Welcome to our new blog, boldly titled “A Realistic Guide to Medical School”! We’re a group of medical students currently in our fifth and sixth years at UCL and we are creating this guide based on our own experiences of studying both preclinical and clinical medicine.

We will be doing our best to provide you with relevant content to help you get the most out of your time at university, but never fear, we aren’t expecting you to turn up, stethoscope in hand, ready to save the world (or at least all patients on 10N at the Royal Free). In the medical school bubble, it’s easy to feel like you should be prepared to fully immerse yourself in the clinical environment and face whatever comes your way, but we know that it’s not that simple – and that’s where the realistic part of this guide comes in!

We’ll be using a traffic light system in our posts to indicate which competencies and experiences we feel are absolutely vital for all medical students and others which might be a goal for you to work towards. In general, this is what each colour will mean:

Green – try and do this from the start of the year
Amber – add this in when you’re feeling brave
Red – aim to be comfortable doing this by the end of the year

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting content on facing your first ward round, staying focused on online learning and how to juggle all of your activities and still have time to relax.

Let us know in the comments if you have any suggestions for future posts or want to write your own post. If you have any questions, we’re always happy to provide advice or, if we don’t know the answer, we can help you find someone who does! You can meet us, the faces behind this guide, below.

Meet the Team

I’m Maddie and I’m a final year medical student. I found preclinical medicine really challenging and I hope this guide can help other students who, like me, found it difficult navigating the huge change from school to university. When I’m not doing uni work (procrastinating), I enjoy playing the tourist and making the most of what London has to offer!

Hi, I’m Jess, a final year medical student. I’m really excited for us to start sharing our university experiences with you. I hope we will give you a good idea of what to expect and how to make the most of your time as a student! I’m from London and have lived here my whole life. Outside of Medicine, I enjoy travelling, experiencing different cultures and learning new languages. I’m also a big foodie!

Hi! I’m Vikram, a fifth year medical student. Despite having lived in five different parts of the world already, the last four years have still been a fresh and exciting mixture of ups and downs as I tried adapting (still am adapting in all honesty) to the university lifestyle. I’m excited to share some of my experiences with you in this guide and hopefully give you a few tips along the way! Outside of medicine I enjoy travelling, films, and most things coastal-side. Feel free to email any questions, concerns, or if you just want to have a chat.

Hi! I’m Anush, a final year student who doesn’t know how his time at UCL has flown by so quickly. I like getting people excited about medicine and their own education. I’m very keen on the idea of peer mentorship, so feel free to reach out if you’re feeling lost! I hope that some of the advice I share from my own time at medical school will hold you all in good stead! I enjoy trawling north London for new food places and spend lots of time irritating my flatmates through a variety of board games. I’m also exceptionally bad at writing bios, evidently.