The third block in GEMP 1 is Haematology. This was definitely the most challenging block in the year for me, so this video breaks down the tracks you will cover and includes a few tips to help you through it.
As promised, here are some links to videos that helped me a lot during the block with some of the topics:
This week we had our first OSCE’s of medical school! It was a crazy experience, and the nerves definitely got the better of me in our first few stations! The second round of stations were much better and I felt more at ease and comfortable in my ability. In all there were 12 stations we had to do this year:
Respiratory exam; BP (in Zulu); Haem history; General exam; Chest X-Ray; Bioethics; Abdomen exam; ECG; Respiratory history; CVS and JVP exam; IV and fluids; and a CVS history
Now to study for the end of year exams!
POSTED: 9 November 2019
This week marked our 6th and FINAL block exams for GEMP 1! It was a relatively short block, but that only meant that we had to cram a normal block-worth of lectures into half the amount of time! To end off the year, we have our OSCE’s next week and then finally our end-of-year exams in the last week of November!
This is something that has been requested quite a bit on the YouTube channel, and so I finally sat down and did a video on how I study in medical school. Personally, I don’t feel like it’s anything special or unique – these are just the techniques that I have found work best for me at this point in my studies. I hope you enjoy the video! It is quite long as I tried to describe how my studying progresses through each block and for exams, as well as some general tips I think could help with your own studies.
On Thursday 19 September 2019 I did my first FOSCE of medical school! This is a mock exam of some of the clinical skills we’re taught throughout the year, and is used to prepare us for the end of year OSCE’s which count 35% of our year mark! We each do 3 FOSCE’s during the year.
A big thank you to my AWESOME group for all the practicing, and to Saijal, Dylan, Angela, and Azra for being a part of the video!
We are now in the 5th week of our cardiovascular block, and this is a look at another week in medical school! Special thanks to everyone in our small group for being a part of the video, and thanks to David as well!
We are fast approaching our exams for our 5th block of medicine – the cardiovascular system! As such, I’ve started studying quite a bit and thought I’d do another “Study With Me” video!
It seems like it’s been ages since I sat down and wrote an actual piece for the blog! This week marked exactly 6 months since I started medical school, and it has been one hell of a crazy ride so far! I’ve had a week off now as we have just finished our 3rd block exams, and for the first time since I received my acceptance for GEMP in January I have been sitting and thinking about how much my life has changed in the space of just 6 months.
Things move so quickly that it’s easy to forget oneself, and to forget the big picture and how things are turning out. This year has gone by so fast and yet simultaneously so tiresomely slow at times with hundreds of hours spent sitting in the library over course packs, lecture notes, and text books. It feels like those 8 years of trying to get into GEMP (and the almost 16 years of wishing to become a doctor) have been erased in the blink of an eye, and the new rate of learning to become a doctor has equally become such a natural progression in my life. And that is CRAZY! It is literally my dreams coming true with every day that passes, and that was a dream that for so long seemed like an improbability! As things stand, in 3 and a half years I will be a doctor!!
Here is a quick review of everything covered in our second block of GEMP, called Basic Concepts in Medicine and Health 2 (BCMH2)
It’s crazy to think that in a weeks time we will be finished our second block of medicine already! It has been an endless blur of lectures and countless hours spent studying in the library, and the ever-increasing workload seems never-ending – but it is everything I hoped for! I am honestly enjoying medical school more than I can say!
We write our second block exams this coming week, and then we’re gifted an entire week off! That little holiday is a beacon of light and a great motivator to use every remaining bit of energy we have now to study, and it will all be over in four days! Here’s a video of the past week spent preparing for these exams!
My South African Medical School Journey 