UKCAT

Hi.

So as promised, here we have a long overdue post on UKCAT and some ways I've compiled of how to excel yourself in the test and achieve the highest score you can. Apologies if you have already sat yours; just spread my wise words so that someone can do better than you.

When I have asked the lay person about UKCAT, they generally answer:

...and...

...and occasionally:

In reality, as I'm sure many of you already know, UKCAT stands for UK Clinical Aptitude Test and is used by almost every medical school in the UK (list found here http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/who-takes-the-test/ukcat-universities/#.Ug1eUZJwqa8) as one of several methods to distinguish between those candidates who are suited to a medical course from those who perhaps aren't. The organisation which provides the test is a non-profit Charity limited by guarantee. It gives a lot of help on its website along with practice tests which can be found here: http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/preparation/practice-test/#.Ug1iI5Jwqa8. However, the company does state that the test cannot be revised for and that the score is solely determined by the raw ability of the candidate. 

Nevertheless, here is my compilation of tips I have collected from real students who are either currently studying medicine or are medicine offer holders:

• "The 600q book was helpful, all the maths section was a lot harder than the actual test, but it's helpful to read the advice in the book, i.e how to pace yourself etc." 

Sean Lobo, Medicine offer holder.

• "It's all about how you feel on the day. Doing a solid amount of prep, the books, allow you to feel slightly more confident in the fact you know what they can throw at you. Focus and you'll be fine." 

Sam Hanlon, Medicine offer holder.

• "Sit and practice the questions to get the timing right. Also I found the book useful for the abstract reasoning section; it helped me to spot the patterns in the shapes much better. And don't panic, if you can't do a question in 15 seconds, guess and move on! The day you book your test is important also, if you do it in August then you'd have finish your exams in June and so have the full summer to practice. This means you aren't stressing about too many things at once." 

Rachel Hunter, Medicine offer holder.

• "Do all the practice tests that are available online because then you'll have a good practice with timing, that's one of the more important things. It also helps to learn the code for abstract reasoning as I think you're given the same one for the real thing (mine was anyway, not sure about others). The rest is all about not panicking on the day and being relaxed."

Sana Waheed, Medicine offer holder.

• "I think just do a couple of practice tests and get the hang of it and hopefully you should have the gist of the test for the real thing."

Hammy Akhtar, Medicine offer holder.

• "Use the numpad on the keyboard. It really speeds up QR maths on the calculator. It's usually tucked behind the monitor."

Umar Said, Medicine offer holder.

• "I did a Kaplan UKCAT  classroom 2 day course, which cost around £300 but I honestly have no doubt that without it my score would have been considerably lower. It really helps if you understand how to answer questions, you receive a massive handbook of strategies made simple from the course. I managed to score 850 in one particular section and without the course I'd have been lucky to even touch the 700s. Doesn't teach you so much about the knowledge you need in order to answer the questions, more about the strategies to answer the questions."

Charlotte Louise Willis, Medicine offer holder.

A few more suggestions were made too, of sources which can be used to help boost your score. These consisted of:

• http://www.amazon.co.uk/into-Medical-School-comprehensive-explanations/dp/1905812094 recommended by Sam Haynes, current 1st year Medical student and Mike Younis, Medicine offer holder.
• http://www.medify.co.uk/ recommended by Ben Sykes, Medicine offer holder.
• http://www.getintomedicine.co.uk/ recommended by Umair Khan, current 1st year Medical student.
• http://www.kaptest.co.uk/ukcat/course recommended by Charlotte Louise Willis, Medicine offer holder.
• http://www.fastbleep.com/ recommended by Vasudev Zaver, current 1st year Medical student.

To summarise, the answer to how you can do well in UKCAT is simple: get organised. Sounds annoying huh? "This isn't a magic formula, this article is rubbish" I hear you say. And that's exactly why you're likely to not do so well in UKCAT. Stop searching for answers and start integrating some of the formulae listed above into your revision regime; essentially, the best way to practice for the test is to practice the strategies of each section and become familiar with the layout and timing. That way you will not be phased when it comes to the real thing and thus can concentrate on the questions given as opposed to the clock ticking away or whether you're doing a particular section right. 

In terms of resources for more help, check out as many as you can, some recommendations are listed above as I'm sure you know. If you find you're struggling with the UKCAT material then seek out help, don't leave it to chance otherwise you'll jeopardise your result.

Overall, the message I would like to leave before I bid farewell for now, is this: don't panic.

 

Good luck and stay tuned for the next post, subscribe if you are able to/if you want to read more of this jargon.............................................................................

Ciao for now.

VZ x

Making the Most of Your Summer

Hi.

 If I had started the summer how I usually start it, I wouldn't be making it very productive. The months or even year prior to every summer holiday, I find myself planning a load of productive activities and things I want to achieve or improve. The only thing that appears to let me down is time; I find myself at the end of the holidays wondering where all the time went and why I only managed to achieve a small fraction of the things I had planned. Usually, I attribute this to the fact that I was working for most of the holiday or that I had important things to do which took up much of the time. This summer, I decided to see how I could actually make it as productive as I would envisage it to be...

