My name is Oliver Smyth and I currently attend The
Fallibroome Academy in Macclesfield, Cheshire. I am currently in year 12
and studying A-level Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Geography.
My first experience with Medic Mentor was several months ago when I
attended a national healthcare weekend in London. This was a great
experience and the guidance from the Doctors and guest speakers has
helped in confirming my desire to study medicine at university. The
information and guidance which I received at this conference was incredible, helping me to plan
the next few months in order to have an competitive medicine application for when I apply later
this year. I attended the conference with my classmate from school who is also hoping to study
medicine at university. Following the weekend we met up and discussed the weekend and
reflected on what we had learnt. One of the things which we decided was that we would found a
medical society at our school where we would discuss relevant medical topics, ethics and
challenges facing the NHS along with generating an interest in lower years, for example year 11
who will be deciding their A-level choices for the following year. Unfortunately this had to be put
on hold due to the school closure however I hope to resume this soon.
Through the National Healthcare weekend I learnt about the Medical Leadership Programme,
which I found an incredibly exciting and beneficial opportunity which I gained a place on through
my place in the Medic Mentor Summer School. I recently participated in the COVID-Innovation
programme where as a team we answered the question ‘How should medical schools be
teaching during COVID-19”. This was a great week and I thought that we worked together very
well as a team. In particular our facilitator Imelda Vitenu was very motivating and ensured the
team worked fluidly. As Imelda was a first year medical student at Manchester University we
were able to ask her questions about what her current experiences were, which provided a
great insight into what life was like as a medical student during the COVID-19 pandemic. In
addition to this, I think that as a team we used the digital technology which was available to us
to a high standard, for example we used google slides to create our poster, this was great as we
were able to all edit the poster at the same time. If the situation arose again, to improve our
poster I think that I would decrease the amount of text and increase the number of graphs on
our poster. In the hope that it would make the poster more appealing to the audience as they
will find the information easier to read. As a result of the programme I have improved my ability
to work as a team remotely and I have developed an understanding how to critically appraise
literature sources. Both of which will be key skills, which will be required in my future years as
both a medical student and as a Doctor.
Through Medic Mentor, I have also incredibly enjoyed being part of the Virtual Medical Society.
In particular, I have enjoyed the contribution from current Medical Students and guest speakers.
Whose wealth and depth of knowledge is incredibly motivating for a prospective Medical
Student such as myself. Thank you for taking your time to read my reflection. I would like to say
thank you to everyone at Medic Mentor for their continued support and resources.
Kind Regards
Oliver Smyth