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Life of a Medic

My journey through Medical School and beyond…

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All articles filed in Hot Topics

Applying for Medicine? Hot Topics Interviews12/12/201701/04/2019

Interview Hot Topics: NHS Funding

There are many challenges facing the NHS, from an ageing population to evolving healthcare needs. This blog will focus on a key challenge: NHS funding. ‘Underfunded’ is a word many people use to describe the NHS. The demand for NHS services is increasing year on year, so the problem of “underfunding” is actually caused by…

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STETHOSCOPE GIVEAWAY
 It’s been lovely hearing all the amazing results lots of you have received and finding out you’re going to be starting medical school soon. I thought it’d be fitting to have a stethoscope giveaway so I’ve teamed up with @erkakallmeyer to give one of you the chance to win a stethoscope of your choice. Erka offer many different styles and a huge range of colours that you’ll be able to choose from. (Anyone can enter, you don’t have to have collected your results today) If you want to order a stethoscope for yourself in the meantime, you also have the option to use the discount code “lifeofamedic1” for 25% off (only valid for the first 30 orders) HOW TO ENTER:
1. Like this post
2. Follow @lifeofamedic_ and @erkakallmeyer
3. Tag a friend and comment what stage of your medicine/healthcare journey you’re at now. RULES: • The winner will be chosen, announced on my story and contacted via DM • I will be checking the winner has completed all the steps needed to enter
• If the winner doesn’t reply within 24 hours, a new one will be chosen!
• The giveaway ends at 9pm on Friday 23nd of August (UK time). #erkakallmeyer
Here’s how I arranged my @codexanatomicus prints on my wall. They have so many different designs of anatomical prints, but this floral watercolour collection is my favourite! The detail is stunning and the quality of the prints are amazing too! I think the heart is my favourite of this bundle. I might move around some of these prints as my room is quite minimal so this wall looks a little heavy compared to my others, but the heart is definitely staying up! #gifted Have you got any anatomical art up anywhere?
I recently received some BrainZyme samples. BrainZyme is a brain food supplement designed to support improved concentration and clearer thinking. They have 3 different types of supplements which comes in the form of little capsules: the original, elite, professional; the difference being the strength of the effect. I received samples of the elite and the professional capsules with elite being designed for longer term usage and professional for high pressure situations. I’ve been trying the elite sample over the past few days and have found that it really helps to wake me up and keep me alert. During the holidays I have a tendency to sleep in and go to bed super late so during the day I usually feel really groggy and tired no matter how much I sleep in. The capsules have really helped with clearing up brain fog making me feel more vibrant and I’ve noticed I’ve been able to get day-to-day tasks completed faster and without getting distracted. I can definitely see them being of use when it comes to preparing for exams to help me concentrate better. Has anyone tried BrainZyme before? #brainzyme #gifted
I’ve been trying to get myself to make time to do some reading recently. I actually can’t remember the last time I sat down and read a book purely for leisure. So I got this book, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, to start me off and it was such a compelling read I finished it in a couple of days and it’s left me wanting me to find more books to read. This book follows the journey of some Syrian refugees out of Syria when the war begins. I highly recommend it, such an amazing (and heartbreaking) read! I want to get some more books. Anyone one have and really good ones they can recommend?
Here’s my new planner for next year, I wanted to try something different and I really loved the minimalistic look of the Ponderlily planner. It’s quite dear, but I kind of couldn’t resist. 😅 I also decided to go for undated this year since there’s always months in the year that I drop my planner and just go with the flow and then I end up feeling guilty for leaving whole months blank. This way I’ll be able to put each page to use. What planner are you currently using?
I had a little doodle with my @artezaofficial twin markers and tried out some brush lettering. It’s really cool that you have a thick marker end and a thin end so you can get those thick and thin strokes properly for the lettering because often the felt tips of brush pens get frayed. There’s a huge range of colours in the pack and I love the vibrancy of the different shades! 🥰 #gifted #arteza
I chose my first @3mlittmann stethoscope the other day. I decided to go for a classic black but with a champagne finish. This is the stethoscope I’m hoping to go into next year with. 👩‍⚕️ What colour stethoscope have you got - I’m wondering how many of you went for a colour and how many for black?
A table full of @frompaperchase! I love the feel of the paper and the variety of products they offer. Check out my IGTV video to see me trying out all the paperchase stationery. ✏️💕
Here’s the embroidery I was doing the other day - there’s 6 different types of stitching in this design! This one didn’t take long to complete though, I only spent a few hours on it! I enjoyed doing the flowers, I might try a few more, but I also want to do bits on actual items rather than just pieces of fabric. 🧵
