Student Stories: Discovering Medicine through the St Andrews MBChB
First-year MBChB (ScotCOM) student Raine Wong shares her experience of starting her medical degree at St Andrews.
I’m Raine and I’m in my first year of the MBChB (ScotCOM) programme at the University of St Andrews.
My journey to medicine
I had known I wanted to go into healthcare since I was younger, but I wasn’t entirely set on medicine. That was until I began researching the various aspects of and specialities within the medical field; from academia to surgery, the range was massive. During this time, I began volunteering at a ward within a hospital, which helped to solidify my choice to pursue medical school, as it also allowed me to interact with patients and witness how medical professionals really worked.
When applying for universities, I was attracted to St Andrews due to its rich student life and its numerous traditions. I was particularly intrigued by the new MBChB course as within its placements I would be able to travel to different places across Scotland that I had not yet visited despite living here all my life, meeting professionals and patients from a wide range of communities.
The course so far…
This medicine course allows me to exercise my communication skills before interacting with patients on placements, engage in dissections and learn essential clinical skills. We have a large range of lectures mixed in with our practicals, where we learn about topics ranging from red blood cells to the gastrointestinal system to medical ethics. My favourite part about the course so far has been the clinical skills sessions, as these grant us a sneak peek into what our placements will be like and what type of work we will be assisting with there. For example, through these sessions, I have learned to complete tasks like measuring blood glucose and using a defibrillator.
Fun outside of the classroom
Recently, I have been lucky enough to partake in some of St Andrews traditions such as the Pier Walk, during my first week here, and Raisin Weekend. The foam fight was my particular favourite event as it was fun to see everyone relaxed and outside of the classroom environment, dressed up in costumes splattering each other with the shaving foam!
Overall, I would definitely recommend St Andrews as a medical school for a great balance of academic and practical learning and a strong and supportive community atmosphere!