FIRST STEP:
Make a list. Simple as that. Make a list of all the things you want to achieve over the summer and then it's down on paper, it's there in a notebook to remind you. I always found that during the holidays I would be so busy doing things like procrastinating and feeling lost for things to do, I could never remember any of the things I had planned in the first place. Worse still, if I did remember something I wouldn't do it simply because I hadn't planned it into my day and so would wait til next week, for example, to do it.


SECOND STEP:
Print off a schedule and draw out a rough plan of when you can fit these things into your week/month/holiday period. I personally tried to find out when I was working, wrote up all the hours on my schedule and planned recreational stuff around it, genuinely works especially seeing the importance of recreation in the summer. I usually forget about it and find I either work or eat loads and do nothing all the day for the rest of the time. Nothing wrong with that if it's how you relax and unwind of course.

THIRD STEP:
There isn't one, two steps just looked a bit less impressive....

In terms of my own progress, I had several things in mind which I wanted to do during the summer, for example, one definite 'to-do' was to earn as much money as I can. This, of course, was due to my student spending habits, which had resulted in an eventual minus figured bank balance. However, I will warn you now, it does happen but the key is to learn from it and know when to say no really.. I'd like to think I've learned from it seeing the amount of effort I have had to put into working the hours to save up adequate funds for second year. Among other things, I wanted to obtain some work experience also, just to become a bit more familiar with theatre and discover more about hospital healthcare. If this is something you are looking to do, I must reiterate the cliché:

"It's who you know, not what you know"

Thus, seek out anybody you know who will be able to get you some work experience, even if you experience the management side of healthcare and what goes on behind the scenes, as opposed to just shadowing consultants. Volunteering and keeping records and write ups as evidence can help your portfolio, not just for medicine, as you will see if you're not already at University yet.

So, I hope this insight has helped, follow and keep checking my twitter feed https://twitter.com/ZaverMed for medical news and my next blog post. Be sure to subscribe if you are able to.

Ciao for now.

VZ x

End of Uni

Hi.

I dislike the word 'Uni'. It has an element of evil smugness which plants you straight into a particular socio-economic classification. Yet I find myself using this word a lot seeing as I do attend such an institution. I apologise in advance, I can fully empathise if it gets annoying. It has to be said that University is a place for many things, not just education: the opportunity to grow (literally in the case of some people I know), find your own feet, gain independence and indulge in the company of like-minded people. In this post I intend to wrap up my first year at Manchester and include any things I wish I had known at the start for all you freshers excited for your first year.

In my previous post which was published an while ago (had exams etc in the meantime), I mentioned about obtaining a job in Manchester to work at during the semester. This turned out ok despite studying a content heavy course such as Medicine and I would recommend it to those who are looking to make some extra money during term time. I was fortunate enough in that I could cut down my hours during exams and that my shift schedule was flexible whereby I could effectively work whenever I wanted to. However, there are lots of ways out there for students to make money while studying, ranging from filling out surveys online to promoting and selling tickets for particular nights in the city.

In terms of the actual University experience, I managed to pass my first year of Medicine which was more of a relief than anything. It was definitely challenging and lives up to its reputation; we were given more free time than most courses during semester 1 but trust me, that was for our own benefit in terms of allowing us to catch up on work! The rest of the time, I discovered new scenes to indulge in, new places to hang out with new people, all of which has culminated into one of the best life experiences I have ever had. Some people may say "wait til you spend 3 years in one place" but I don't think this can detract from the impact the first year of University has on you. Thus, all in all, I would definitely recommend it and can empathise with anybody who is excited to come to Manchester or any other Uni for that matter.

As for things I wish I had been told before I came to Univeristy, here is a little list I've compiled myself:
- DISCLAIMER: These are simply suggestion and are my own opinions influenced by my own experiences. They are not rules to be followed religiously.) -

• Be ready to change your learning style. A University course regardless of whether it is group learning based or lecture based requires a lot of independent learning.
• Get organised with signing up for societies (sport or academic) early on in the first semester, most fairs are usually during freshers. Societies lend you a whole host of skills which look class on your CV.
• Do plenty of extracurricular stuff (sport and academic), however boring it sounds it's actually pretty enjoyable, the earlier you start the better. Just a case of being organised, doesn't take much effort.
• Lastly, I would say CHILL OUT. It's all going to be fine, it's only first year so kick back, study hard when necessary but above all, remember to enjoy it! 

I'd like to close this particular post, however clichéed it may sound, by saying how much of an inspiration my family has been in getting me into and through my first year of Medical school. Thank you.

Best of luck to all those who have finished exams and are awaiting the release of their results!

Ciao for now.

VZ x

Back in Manchester

Hi.

So, I will begin this post by firstly gloating like a true attendee of higher education about how good it feels to be back at University and how life is just "seewwww guurrddd yaaarrr". The transformation is instant, you go from being a slob/couch potato at home to a personification of words such as free, dynamic and independent; unfortunately, sometimes in the less mentally privileged of us, 'YOLO' is also included in this list which fundamentally makes no sense but doesn't really pose a great issue at that level (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yolo more info for those lucky ones who have not been tainted...yet). It is genuinely a fantastic feeling and I would thoroughly recommend anybody who hasn't yet left home to go and experience life outside of that environment. However, like I said in my previous post, there really is nothing like home and that is something I would personally encourage to always keep in mind.

