In this post, I will talk about the super-curricular activities I did throughout Year 12 in preparation for my UCAS application to British medical schools for the 2022-23 admissions cycle.
SEND school volunteering 🏫
Just fifteen minutes away from my secondary school was a school that specialised in students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Volunteering at this school allowed me to see how mainstream curricula were tailored to the neurodiversity of the children and how staff delivered practical and emotional support to them.
I was a student assistant for two classes in the school with different needs. My first class was a Year 1 class, and the students displayed various learning disabilities and delayed cognitive development. Seeing how receptive they were to multiple stimuli, such as colours and sounds, I noticed that sensory classwork was very effective for their learning. Some preferred to touch objects and make connections between the topic and these objects, while others preferred a sing-along relevant to the topic. After the students went home, I talked to the lead teacher, who expressed how the slow, gradual introduction of classroom rules and concepts ensured that the students had freedom to learn as they wished but also developed discipline appropriate to their knowledge level. Even though these students were behind their mainstream pears, the curriculum was designed to prevent the attainment gap from growing and to engage the students to foster a love for learning.
My second class was more physically handicapped, with most requiring wheelchairs for mobility and not communicating verbally. Despite this, the teacher and support staff provided them with various activities to help develop their motor skills alongside their reading and number skills. Every Wednesday I volunteered with this class, I accompanied a selection of students to a minibus taking us to a nearby mainstream primary school for a 'link session', where their friends in the same year would come and play with them, whether that was reading a picture book to them or sharing their toys. I enjoyed observing their interactions with these students. I also learned how to fasten the children’s wheelchairs securely to the minibus with special belts so that they were safe at all times when the teacher was driving.
Philosophy of Science and Medicine Society 💊
In Year 11, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, I wanted to start a club or society in the Sixth Form with one of my closest friends. Since we were both interested in medicine, we thought our idea would be medically related. The school had an existing medicine society, but we thought starting a separate society would show more initiative and leadership to the admissions tutors once we reached the application stage.
Despite enjoying reading about philosophy, I decided against choosing the subject as an A-Level because I didn't want to study four A-Levels. Therefore, I thought creating a society linking my love for philosophy to medicine would be a good idea. Philosophy of medicine encompasses many historical and current topics, from medical law and ethics to how biomedical research that has shaped the scientific foundations of medicine has changed over time and the strength of evidence required to overrule a theory or hypothesis. My friend agreed with me, so we launched the Philosophy of Science and Medicine Society in the first weeks of Year 12.
We ran the society together throughout Year 12, delivering presentations on five themes:
Doctors and Patients (basics of medical ethics, confidentiality, distribution of medical resources)
Issues of Life and Death (personhood, abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia)
Metaphysics of the Universe (quantum mechanics, relativity, Higgs boson, the limits of science)
Ethics at the Cellular Level (embryo research, gene therapy, genetic enhancement, eugenics, prenatal screening)
The Designed Life (providence, purpose, intelligent design, evolution)
We developed a loyal circle of members that would regularly attend the Society's sessions, and I also designed posters that would be displayed around the school to advertise the Society. Launching the Society significantly strengthened my application to be part of the school's Student Leadership Team (explained below).
EPQ 📑
I initially didn't plan to undertake an EPQ; honestly, since most of my friends were eager to start a research project, I joined them so that we could share the experience. I enrolled into the EPQ, but I was unsure that I would make it to the end; I knew that you could only finish it if you had a genuine passion for the topic you chose to research.
Once I began reading deeper into my chosen topic of food-induced anaphylaxis and its relationship to adolescent mental health, having been inspired by my own experience living with the condition, I found that there was a surprising amount of recent literature on the psychosocial effects of anaphylaxis. In recent years, there have also been several cases in the British media of teenagers dying from food-induced anaphylaxis, including Natasha Ednan-Laperouse in 2016 (from whom Natasha's Law was inspired and introduced in 2021) and Karanbir Cheema in 2017. Seeing how much material I could discuss in my 5,000-word essay gave me a lot of motivation, and I became immersed in journal articles, news stories and coroner's reports so that I could begin writing my essay with confidence.
I wrote the first draft of my essay in just two days, on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday (which I do not recommend at all), referencing over fifty sources. After meetings with my supervisor and subsequent edits, the final version of my essay was 5,500 words, and I was surprised and proud at how much work I had produced for something I initially felt could be too niche. I had to remove almost 1,500 words from the first draft!
