"When I first came across the title of this degree in a list of intercalation options I knew I had to apply, and am now confident it was one of the best decisions I have made during medical school for both my professional and personal progression. I opted to apply and stay at my university hospital, which has a smaller yet busy emergency department. Being the first intercalating student placed there gave me the advantage of being able to shadow and operate as a foundation doctor within the department, with assistance and guidance from a small and supportive team whenever I needed them.
Throughout the year my clinical skills and acumen has grown to a more comfortable level than when I completed fourth year of medicine, and I feel much more at ease knowing that my year has been so clinically orientated, including academic work focused on topics I found personally engaging I could choose myself. This includes allowing me to perform research based on age related D-dimer levels in pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, and to begin an audit of the department regarding paediatric left before conclusion rates which developed into the final project piece for my module related to leadership and innovation within emergency medicine.
This degree opened a number of doors for me, and through it I managed to attend the European Trauma Course, a three-day intensive scenario and simulation-based programme aimed at multiple disciplines within medicine, including nurses and surgeons. This was invaluable to my understanding of the ever evolving and exciting field of trauma care, so I followed this by taking the opportunity to observe and attend a few days of the Trauma Care Conference. Following this and after completing a Pre-hospital trauma life support course with my peers has given me much better insight into the management and entire flow of care of a trauma patient, starting from the scene and ending with advanced life support in the resuscitation room.
Being able to opt for a paediatrics module was another core reason behind my application, and this interest has grown through my choice of topics within my module final pieces of work. I attended both the Northwestern Undergraduate Paediatrics Conference in Newcastle and the Yorkshire Annual Paediatric Conference, which gave me better insight into the wealth of topics encompassing both emergency and paediatric medical practice and exposed me to the important role emergency department staff have to play daily in the safeguarding of vulnerable children.
Overall my experience of this degree has been enlightening and thoroughly motivating towards directing my future career choices, showing me the importance of networking in the fields of study that you are interested in, especially through the world of social media and the #FOAMed movement! The enthusiasm every tutor has is infectious and for this reason amongst many others I highly recommend this as an intercalation that any diligent medical student would not only enjoy, but excel in."
Student insight - Mazin Eragat
"Overall my experience of this degree has been enlightening and thoroughly motivating towards directing my future career choices"
