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- I chose to study Medicine at Cambridge
because I'm interested in the traditional core structure
with two years of preclinical teaching,
one year of intercalation and then three years
in the hospital with clinical experience.
- What makes studying Medicine at Cambridge
really unique is the scientific basis
of medicine that's really key,
alongside this quite unique set of teaching methods.
- You understand the reasons behind the things we do
in medicine, not just learning if this then that.
- So we have three courses, the standard course
which is six years long, there's a graduate entry program
which takes graduate students each year
onto an accelerated four year program
and then finally for people who are very interested
in research, and we run an MB/PhD program.
We are actually putting into practice the phrase,
'education in a research rich environment'.
- So the teaching facilities at Cambridge
have been really good.
We get lectures, seminars, practicals and supervisions.
- With the supervisions you get a chance
to interact with an academic who may well be researching
that particular field, and so that doesn't just mean
you get to consolidate with the lecture material,
you get to go far beyond it.
- Because of the unique hands on cadaveric dissection component,
we have 40 plus donors and they're generous people
who've donated their bodies in order that our students
can learn anatomy from them, so that's very special.
- Students move from needing to be taught
to being able to learn for themselves.
- The greatest resource is Addenbrooke's Hospital
and the regional hospitals.
- In fourth and fifth year we have these things
called student selecting components
or student selected placements in the hospital.
It just means that you can pursue
the things that interest you
and the things that you're passionate about.
- This year I was able to watch 12 births
and I'm particularly interested in pregnancy
and in birth and it's such a special moment
in any family's life and I was able to be there
to see this happen 12 times, it was amazing.
- I got to spend some time in the Anaesthetics Department.
I'd been taught how to manage the airway of a patient
and I realised that what I was doing
was holding the head of another human being in my hands,
very literally keeping her alive.
And I was doing that as a fourth year medical student,
I was literally keeping a patient alive and that was exactly
what I was hoping to come into Medicine for
and I was getting to do that nearly from day one,
so it was fantastic.
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- So an important aspect of studying Medicine
is you're not just sitting there reading textbooks,
we learn a lot of transferable skills.
Living nowadays for most jobs, communication skills
are really, really important,
so then Cambridge trains that into you really well.
- So I wanna be a doctor after I graduate
but after having some research experience,
I'm tempted to combine it with a bit of research.
- So I'm very interested in becoming an obstetrician,
which is a doctor that deals with pregnant women.
- Once I graduate, my plan is to have a career
in neurosurgery, alongside that I've been bitten
by the research bug since I've been here
so hopefully I'll be able to do some clinical research
or laboratory research alongside my practice as a doctor.
- In the final year, students apply
for the UK Foundation Programme. We have a very high
success rate there and following on that,
students will then go on into a wide rage of careers
including general practice and psychiatry,
academic medicine, medical specialties,
surgical specialties, across the board.
- If you're thinking of applying to Cambridge,
I think my message is absolutely go for it.
- I would suggest getting some work experience
in a hospital or GP surgery and asking them about
the challenges of being a doctor but also
the positive points of being in the medical profession.
- It's a lot of hard work but the rewards
are absolutely worth it, every single time.