Back at Oxford...

Hi! I've just arrived at Oxford and got my computer working (there's only one wire left that isn't plugged in to anything and it seems to be working fine without it). I'm staying in Frewin this year, which is an annexe owned by Brasenose, about 5 mins walk from the main college buildings. My room is similar to last year, with bed, desk, sink etc. but I also now have access to a kitchen so I won't have to go back to college for meals. Also, it's up 4 flights of stairs compared to only 1 last year which makes a big difference when you're trying to get everything up there! Most people are coming at the weekend but i've come a bit early to help sort things out for Fresher's week because I'm on the Fresher's commitee. Like most colleges, Brasenose has a college families scheme, so freshers are each assigned a pair of parents from the second year who show them around and answer questions during freshers week as well as cooking a meal for them. I have 3 college children starting this year - 2 medics and a physicist (because my college husband is a physicist). I'll let you know what they're like when I meet them next week!

A bit about the Oxford course...

Hello. I just thought I'd copy some of the other medblogs here and tell you a bit about the medical course at Oxford. As you probably know, it's more science-based and less clinical to start with than the courses at most other unis. In the first year a typical week includes about 10 lectures, a histology practical (looking down microscopes) , an anatomy practical (prosection - looking at already dissected bodies), a biochemistry practical and/or a physiology practical. Alongside this, tutorials are given by college tutors. Depending on the college, you might have about 1-3 tutorials per week in small groups or individually. Preparation for tutorials usually involves writing essays or presentations. Lectures tend to include clinical examples and are always relevent to becoming a doctor, and living anatomy (which involves things like using stethescopes and drawing anatomical structures onto each other) makes anatomy practicals more clinically relevent. There is also a patient and doctor course which allows you to have contact with real patients twice a term.

The second year has a similar structure but the subjects taught are neuroscience, pathology, and integrative physiology (rather than biochemistry & medical genetics, physiology & pharmacology, and organisation of the body, as in the first year). Also, more time is spent in lectures and practicals. I'll be able to tell you more about the second year once I start it in a couple of weeks! The third year is a bit different - it's called the Final Honours School (FHS) and it involves either doing a research project or extended essay on a medically-related topic of your choice. After finishing the three pre-clinical years, you have to reapply for the clinical three years. At this stage you can choose between Oxford, Cambridge and a London medical school (you may not get your first choice but you will go somewhere!).

I hope this info is useful and encourages you to look into the course further!

Hiya!

Hi! My name's Jane and I'm a medical student at Oxford. I'm about to start the second year and I'm at Brasenose College. It's still the summer holidays for me so I'm not in Oxford now and I'm not doing anything medically-related at the moment. I'll tell you a bit about what I've been doing over the summer but probably more relevent to any prospective medical students reading this is to know that I've really enjoyed the first year and I'm looking forward to my second year. Everything we've learned about has been interesting and relevent and although everybody has had to work hard I don't know of any medical students who haven't had a good year.

If you went to Medsim or the Oxbridge Session this year then you might have seen me working there. Apart from that, I've not done anything during the holidays that's specific to being a medical student, andI haven't had much work at all to do for my course. I've helped at a Guide camp and at a camp for disabled girls. I really enjoy doing activities like these and I think a lot of my medic friends at Oxford do too. Other things I've done over the summer include going to Cornwall for a week with my family and going on a snorkelling trip to Swanage over the August bank holiday weekend with my snorkelling club. This week I have gone back to my first school to help in the Year 3 classroom. So far this has involved listening to the children read, helping with their maths, putting up wall displays, and generally helping with photocopying and things like that.

I'll continue to let you know what I am doing, although I expect it will be most useful once my term starts in October and you can find out what being a medical student at Oxford is really like.

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