What is the transition from school to Medical School like?
Starting university is daunting for most students. You’re beginning a new phase of life, no longer in the comfort of your school with friends you have known for years and teachers who have been closely watching over your studies. Suddenly it seems that you are on your own – but you must remember that you are not!
Beginning Medical School can be even more frightening since you have selected your career quite early on in life and will be studying for 5 or 6 years (quite a commitment!). The academic jump can also be worrying; however, I can assure you that there is support available and most Medical Schools will have modules that introduce you to Medicine – for example, at UCL we were taught the Foundations of Health and Medicine which covered some content from A level Biology and Chemistry. Over the past two years at university, I have been helped by tutors and students: I was taught lectures and given small-group tutorials by professors and then many societies within the Medical School held tutorials to help me with the modules. Getting to know students in older years through sports and clubs can be so helpful as they will often give you advice on what they did at your stage and may talk you through concepts that you find hard.
At school you often have teachers looking over your work, checking that you have revised content (by setting topic tests for example) and monitoring your progress. At university, things are a little different. Although there are formatives (mock exams) and summatives (final exams) which allow you to see how you are doing, you need to motivate yourself to complete the content, attend lectures and tutorials and finally spend time revising in your own time. This does not mean that you need to spend all your time working – in fact you must have a good work-life balance and put aside time for yourself so that you do not burn out. It is important to make yourself a timetable and find out what the schedule for the term ahead is like so that you can plan out your time effectively. No one is going to tell you to work harder or revise more – this must come from you. Perhaps consider working with others: I found that teaching other people helped me with consolidation and that learning from others ensured that I filled in the gaps in my knowledge.
At university, you may be faced with a larger workload, however it is manageable if you are careful about balancing your time between your degree, social events, sports, and societies. Your workload depends on how effective you are with your time – I would recommend prioritising the areas you find the hardest so that you can improve more quickly. Learning which revision technique works best for you is also essential, whether it be Anki, mind maps, Quizlet flashcards, making notes or others, however, do not worry if you do not figure this out straight away since there is plenty of time throughout the first term to find out what works for you.
