By Jeanne Zheng Amelia is a medical student from Australia with over 87,000 followers on her Instagram account; she runs popular studygram @amelia_studies, on which she posts pictures of neatly written notes & artfully arranged stationery. Amelia uses her platform as a voice to encourage her followers—many of whom are also students, some with their own studygrams—to follow their passions and study hard. The Primer interviewed her about her life as a med student, as well as what motivates her and what advice she would give to others who aspire to get into medical school themselves. The InterviewWhat did you want to be or do in high school? Did you wind up following that path later on? Why or why not? I didn’t really have any idea of what I wanted to do in high school. I really only started considering medicine when I was a few years away from my leaving school examinations. I’ve always been interested in science and the health profession but I didn’t really decide until much later. I also had a few relatives fall ill so I spent more time around hospitals and doctors. It was a really difficult period of time for me but I think it also made me realise how important their work is! In high school I was always paranoid that I wouldn’t be able to get the academic results required to get into medical school but if you work hard and believe in yourself you'll be able to do anything! Why did you decide to go to med school? Was there anyone in particular who inspired you to pursue medicine? As lame as it sounds, I wanted to go to medical school so that I could help those in need and serve my community in the future. I come from a disadvantaged area where health care waiting times at the hospital can take ages. It is also an area that skilled doctors might not necessarily want to work in. One day I hope to be able to help mend this gap in health care! I’m also so fascinated with the human body and it’s medicine is so fun to study! The human body is just so complex and there’s still so much research being done! I can’t recall anyone in particular who inspired me to pursue medicine. What were your favorite extracurriculars and subjects in school? In high school I absolutely loved studying biology and chemistry which sounds super typical of a medical student! I’ve also been a huge fan of volunteering for charities so I got involved with St Vincent de Paul’s op shops and their refugee English program. I also liked playing netball as it was such a social sport (though I was never really good at it!) and I enjoyed working a simple retail job as well. What are some positives and negatives of going to med school that most people wouldn't know about or something that you wished someone had told you when you were going into med school? Personally I found that medical school is really just a balancing act! Most people I know find that med school can be quite time consuming and that you’re expected to learn a lot of the content yourself but I quite like that because at the end of the day, that’s what a doctor will need to do when they’re faced with something that they haven’t been taught. Medical school helped me become a more independent person and I’ve learnt to be less shy. I’ve also been so lucky to have such supportive parents and friends! You also make a lot of new friends during medical school and they’re really the ones that help you get through! What does a typical day in med school look like for you? In Australia, most medical schools have two phases - pre-clinical and clinical years. Pre-clinical years focus on classes and studying the basics of medicine. You'll spend most of your time at the university campus or at labs learning anatomy, physiology, pharmacology etc. Clinical years means that you'll be allocated a team in the hospital that you follow for most of the semester. You'll spend most your time at the hospital and following the doctors around. A typical day in pre-clinical med school usually just involves a couple of lectures during the morning and then potentially a tutorial in the afternoon. Sometimes you’ll spend the morning on short placements at the hospital or smaller health clinics. It's very similar to a normal day at college except with the addition of placements. In my pre-clinical years, I was heavily involved with the university medical society, gym, volunteering and various other leadership positions. This meant that I had a lot of meetings/activities in the afternoon to evenings which worked out perfectly for me as my schedule wasn't too busy. A typical day as a clinical medical student involves waking up early so that you can join specialist clinicians whilst they do their daily ward rounds. The day tends to vary depending on what department you get allocated and how busy the department is. For example, surgical rotation tends to be quite full on and most of the time you get to help prep the patient for surgery or help fill out discharge papers for the supervising doctor. You tend to be a lot busier as a clinical student as you'll usually be given a specific schedule and hours can be quite unpredictable. Finally, what advice would you give to younger students who one day hope to get into med school and become doctors? Never lose hope! Medical school can be tough to get into (I think that’s universal around the world) but if it is your dream then don’t lose sight of it! I used to stick little motivation cards on the wall in front of my desk. I would also write my goals down and put that near my door so that I would be able to see what I was aiming for every day! Medical school isn't the easiest thing to get into and it's the same with passing medical school too. The most important thing is to never forget that you have what it takes and to stay positive! There are so many pathways to get into medicine! A Greater CauseWhile all of Amelia’s answers were very thoughtful, one particular statement stood out to me—that she wants to “mend the gap” in healthcare in underprivileged areas such as her hometown. Her goal resonated with me because it is an amazing example of finding a greater cause, a lifelong pursuit. Finding the motivation to work harder can be a struggle, but having a bigger goal that one can strive for—to provide higher quality healthcare for the disadvantaged, for instance—can be instrumental in providing that push you need to keep going. We’ve previously discussed the idea of following your passion in Personal Perspective, and fighting for a greater cause is an extension of that. The Primer was founded for such a reason. Our staff have had the privilege to grow up in an area where STEM education was emphasized; many of us have parents who work in STEM field and helped us further develop our understanding of STEM-related subjects. We hope to share this knowledge with others who may not have had the same opportunities through our content, written or otherwise. For us, this is our cause; this is what motivates us.
After reading Amelia’s interview and our thoughts on the matter, we’d like to ask you, our reader, to reflect on what greater cause you’d like to fight for. You don’t have to know now—for many, the pursuit of such a cause may be a lifelong endeavor. Think about what you love, what keeps you going; think about what you’d like to change, what could be done better. If there’s something that makes you want to hop out of your chair right now and change the world, something that inspires you and makes you imagine limitless possibilities: go for it. After all, as Eleanor Roosevelt said, the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. If you want it, the future can belong to you.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
The PrimerStriving to deepen the understanding of STEM-related topics. Archives
June 2018
Categories
All
|