Liverpool Medicine Applicants 2011

Yep I'll be going into 3rd year in August.

Ahh cool, are you still enjoying the course? I was speaking to some fourth year students from cardiff, and they were saying that the novelty had worn off and they just want to finish now haha.

I could write a book on just that question honestly. But short answer is that I enjoy most aspects of the course. There are other aspects which are not so good but the uni is trying to improve on them.

Ahh ok, lets hope they get it sorted soon then haha

I was wondering if you have some tips for us lot, going into the first year?

Oh no, I dont already have my results. I might be just a bit too confident lol

I got the book list from the medical society website. I've got the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine and Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. The latter is really quite interesting, but most of it is beyond me haha.

hey everyone,

If you've got any questions at all about the first year at liv medical school, just ask! and i'll try and answer them in the most succinct way possible!

I'm going into my 2nd year now, so I totally understand all the good and bad emotions you're probably all going through at the moment.

and well done to everyone who got in, look forward to seeing you at mentor/mentee events!

x

Tbh its not really essential to get a stethoscope for the 1st year, because when you do need one (e.g. for OSCEs, clinical skills lessons) to use, they usually/always provide them. However, if you have spare cash lying around it's not a bad idea to get one as it's handy to practice with a stethoscope when revising for your OSCEs and you will need it in the near future.

I haven't even got one yet, but I'm thinking I best do soon, as we start hospital placements in year 2!

These are the stethoscopes to get and I think for the 5 years its probably best to stick to this model (I personally haven't heard/seen any medical student using any other model) : Littmann SE 11:
http://www.bmamedicalsuppliesdirect.co.uk/3m-littmann-stethoscopes-classic-ii-se-stethoscope-c-121_128.html - on the BMA website (which may require membership, can't remember), you can even get all sorts of colours and engrave it, if that tickles ya fancy!

I think it's best to get the stethoscope from the website above or any decent website, as it can be very expensive in shops *cough* *Blackwells*. Actually in general it's best to get most, if not all medical materials from the internet if want to save alot of money! - e.g. amazon for books instead of blackwells or waterstones! Don't always be wooed by the latest offers from the book stores during freshers as alot of the time , if you shop around you will get something cheaper and some of the books on offer are really for year 2 and above (unless you're super keen) - e.g. Medical Sciences (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medical-Sciences-STUDENTCONSULT-Jeannette-Naish/dp/0702026794)

Also, you can kinda get away with not buying a book immediately, by getting the book from the library asap and just continuously renewing it! but BEWARE.. they will probably be a big bunch of medical students doing the same thing esp. after a lecture! For the first year, I only bought 2 books - anatomy & physiology book and a book for IGS.

Hope that answers your questions!

hey everyone,

If you've got any questions at all about the first year at liv medical school, just ask! and i'll try and answer them in the most succinct way possible!

I'm going into my 2nd year now, so I totally understand all the good and bad emotions you're probably all going through at the moment.

and well done to everyone who got in, look forward to seeing you at mentor/mentee events!

x

OMG, you are too sweet to write an essay to answer my question thankyou... so i'm thinking mabye later on in the year rather than a neccesary purchase.. trying to not buy things i wont use straightaway

Hi! i am going to be a first year medic at liverpool this year! I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I just have so many questions - do you have much spare time for a social life while doing medicine? what is the social life like at liverpool? what happens during freshers week? did you cook much in your first year? do you have any tips about how to deal with uni life and the course? thanks

Extremely helpful post. I've repped you. Well done for passing Year 1. (:

haha woah that's alot to answer but i'll be as brief as possible.

do you have much spare time for a social life while doing medicine?

Yes and No. You won't have as much spare time as much people at uni in their first year. However, I and loads of other people in my year found the time to go out quite often! Definitely make full use of the free-ish time during freshers week! As the year goes on and gets a bit more hectic, I found that most people go out once they have finish their PBL scenario (so every 2 weeks). However, people always found time to go out! It all depends on your timetable really, mine was quite decent..with alot of lessons spaced e.g. one week i would only have 3 lessons of uni from wed-fri. Just pace yourself really and by no means stay all cooped up in your room all day!


what is the social life like at liverpool?

