Life as a medical student is very varied. It largely depends on the speciality you’re placed with and how your team of doctors chooses to include you. Mostly, medical students spend time following doctors, asking questions and standing in the way. However, it’s all made worthwhile with the occasional participation in a medical procedure.
Daily Schedule of a Medical Student
Each placement is very different in structure, but as a first-year clinical student, a day in Acute General Medicine would generally go like this.
Morning
08:00: Wake up. I like to maximise sleep and therefore keep my morning routine to a rushed 30 minutes.
09:00: The ward round starts. Our team of four doctors (consultant, registrar and two junior doctors) and four medical students are responsible for all the patients that came into A&E when we are ‘on call.’ Normally, we split up into two doctors and two medical students to see all the patients every day.
10:00: The hospital is at full capacity, particularly in the winter. We rush all over the hospital to see the patients who would have been on our ward but have been placed in other free beds.
The junior doctors note down any scans, blood tests or drug changes that need to be made for each of the patients. We watch the consultation with the patient and sometimes assist in documenting their progress in the medical notes.
11:00: We start to look at the list of jobs that the junior doctor has accumulated. Often, we offer to help with these. We volunteer to take cannulas out of patients, which is often a very painful process akin to ripping a huge plaster off a hairy arm!
We also like taking blood from patients. This can be tricky, particularly if patients are dehydrated and their veins aren’t very good.
12:00: We try to finish seeing all the patients on our list in a race to beat the ‘Protected Mealtimes Bell’. Once this bell is rung on the wards, we’re no longer allowed to talk to patients. So we often have to race the mealtime assistants to the patient.
Afternoon
13:00: If your team are really nice, they’ll let you into the ‘Doctors’ Mess’ for lunch which is far more impressive than the student version. It even has table football and free hot drinks.
Lunchtime is a time for the team to catch up on the progress of the day and discuss any interesting or difficult patients. This is great for learning as the doctors have a bit more time to explain anything that you might have found confusing.
14:00: Finishing the morning’s ward round becomes the priority for the afternoon. Sometimes there is an apt opportunity to talk to a patient and ask them about an interesting disease they have. Many of the patients are bored in the hospital and love having medical students to chat to.
15:00: Often we have afternoon teaching in small groups with a consultant. We discuss interesting cases and think about how we would investigate and treat certain patients.
16:00: Home time! Sometimes the team will have an evening or night shift, but most times the day ends at 4pm and we can enjoy socialising with others.
The Rewards and Opportunities of Medical Student Life
A lot of the time, the day can seem highly repetitive. However, the reality is that the quantity of medical experience and insight into a doctor’s thought process is invaluable. Additionally, the knowledge that in two years we’ll be contributing to the health and happiness of people is highly rewarding.
For high school students considering a career in medicine, attending a Medicine summer school or online Medicine course can provide a unique opportunity to experience life as a medical student before beginning your degree.
By Charlotte Mitchell
Charlotte is in her fourth year studying medicine, currently undertaking clinical training. Hailing from a family of doctors, Charlotte is also a keen tennis player, cellist and singer, and is a member of a number of university sports teams and music ensembles.
