Life at Lancaster University

Written by: Arshia Pathak

Hi! I’m Arshia, a second-year medical student at Lancaster University. Having just started my second year, I thought I’d share what my first year of medical school was really like!

At Lancaster Medical School, we have a spiral curriculum. This means we learn the basics in our first year and build on that in later years. So, first year is the chance to get to grips with the functions and structures of a “normal” human body, before pathology is thrown into the mix. As for teaching, our classes don’t just consist of lectures, but also anatomy labs, which we call CALC (Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre). Clinical skills sessions provide us with the opportunity to learn various examinations that we will practice on real patients from second year onwards. In communication skills classes, we work in small groups with an actor to develop our history-taking skills. 

The most important class we have is definitely PBL, which stands for Problem-Based Learning. We are given a scenario that simulates a real patient encounter on a ward round, and we have to decide on learning objectives and key issues based on the scenario. The following week we feedback what we learned to each other. This learning method is very different to what we used to have in school, but I have always found it useful as it forces you to learn the content as you go instead of cramming it all at the end, (which I am definitely guilty of at A-levels)! But don’t worry, we have the help of our tutors who steer us in the right direction. We also start learning about academic writing skills in the first year at Lancaster, helping us understand how to write research papers in the future.

What’s also really helpful is that if at any point you feel like you are behind or could use some help, then you can always go to your academic tutor. The medical school also has its own personal support service, dedicated to the struggles that medical students face. 

University years offer a chance for self-discovery through meeting new people and exploring new areas of interest. To support this, the university offers several societies and, within the medical school, there are sports, charity, and medical speciality societies that cater to our busy timetables. These societies also host conferences and teaching sessions, which help to broaden our appreciation for medicine and its various aspects.

If you are excited to go to hospitals, as most would expect of a prospective medic, Lancaster has clinical placements from the start of Year 2, which allows us to experience what it’s like to actually be a doctor and gives us more ideas of where our interests may lie.

Lancaster is a campus university with colleges which function similarly to Hogwarts houses! You live with people from your college, and each college has its own themed common room and bar. We also have different restaurants around campus with different cuisines. The university also has a library in the centre of campus, which is open 24/7 during term time, so whether you prefer to study in the mornings or at night, all options are available, and it's a short walk from accommodation.

Lancaster is a charming city (yes, it's really a city!) with great train connections to several major cities; the train to London takes two and a half hours; Edinburgh, Glasgow and Liverpool are about two hours away, and Manchester is only fifty minutes away. For nature lovers, the Lake District is fifteen minutes away, which is a great day trip location. 

Lancaster is a small medical school, meaning we form a close-knit community, and you end up getting to know everyone in your year group. You even get to know more people when you go on placement with them. We also have the help of the upper years as they lead teaching sessions on year one topics.

Wherever you choose to go to med school, here are my top tips for first year!

• Have fun – make the most of your time in your first year because you won’t realise how much free time you really had until it's gone

• Join a few societies – you may just make some life-long friends

• Try to keep on top of the content instead of revising last minute, trust me, it’s not worth the stress

• Don’t get stressed by what the people around you are doing; everyone is on their own timeline, so don’t let it stop you from doing what you want. Everyone's way of studying is different, and everyone's path to success is also different

• Don’t rush into finding a house for the second year and people to live with too quickly, relationships can change, and that's ok

• If you need help, just ask. There's no point waiting because stuff will pile up, and no one will know you need help unless you ask

• Keep a good sleep schedule; good grades don’t mean sacrificing a good night's sleep. You are going to be a doctor, so you should listen to your own advice

• A career in medicine is a marathon, not a sprint, so you need to maintain a good, consistent pace

Hopefully, this will give you an idea of what it’s like to live your medical school dreams!