The social life is pretty decent actually! LMSS - medical society hold alot of events throughout the year, which may or may not be to your taste. But, I think for the first year it's good to go to the dinners e.g. Ladies/Men's dinner, Annual Ball etc. In terms of the nightlife, it's great and there's everything for everybody really!

what happens during freshers week?
I can't entirely remember haha, but just the usual welcome events,registration of various medical organisations, go to the freshers day at the student union - they give out freebies . In terms of the actual medical school, in the first week or so, the 2nd years get to pick 1st years that they want to mentor and then there's a mentor/mentee night on concert sq (clubbing/bar area). That's just a snippet of what happens!

did you cook much in your first year?
I was in self-catered, so I cooked alot. Gladly, I know how to cook so I didn't need to get take-aways. I only really got take-aways near exam time as I couldn't be bothered to cook! Cooking for yourself, can be time-consuming at times, but will save you alot of money and keep that freshers flab off lol (as alot of people got takeaways everyday)

do you have any tips about how to deal with uni life and the course?
There's too many to say! but don't worry there will be loads of med students on hand to advise you (I warn take their advise with a pinch of salt!). Some of the tips i'd give are:

- REVISE CLINICAL SKILLS AS YOU GO ALONG!! (if not you're realise how much you don't know when you do your mock exams!)

- TAKE PBL FAIRLY SERIOUSLY AND DO THE WORK- Just because you necessarily haven't got a teacher breathing down your neck, do the work! Also, by doing the work you'll avoid looking like a complete blagger who doesn't really know anything in PBL lessons. Importantly, It will make revision alot easier, cos you'll find that you surprisingly remember most things - and revision will help to refresh things as opposed to learning it from scratch

- GO TO DANGERFIELD'S (head of year 1) LECTURES - you probably won't learn an awful lot, but he will tell you what you need to know, thus making your PBL work less stressful and time consuming.

- DON'T BE SMART AND MISS ALL THE LECTURES - This tip may be debatable, as my attendance towards the year took a bit of a nose dive. However, many of the lectures can be helpful and at times the material in the lectures will be the same stuff in the exam. On the other hand, a good number of lecture are pointless as you've already taught yourself most of the work by the time the lecture comes and some lecturers like to teach as if you're already a consultant ! Just look at the timetable of the lectures (which is posted on the med. school intranet) and pick and choose the ones you feel are relevant to you! Although, the lecture titles can be misleading...

- VITAL (blackboard/school intranet) IS YOUR BEST FRIEND - it has a tonne of useful resources. However, you'll find its not the easiest thing to navigate round

- GO TO HARC! - its a good and visual way to learn the anatomy! Everything in the booklets at HARC, is a good guideline to what they expect you to learn - thus again making your life easier!

- KEEP THOSE A-LEVEL CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY BOOKS - whether its CGP, or whatever revision guides are used these days..take them with you to uni! I must shamefully admit that used a-level books in the 1st year - as they are a handy way to go over the basics and sometimes you'll find that a-level books are better at explaining and simplifying things than the anatomy & physiology books

- ENJOY YOURSELF! DON'T GET TOO CARRIED AWAY WITH WORK - Yes, it's good to work hard, but all in moderation. (and I'm not one of those people who claim to do no work and actually spend hours chained to my desk). Do a good amount of work, be thorough but don't stress yourself out too much! I think by the first year you should be familiar the content in anatomy&physiology books -

Martini (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fundamentals-Anatomy-Physiology-10-System-Suite/dp/0321545982/ref=pd_cp_b_0)
Tortora (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Anatomy-Physiology-Atlas-Registration/dp/0470233478/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313699477&sr=1-1)

(most, if not all the year use one of these 2 books)
However, I found after a while that it's good to top up my knowledge using slightly more advanced books such as Grey's Anatomy etc


x

thanks so much for the detailed answers! also, sorry to ask so many questions ... what do you recommend that I can do to prepare for uni between now and september? are there any medical societies that you would recommend joining? is joining societies a good way to make friends? thanks x