By Devina Siaw
The transition to university is undoubtedly a daunting experience, where one has to assimilate themselves into peer groups to avoid social isolation, achieve independence in terms of managing education and funds, and most importantly be able to feed oneself and wash one’s clothes without turning their labcoat pink (something I have yet to achieve).
Besides all this, the first year students of NUMed are also subjected to the Progress 1 examinations after barely a month into the course. Below are some thoughts and experiences of four members (Bob*, Sue*, Tom* and Will*) of Stage 1 on the exam and coming to NUMed.
How are you finding coming into Stage 1 of medicine and living here in general?
Bob: Living alone is fun! I like to be alone in general, so coming here to study was quite interesting and exciting for me. Medicine is general is quite demanding, and it requires us to study continuously, which the only part I don't like about uni.
Sue: It’s quite exciting. I mean, when I first started I was definitely more excited than now, but there’s so much to look forward to even now.
About living here, it’s very hard for me. Firstly, the whole being independent and living away from home thing is pretty new to me.
Other than that, I’m not very used to the living conditions here at ISV. Being a vegetarian, it makes it even harder to adjust but I am adjusting slowly. I’m sure it’ll take a while but I’ll start to learn how to live here better.
Will: Stage 1 is good so far, I think NuMed is great and the teaching is good. Life here is ok, but there is not much to do if you don’t have a car.
How did you prepare for the stage one exams?
Bob: I did make some notes for MTD, extracts from different books and the lecture notes. I also read an embryology book. To be entirely honest, I didn't study much aside from that. I would definitely study for the next exam.
Tom: I usually prepare for the beginning. I read lecture notes and I read additional materials.
Sue: Well, I just basically went through my notes. I didn’t really start studying till the last few days but all in all I think I managed to cover a lot before the paper.
Will: Just went through the lecture notes. Didn’t do much reading, although I think I should have.
How did you find the stage one exams and did you feel sufficiently prepared for it?
Bob: I was not prepared for it, so it was just like jumping into a big ocean without knowing how to swim, or what to expect. I should've done more. But oh well, what is done is done. I know that we all can do better.
Tom: I found it moderately difficult. I felt that I was ill-prepared.
Sue: It was definitely a new experience. During the exam, I felt like I didn’t know anything at all and I kept second-guessing myself. The structure of the questions was very different from what I’m used to and it was quite a challenging paper.
With the vast ocean of information we need to know to pass the exams, it can be difficult to even know where to start. After every exam, it’s almost certain that most of us will express regret over not revising more.
Hopefully all the Stage 1 students achieved the results they were aiming for and many thanks to the four who graciously gave their time to answer these questions.
*Names have been changed in the interest of privacy
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