I delivered a thirty-minute presentation on my research on the hottest day of the year in 2022 and printed all of my papers and documents to submit. I was one of the last students remaining (many students who were initially very excited to do an EPQ eventually dropped out) to give a finished research project, and I was one of the last to hand it physically to the centre coordinator. I remember feeling intimidated by the size of other students' research projects — mine was relatively small, but I trusted myself that I had made a high-quality piece of work.
And, thankfully, that turned out to be the case. I achieved an A* in the EPQ on A-Level Results Day with a mark of 46/50.
Wider reading 📖
Below is a selection of books and articles I read which I found particularly interesting:
One In Three by Adam Wishart
The Way We Die Now by Seamus O'Mahony
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line by David Nott
The Appointment by Graham Easton
'Emotional toll of being a doctor' by the British Medical Association
Student Leadership Team 🎖️
The Student Leadership Team (SLT) represents the entire student body of my school, with the selected students working together for twelve months to organise school-wide events, such as Raising & Giving Week, Movember and the Year 7 Induction Days, and select the next cohort of Prefects to support their projects. The Head Boy and Head Girl are also chosen from the students in the SLT. It is arguably the most authoritative and elite role a student can hold in my school and can stand out when included in a university application.
Given the responsibilities of the SLT, it's no surprise that so many people in the year apply to join it when applications open in the spring of Year 12. Like the EPQ, I was hesitant at first, considering I was doing many other activities at the time and knew that being part of the SLT would take a lot of time. But since my friends were willing to give it a go, I didn't think there was any harm in sending a letter of application.
I made it to Round 2 of the application process, consisting of a group interview on an unseen task similar to what the members of the SLT would need to do regularly. I displayed a good balance of teamwork and leadership during the interview, which the moderators recognised. Out of all the applicants who made it to Round 2, only half progressed to Round 3, the final stage. Many of my friends were eliminated at this point, and although I was surprised that I had reached Round 3 due to not being as initially passionate about the role as them, I was determined to put in much effort for the individual panel interview.
After several questions with the Headmaster, Director of Sixth Form and the previous Head Boy and Head Girl, the remaining applicants were called in to hear the final seven, out of an initial pool of 70, to become the next SLT. When my name was announced to be Vice-Captain of School and the Captain of Enrichment and Clubs & Societies, I was shocked.
Over the next twelve months, I worked with some amazing people as part of the SLT to deliver many events and work with the Headmaster and Director of Sixth Form to design and implement changes with the students' interests in mind. From speaking to younger years at many Monday assemblies to developing software that would allow more efficient allocation and tracking of student attendance at Clubs & Societies with the Subject Lead of Computer Science, I developed many transferable skills that I could discuss in my UCAS personal statement and medicine interviews.
University of Southampton's Medicine Taster Course and Work Experience 🩺
This four-day experience combined three days of virtual work experience and workshops at one of Southampton's leading hospitals with a one-day medicine taster course at the University of Southampton's flagship campus, Highfield.
While I found the virtual work experience interesting, particularly appointments with patients who consented to their X-ray and CT scans being shown to us, I preferred having the opportunity to personally talk to the doctors, surgeons and allied health professionals rather than being shown tours of the hospital by them. However, I was able to do this at the in-person taster course during the Easter holidays.
The speed networking with clinicians was especially engaging as doctors from many specialities, including cardiothoracic surgery, psychiatry and clinical immunology, talked about their work in the hospital and what patients they typically treat. Asking them questions about their work-life balance and training pathway and for advice to aspiring medics like me provided many insights, which I noted down.
We had guest lectures on neuroscience, including the four lobes of the brain and clinical conditions associated with their malfunction (like Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia), taking a patient's history (using acronyms like SOCRATES and ICE) and medical ethics surrounding organ transplantation and the costs of medical tests.
But what I especially found the most fun was the clinical skills workshops, where I tried techniques such as venepuncture, cannulation, CPR and measuring blood pressure for the first time. Because there were no doctors in the extended family, I had never used the equipment before; I was both nervous and excited! After pricking my finger the first time I did venepuncture, I quickly got the hang of it and confidently retrieved blood samples. The only other skill I wished was included in the workshop was suturing, as I've always wanted to have a suture pad to practise with!
Medicine summer schools 🩻
I was fortunate to have received a place in three summer schools:
Selwyn College's Residential Summer School in Medicine
This was a very competitive scheme to get into, with over 250 applications for just 25 places. Having never visited Cambridge before but travelled to Oxford several times, I was excited to explore this illustrious university and whether I would consider studying at Cambridge instead of Oxford! Although this summer school was only for two days, I learned a lot about how Cambridge's medicine degree works and made many new friends who are now studying medicine at top universities like Cambridge, Imperial and Edinburgh.