Being the first day back today it felt like I had never been away. The big news is that I a few weeks back I had decided to obtain a job in Manchester to earn back some money to pay off my student bank balance, which had unfortunately repeatedly shown figures featuring the minus sign. Obviously these figures were wrong *cough* #studentlifeproblems. I have found during my time so far at Uni that a lot of people aren't sure whether to get a job or not, especially when doing content heavy courses such as medicine. I myself was afraid to look for and apply for jobs but desperation called and so I managed to be successful in being hired by Hollister at the Manchester Arndale Centre shopping mall. So I found myself trotting across at 9 o'clock this morning to be inducted. The job is good in terms of fitting around the course heavy weeks as the hours are fairly flexible due to the no-contracted hours policy operated by all Hollister stores. This will hopefully mean that I'll be able to do shifts as and when I am available, thus not interfering with my exams coming up soon. I will be sure to keep you posted on this student debt motivated experiment and whether it is indeed as good a deal as it sounds!

Anyway, I will bring in a wardrobe element into the next post featuring the work uniform...just like a class A student (knob).

Ciao for now.

VZ x

Before the off...

Hi. 

Quote of the week courtesy of my dad: 

"You look like you're packing, why's that?"

Certainly relevant to this post I must say, albeit not particularly accurate. One must laugh heartily at this point as is customary of one who attends an institute of higher education. Alas my time at home has, once again, temporarily come to an end, already I am missing the home cooked food and other such privileges; there really is nothing like home. And yet, as I'm sure many fellow students will agree, there is this strange anticipation you feel, as though your true home is in fact where your Uni is situated. This is definitely something I had never expected to experience prior to heading off to University; the feeling of belonging is surprisingly strong. I imagine it has something to do with the fact that you've found your feet, established a lifestyle revolving around autonomy and independence, just found freedom to do and be whatever you want to be. Take note prospective Uni students, the transformation you'll undergo is pretty crazy!

On a different note, I thought I'd introduce a bit of wardrobe inspiration (some would call it malfunction) into today's post, related to my journey back to Manchester tomorrow. I have picked out some stuff that has an alternative band touring sort of vibe to it, going along with the theme of travelling (please excuse the horrendous 5MP mobile camera picture quality and even worse filter):

The key picks:

1. The very important under-layer i.e. a plain white T. In my humble opinion this is a fundamental addition to any outfit due to its ability to complement virtually any item of clothing as a result of its neutral and timeless nature. You can get these from pretty much any mens clothing store, interestingly enough I personally suit the fit of the bargain £2.50 slim-fit T's from Primark but for better quality head to somewhere like Topman or Burton. Break it up with some neck-wear available and reasonably priced at stores, again, such as Topman and you're onto a solid winner.
2. The next item I have chosen is a pair of stretch skinny dark grey jeans from Topman to cover up the lower (not so aesthetic) half of me. I tend to roll them up about 3 times over at the bottom and whack on a pair of globe/desert/military boots to finish.
3. For warmth and practicality I have resorted to a thick, grey, vintage woolen jumper to pop over the T. It's a great way of adding an element of 'image' to the overall ensemble along with being very simple and, to the joy of those on a student budget, reasonably priced (just a 10er from most vintage outlets).
4. To complete the look I have included an outer layer which in this case is a denim rider jacket by Lee Cooper. These are usually a bit pricey but look in the right areas and you'll find a second hand one for a bargain price (they normally range around the 30 quid mark but sometimes can be under 20 quid).
5. To ensure you're look is on point, you must include train tickets. Without them you ain't going nowhere son.

So, this concludes my second post and features a bit more material related to the primary purpose of this blog which is to display to the world how to be a class A student (knob)

Ciao for now.

VZ x

A Cold Unwelcome

Hi. 

"it's bleak, black and brilliant..." 

One of the many ways in which famous critics have described this blog. They were watching the Dark Knight Rises at the time but I'm positive they had been referring to this future creation out of eager anticipation. I suppose I should start my first blog post with a warm welcome alongside a strong caution to viewers of this page. Your discretion is recommended; this page contains unhelpful advice, disastrous styling & grooming tips and an unhealthy dose of sarcasm.

My name is Vasudev and I'm a first year medical student (yes one of those) at the University of Manchester. If you have never visited Manchester before then below are a couple of reasons why you shouldn't:

The 'Tin Can' building (University Place) of the Uni

So far so good I must say with regards to University, the medical course is pretty easy *choke on drink and die of asphyxiation*. I should be revising while I'm writing this but seeking attention from blog readers while listening to crazy Spanish music Spotify radio has just thrown at me is more appealing. Aside from that, overall, my aim of this blog is to give an honest, hopefully helpful and inspiring insight into my life as a Uni student and answer those burning questions any of you prospective medics may have about getting into med school along with what it's like etc. 

Ciao for now.

VZ x