Hi! My name is Joshua and I am a 1st Year Medicine Student who, during my first year, took part in the Medical Connections programme! This blog details some of my experience and highlights a bit of what you can expect!

The Medical Connections programme is a series of workshops designed to aid you in the beginning of your Medicine journey, providing you with insight into yourself, your medical school journey and potential career paths and options later in life. With talks from current doctors, recent Lancaster graduates, upper year medical students and even a tour from the GMC, there is so much to gain, leaving you more knowledgeable about the future and what it may look like. If you are considering taking part in the Medical Connections programme, I would highly recommend it; the best way to learn is through experience, and there is much to be learnt from someone else’s.

Speaking of which, let me tell you mine!

How it started:

After an introduction session where we met the Ambassadors, we had our first (and my favourite) workshop about personality types. Having completed a questionnaire beforehand (a variant of the Myers-Briggs), we were split up into groups based on which side we fell on for each of the 4 individual traits and then given a task to complete as a group. As an example, my result from the questionnaire was ESTJ, nicknamed the coordinator. For the first task, I was grouped together with other ‘E’xtroverts, and our task was to plan a weekend holiday. Interestingly, the extroverts planned a skiing trip in Switzerland whilst the introverts (the other end of the scale) planned a quiet retreat to the Lake District involving hiking. It was quite interesting working with similar mindsets and made me consider the effect of personality on group decision-making. Whether you combine those with the same ideals, or mix opposing types together, you will have a unique process and potentially a different, but more thought through, decision.

How it is going:

Most immediately, the things concerning Year 1s are the further years in the medical school, specifically Year 2. Thanks to the Medical Connections programme, we got a special talk from the Student Ambassadors on what to expect, including info about placement, workload, resources and life in general. It’s the little details and life advice that matter, such as not studying on placement days because you will be too tired, and to get a good sleep the night before. Getting to ask about the lunch situation and what to do if you don’t get along with your clinical partner are valuable questions with valuable answers. Looking further on, if you would like to study abroad, or find out what the Foundation Year and post medical school process is really like, then the talks from Lancaster graduates recounting their own journeys’ are super insightful. Everyone’s journey is unique, and it can highlight pathways you didn’t know were possible.

Medical Connections is a programme that answers questions about the future and ultimately helps you feel more prepared for a career in medicine. I hope this short summary answers your questions of what to expect and allows you to join the programme all the more prepared!

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  Curious about Careers? An insight into Local Connections and LU connections.

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  Exploring Career Pathways as a First-Year Student: My Capital Connections Manchester Journey

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The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.