Second Year … Second Thoughts

No, I am not quitting Med School ( I worked way too hard in first year to do that). It is the 8th of September 2019 and it is also the night before the second year.

I am excited to be here. There were stages last year where I thought I would never see the day. I was convinced I would fail and be kicked out. It caused a lot of problems for me, this constant worry but I made it through!

Second-year brings a lot of milestones for us. We pass the halfway mark in January (ish) and we also start to become clinical med students. This means we spend more time in the hospital and less time in the lecture theatre, we start to attend GP’s and we learn how to take blood and insert cannulas etc. Not a lot then.

Even though I am excited about what we have to learn clinical skills wise this year. I am really nervous about the upcoming changes to our education. After January, we have no timetable, no routine and it’s up to us to freestyle. Not having that routine and having to change how I learn means that it will take me longer to adjust than most, but I have been chatting with my medic family about it so I can have some heads up about what to expect. I suppose it will give me the freedom to learn how I want to learn, which I have been craving all year but I know I’ll be worried I haven’t covered everything.

I also have the situation this year where I can’t move into where I am living this year until next week. I am going to be a resident tutor this year meaning I look after the Freshers in their accommodation. However, due to the building works not being finished (surprise surprise) I am having to live out my suitcase until next week. YAY. Apparently, the first two weeks of second year are hard too, if you see me rocking in a corner, it’s ok, just leave me be, :D.

However, in two weeks time, the newbies will arrive. This brings about the slightly more positive thing about second year. I am a mother to two first years and I have also arranged with Matt to do a student seminar with him. I love teaching and we’ve established we are a bit of a team because he knows my weak block inside out and I love Block Three with all my heart. I also have tonnes of resources from all my revision so it will be nice to put them into use. It is going to feel strange not being the youngest year in the medical school, and even more strange that there will be 400 students in the MTC. Im used to 4 as of lately :D. However, one of the people I remember from helping out at interviews has got in (in fact they are Matt’s medic kid) so it will be nice to (hopefully) see a few more faces!.

We also have medic revue (of which I can’t wait for), doctors and nurses (of which I have already booked the time off and prepared for the hangover the next day) and medic family dinner. We also have a bit of an easier time with lectures because…. well we don’t have as many 😀

This year I am being a bit stricter with myself with regards to the amount of work I do. I burnt out, I did too much. I did not see the point in taking time off but now, I know it is not just a nice thing to do. It should come before Medicine (first-years take note of that). It is also the first year I can be at home for my birthday so I am hoping to go home for the weekend. I am also learning to drive so I can bring my car up to campus and not have to rely on the slow Coventry public transport network.

So … yup. Second year is finally here. There’s no stopping it. Just got to give it my all!

Abbie