PBL

Mel Sarigul

/ Lauren Kennedy

First term complete, bags packed, presents wrapped and I am ready to return home after a busy semester.

I am now more comfortable with PBL. I still have the odd feelings of being left to drift alone in a vast, empty ocean worrying that I have missed something important but these pass fairly quickly. The learning objectives we come up with as a group on the whole match the intended learning objectives and the lectures continue to give us guidance on depth. Our group has really learnt how to work effectively together and we have a great dynamic. Aside from the educational perspective PBL has meant that students get to know each other and I have made great friends. I will be sorry to change my PBL group but also excited to work with a range of people.

I was quite late in ordering my stethoscope because I had to make the very important decision of what colour I wanted (turquoise or classic black? Smoke or brass tip?) and what to have engraved (should I include my full name or just my surname? Would ‘Life is short’ be inappropriate? Why isn’t ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ 24 characters long?!)  I was glad I waited though as often you are given a discount voucher at Fresher’s fair.  My stethoscope arrived as we were learning to do a cardiovascular examination and I got childish pleasure listening to a friend’s heartbeat. That’s one of the great things about Lancaster – medical students start their clinical training early on. Since you are practising on healthy individuals usually you can’t feel/hear much but the emphasis in first year is normality. The idea is that if you know what normal feels like you will immediately be able to identify when something is abnormal later on in your studies.

We have started Communication skills which teaches how to effectively take a history from a patient. It is nerve racking to have to get up and interview a stimulated patient with a camera and 5 sets of eyes focussed on you! Trying to uphold an image of calm and reassurance when in reality your mind is desperately searching for the next open ended question to ask all whilst nodding and maintaining eye contact. As embarrassing as it is to watch yourself back it gives you an opportunity to evaluate what you could improve on.

I feel that I am in a better position now than I was at the same time 4 years ago when I was doing my first degree. I have been practising clinical skills on anyone I could get my hands on, annoying friends with open ended questions and PBL means that I have made most of my notes already and remember the main concepts. Now comes the hard bit of learning the nitty gritty stuff in time for exams in January.

Mel Sarigul

/ Lauren Kennedy

Walking up those stairs I was nervous but excited about meeting my new flatmates. Opening that kitchen door and seeing the fresh faced bright eyed 18 year olds for the first time my first thought was… Oh my God they look so young!  I applied to Lancaster after completing my Biomedical Science degree and taking a year out so I was anxious about being the oldest in my flat and course. We soon bonded over some lasagne though which was compliments of Furness College!

The way Lancaster’s freshers’ week works is that you go out to events your college has organised for you. Furness being the best college (obviously) had a paint party, glitter party, on and off campus themed bar crawls and also events such as ‘Top of the Blocks’. At this stage I had not met many medics but used this opportunity to bond with my flatmates and the block over a couple of drinks- or more.

Medsoc is a society especially for medical students. They organise socials and also provide revision material and mock OSCEs nearer exam time.  During Fresher’s Week there was a meet and greet at Revolutions which had a great vibe. Lancaster’s Medical School is one of the smallest in the UK meaning that the medical community is very close knit. The older years were really friendly and first years were able to meet each other in a relaxed environment. Other societies such as Medsin provide volunteering opportunities such as SKIP or Teddy Bear Hospital.

The first PBL session was a shock to the system. Having being used to a lecture based course previously, I was not prepared for the freedom that comes with PBL. We had to read a scenario, pick out key points, discuss them, then make learning objectives with the focus being on the upper GI tract.  Our group initially struggled with constructing learning objectives but eventually came up with a workable list which we had to go away and research. The feedback session was useful in that not only do you reinforce your own learning by explaining concepts but can also ask about any areas you found challenging. It can be difficult to gauge how much detail we need to go into a topic but the recommended resources gives us an idea – so don’t worry if someone decides to learn some random cell pathway and you’re sat there completely lost!

I went into my first anatomy not knowing what to expect.  As it turned out the sessions were quite informal and very informative. Every week you have two hours of anatomy which are organised as 3 stations. There are lots of models to use, books and more importantly friendly and approachable demonstrators. The small groups are great as you have more contact time with the demonstrators some of which include Radiographers, Doctors and Anatomists.

So far I have enjoyed being part of Lancaster University and its Medical school. I look forward to the challenges ahead of me.