The Aspiring Medics
3 min
Updated: Jan 12, 2023
Plymouth University’s medical course creates incredible doctors starting from day one, by focusing on professional and clinical development as early as term one.
They use technology to advance student’s knowledge of anatomy and clinical practice, whilst still sticking to the basics of in-depth patient contact and small-group work.
The environment that they create is friendly and motivational - they push you to be at your best performance.
Plymouth University prioritises personality over academic achievements - making sure you showcase the skills necessary in becoming a good healthcare professional are key to demonstrate during interviews.
Read up on the four pillars of medical ethics and interesting cases that come up in medical news.
Also, prepare for the standard question of ‘why did you want to become a doctor’ - they like to surprise you with this at the start.
Think about the kinds of questions/tasks you might be asked regarding the different attributes listed above.
Plymouth University has digital anatomy tables which provide a realistic insight into the human body, which is based of real human cadavers. Alongside this, they provide access to C.Anatomy ‘21, which is an app that allows for at-home teaching and dissections. Aside from teaching, the variety of clinical placements offered in the first year alone provides students with a depth of knowledge of different fields, and prompts for good reflection skills early on. Most sessions are interactive and small group teaching with a lot of time allocated for self directed learning.
Plymouth University is your standard seaside town with a twist. Located five minutes from town centre (which hosts a variety of venues), the student accommodation starts across the road and hosts a variety of activities for students throughout the year. The hospital is located 30-minutes away by bus, which is paid for by the University; it’s quite nice to get out of the city sometimes and see the view from up on Derriford’s hills. All of the facilities such as the library, cafe’s, university GP centre/ pharmacy and sports centres are all located in the same area, which is convenient for students. Plymouth has a wide range of medical-based societies (such as GastroSoc, PsychSoc, NeuroSoc, GPSoc, etc) as well as the medic’s football, netball and hockey.
Students at Plymouth University are some of the friendliest people you can meet. Everyone is incredibly helpful to guide you to where you need to be, and people are always hosting activities on campus, such as karaoke days and the Thursday food market (with the best churros you’ll ever taste). There are societies for all interests such as Pokémon, anime, gaming, cooking/ baking, wilderness exploration and more - each hosts unique social events and competitions. The University encourages for the medics and non-medics to mix in, as well as hosting events with older medical students and other healthcare-related subjects such as nursing, dentistry and radiography.
The Plymouth Medsoc aims to provide academic support to medical students throughout the 5 years of Medical School. It provides interactive teachings throughout the year which are helpful for exams - they host AMK-specific teachings the week before the big exams to help with cramming. The Medsoc also collaborated with the other medical-based societies and radiology/nursing teaches. Notable events include the Medsoc summer and winter balls, as well as pizza nights (all you can eat Domino’s). It is a family-like social network for pastoral support, but also amazing socials and trips such as surfing and skiing