Medicine Students and Doctors.

1. They've changed the course since I was in 1st and 2nd Med...but the first two years are as busy as any of the other science-based degrees with labs, lectures etc. Most days begin at 9 or 10am with labs in the afternoon. I remember we used to have a half day a week too...that could have all changed though!

2. You don't need to be a genius at all. There's a lot of material to go through particularly in the pre-clinical years and it can seem daunting but none of the material is particularly complex. You don't need to do that much work to get 50% and pass but an exponential amount of work is needed to get 70%.

3. Is it worth it? That depends on you and your interests. Physio/Rad/OT are COMPLETELY different careers to medicine... Get some work experience/shadow a few doctors/physios/OTs and see if its something you'd like to do. Some people switch out of medicine once they get into the clinical years cause they realise they hate dealing with patients! So I can't stress enough...get some work experience in a hospital beforehand!

Medicine is a LIFELONG commitment...years of training (could be as much as 8) is required after you qualify. You change job every 6 months (often to different parts of the country/world) and you'll be doing postgraduate exams for many years after you actually leave University.

Having said that...the course is fantastic and I can't wait to finish and start working

blahblah1234 wrote:

I was considering doing Medicine, but need to know a few things please:

1. What are the hours like in First Year and Second Year Medicine.

2. What is the workload like, is it managable or do you need to be a genius to do it?

3. Is it worth it, in the end?... Is there any other medical degree eg. Radiography, Physiotherapy...that you would be better off doing?

Any other relevant information that you think I should know would be greatly appreciated.

Thirdfox wrote:

I was told that the hours in first year were not unlike those of science courses 40(ish) hours a week? The hours apparently increase over the years (5 in the case of Trinity).

The hours are long in the pre-clinical course because you have lectures and labs but the clinical years in the hospitals are a different story. No one really notices if you don't show up to the hospital...people are too busy to notice and they don't care!

The hospital day starts early and most of the teaching/tutorials happen in the morning...but you're pretty much left to your own devices in the afternoons... So there's a lot of self-motivated learning in the clinical years: you could stay in bed or go to the pub or you could look up that weird thing you saw on rounds this morning or talk to some patients. The latter approach usually means you pass your exams, get a job and get paid

Thirdfox wrote:

So...have you seen any strange diseases yet? I have had a few field trips to the law courts - quite dull. I imagine a hospital would be a lot more exciting (perhaps even the morgue )

Ah...common things are common...as they say...

I've done electives in India and the US and seem some scary/weird things in bothe places...but that's a whole other post

Em, what about going out and getting pissed? I heard that all stops with a bang after third year, whereas before that ye live in the library.

Thanks

I'd heard the med students are always out drinking anyway..

What a pity I don't drink. Then again, it's even more of a pity that I'm pretty much certain I won't get medicine in trinity. Sigh. ;_;