to one oversaturating their focus in order to achieve the most out of everything. In the last few years, I have always aimed to submerge myself into every opportunity I am given, and loved to challenge myself whenever I can by trying out new experiences.

What NOT to Bring with you to Uni

Anya Nanchahal

Medicine

Seeing as A-Level results’ day has now passed, and a whole new cohort of students will be eagerly waiting to start at Imperial in October, I thought now would be a pertinent time to offer some advice on what you DON’T need to bring with you to university. Most freshers have the basics covered pretty well, but often end up grossly overestimating what they’ll need to survive university life. For what it’s worth, here’s my take on five things you can probably just leave at home.

  1. Excessive kitchenware You may think you’ll need a pizza cutter, toastie maker and corkscrew when you’re at uni, and you may well not be wrong.

5 Things You Can Do For Your Future Career Before You Even Leave University

Medicine

Believe it or not, going to university isn’t just attending lectures and passing exams. When you are at university you have an amazing opportunity to boost your CV and prepare yourself for life after you graduate. Honestly, as a medical student, I know I have more time at university than your typical undergraduate but the thought of graduating is already making me a little nervous. Here are a list of tips and advice I have gotten to help build those systems and networks to support you in your career.

1. Networking

Networking is an amazing way to make connections in your industry before you even graduate, go to events and talks run by your university, department or the career service and get curious!

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