I particularly liked the practice supervision, as I thrive in small group work and having the chance to talk about all things medicine with a renowned professor and doctor felt surreal. I learned about several cardiovascular diseases like cardiac tamponade and aneurysms, and a consultant anaesthetist (a speciality I'm quite interested in) came to talk about the different ways of measuring vital signs and their mechanisms.
Selwyn College is known for having one of the biggest proportions of students from state schools out of all the Cambridge colleges, so it is great for them to run this initiative for students like me who can succeed at Cambridge but are statistically seen on paper as uncompetitive for admission. Meeting people with similar ambitions and goals created a supportive environment, and Selwyn's hall food was pretty good!
Anglia Ruskin University's 'Amplify Your Summer' Medicine Programme
This was the longest summer school (five days and four nights), and I was part of the inaugural cohort. What initially caught me off guard was the gender distribution of the students; of the 50 people accepted onto the programme, only nine were male (including me).
Nevertheless, I had many valuable experiences from this summer school. I participated in a mock MMI, including stations such as graph interpretation, motivations to study medicine, and role-play scenarios. The feedback from the interviewers was very helpful (I noted as much detail as I could), and while I shone with diagrams and explanations, I needed more work on the role-play scenarios, as I was often unsure of what the best course of action was and came across as too indecisive.
A day of work experience in Broomfield Hospital was my first in-person placement in a hospital, and to say I gained insight would be an understatement. I was allocated to the ICU, where I witnessed how emergency operations were kept safe and efficient while giving each patient the utmost care during a very difficult time. The nurses walked through the various equipment around the wards and set up an IV unit. I was able to recap some of the clinical skills I started developing from the University of Southampton's taster course.
I also worked in a small group to deliver a presentation based on the statement we had to write a mini-essay on to get into the programme:
Should smokers be banned from using the NHS?
We discussed several factors, including socioeconomic influences, the perception of self-infliction, addiction, and whether medical costs would be better directed towards patients with other conditions like cancer. Out of fourteen groups, my group came runners-up to a group led by a student whom I previously met at Selwyn College's medicine summer school, and I won a cheeky £25 Amazon voucher.
UCL's Sutton Trust Summer School in Biosciences
While not specifically focused on medicine, this summer school allowed me to hone my laboratory skills, particularly microbiological and aseptic techniques. I examined the extremophilic nature of tardigrades, having read about them in the online component of the summer school, and delivered a presentation referencing much scientific literature and results I obtained from the wet lab sessions.
There were many social activities UCL organised for us, too, as London is the best city for the nightlife. I watched The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, went on a private boat cruise along the River Thames, and had unlimited access to the common room in the intercollegiate halls shared with other London universities, such as King's and Birkbeck. While I didn't form concrete friendships in this summer school (as many of us had varying interests and career goals), I enjoyed being part of a very large cohort relative to Selwyn College and Anglia Ruskin.
GCSE Science textbook writing 📚
One of my friends, Ken Tu (@tenkyiu on TikTok), reached out to me shortly after our GCSE exams finished, asking if I was willing to help write free GCSE Science notes for low-income students to reduce the disruption caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since both of us were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, we empathised with the struggles that similar students experience regarding the availability of study and revision resources. I quickly agreed to his request, and both of us, along with a few peers in the year, worked together over the next two months during the long summer to create two textbook-length documents for GCSE Biology and Physics. Ken eventually delivered over 100 printed copies to an event in Hyde Park and distributed electronic versions to thousands of students in the UK.
During the writing process, I was excited to talk about so many of the concepts I enjoyed learning about in class, particularly in Biology (as it is my favourite subject). I included content outside of the specification where appropriate to engage the reader and allow them to shine in front of the examiners, and I consistently integrated keywords so that they wouldn't get caught by the pesky, specific mark schemes.
The following year, as Ken's TikTok channel grew significantly, we worked to complete a free GCSE Chemistry textbook along with rising 'StudyTokers' with whom Ken made friends, such as Daniyaal Anawar (@gcsepotential) and Ishaan (@revishaan). I met both creators in person at the second study event in Hyde Park.
This community experience reinforced my desire to give back to socioeconomically disadvantaged communities; after all, I'm part of it! I know many bright students who, unfortunately, don't have the connections or resources to get their name noticed in the working world, and I want them to give them an equal footing against their peers. When I applied to medical school as a first-generation student from a single-parent, low-income household, I had no personal connections with health professionals and found it extremely difficult to organise a work experience placement. I hoped this activity would show the admissions tutors that I care about increasing accessibility, which is especially relevant to healthcare and medicine!