Last year I created this personal statement planner designed to help students applying for Medicine to write their personal statement in a step-by-step planner. Lots of students used the planner for the last application cycle and I received lots of really positive feedback for it. The planner takes you through 10 stages and is filled with lots of little tips and tricks throughout to help you write a personal statement containing all the key things for a strong medicine application. I also did tonnes of personal statement reviews last year, which I will be opening again soon. In the meanwhile I’d really recommend using the planner so you can build a strong structure and avoid lots of the common mistakes people make in their personal statement. You can follow the link in my bio or use the swipe up link in my story to get your copy!
I like my desktop to be quite clear and as empty as possible so I’ve been looking around for something to organise anything I’m currently working on. I settled on this simple gold wire letter rack and it’s perfect. 🥰 I like it because it doesn’t take much space at all and you can easily tidy up any loose bits of paper. I was initially debating on whether I should go for gold or rose gold accessories on my desk, but now I’ve settled for gold because I like the way it reflects against the gloss white of the desk. I’ve still ordered myself a rose gold rack so I can make sure I’ve picked the right colour. The other rack I’ll put inside one of my drawers and use it organise my notebooks. 📚
I’m not doing much this summer, don’t have any plans at all we’ll see how the 2 months ahead decide to pan out. In the meantime all my posts are going to continue to be a bit random. I’d love to hear about any summer plans you all may have...
How cute are these pencils? I can never go in to @lovewilko without buying some form of stationery. I actually use pencils a lot and prefer using them over pen so this time it was justified. What was the last piece of stationery you purchased?
Spent the last couple of days feeling the dissatisfaction you do when you go shopping but end up buying nothing... 😐 The thing about me is that I’m super fussy, especially when I can a picture of what I want and want to find that exact item. That’s probably why I shop online a lot, but then I have the problem of things arriving and not being exactly as they look in the photos right down to the exact shade. Do you prefer online or offline shopping?
Bought myself these cute little desk succulents, just need to re-pot them now 🌿 I want to get a few more plants for my room because I feel as though it really freshens up the atmosphere. I’ve got a vision of nice luscious leafy one but I just need to find one that matches the one I have in my mind. Do you have any plants in your room?
My room is now all white and it already looks so much bigger and brighter. This being the first time I painted a wall I’m pretty proud that I was able to paint the whole room all myself. It took 3 coats to get rid of the blue and I have to admit it was a lot more tiring than I thought it would be, plus I’ve now got 5 blisters across my hands 😂 Has anyone tried painting a room before? It’s shocking how minimal white makes a room look (in a good way though), I feel like I need to keep it a little messy to give it character 😅 But don’t worry I’ll be buying lots of new decor to do that for me!
Today was the dreaded results day, but Alhamdulillah all went well and I couldn’t be more grateful. Now I can start thinking about and start getting excited for THIRD year properly 😱 Anyways, as mind blowing as it is, one of the things we need for third year is a stethoscope and I’ve meaning to share the one I was sent by @fricare_official some time ago. This stethoscope is a lot more affordable so it’s definitely worth considering, especially if you’re choosing your first stethoscope and aren’t sure what to go for. One of the other things I really like about is that it is very lightweight. The one pictured above is the standard “dual head stethoscope”, but they actually do another “lightweight stethoscope”, so I wonder how much lighter that one must be. There’s something a bit odd about this picture, I wonder if anyone can spot it - comment below if you notice it) 😅
Eid Mubarak to everyone - hope everyone is enjoying their day despite the weather being awful (as usual)! Here’s a little peek at the desk I spent all day assembling yesterday. I’m really liking how it looks in my room, but I’ve got loads left yet to have the whole room finished.
I know I’ve been quite AWOL on Instagram recently, for multiple reasons. After I came back from abroad, I became quite lazy and couldn’t be bothered to post anymore, then Ramadan started and then I had exams (which are thankfully over now). Still got the last 10 days of Ramadan left, so I probably wont be super active on here as rather than wasting the last third of month but would rather spend that time focusing on personal goals. So that’s pretty much why I’ve been absent. Now I’ve officially finished 2nd year of medical school (really hooping I’ve passed the exams - keep me in your duas). Next year we’re moving out of university and heading to our base hospitals and I’ll be living at home. I still need to move out of my university accommodation and I want to spend the summer redecorating my bedroom at home and moving a desk in there, so hopefully I can get all that done too. And if I do you’ll probably notice a change of scenery in my Instagram pictures as well.
So I’m back at home now after another 24 hrs of travelling; had a good sleep and now I’m unpacking today. Being used to an average temperature of 30-40 degrees I’m a little on the cold side now that I’m back home, but I’m so glad the weather’s nice and that it’s not raining and miserable here. I’ve just got a week left of my Easter holidays now and then it all gets a little busier with going back to uni, Ramadan starting and then exams following soon after. How is Easter going for everyone? Been productive at all? Been anywhere or done anything nice?

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