Hello everyone! As this is my first time blogging, I thought I’d start with the basics and just introduce myself and my background.

As you can see from my bio, my name is Oliver and I’m currently in my 4th year at Cardiff University. I study Medicine, but this year am doing an intercalated degree in Medical Education. I’m sure this is a foreign concept to most people, so I’ll explain. An intercalated degree is where you step out of Medicine for a year and enter the final year of another degree (this has to be related to Medicine). This means all the coursework, deadlines and (eek) the dissertation! Joking aside, it’s a great opportunity and so much fun so far!

I thought I’d give a little throwback to my pre-UCAS days where some of you might be at the moment. For my A Levels, I studied Maths, Chemistry and Biology (the dreaded trio). I’d wanted to study Medicine for as long as I could remember so spent a fair bit of time doing different volunteering/work experience for the personal statement. Thankfully, it all paid off and I got accepted to Cardiff!

Throughout my 4-years here at Cardiff, I’ve participated in so many different societies and activities! There are tonnes of different sports and societies which you can join at university – I tended to focus on the societies related to my course. I’ll give you a brief overview below:

• MedSoc – Medicine society, they organise so many different events, from revision sessions and welfare cafés, to Christmas and year-group balls
• First responders – through this society I get to respond to ambulance calls and stay with/treat patients until the ambulance arrives (very scary but so much fun)
• StreetDoctors – this is a national charity which teaches essential first aid to young people at risk of witnessing violence, with the aim of eradicating youth violence.

I’ve also tried to dabble in languages whilst at university. There’s a scheme called Languages for All (check out the blog about it here). This is where you get to learn languages alongside your course – for free! In my 1st year I studied French, to ensure I didn’t forget any of my AS French. In 3rd year I studied Welsh, so I can have a basic conversation with Welsh-speaking patients whilst on placement. Finally, this year I am working towards my BSL Level 1 (British Sign Language)!

So, that was an extremely brief introduction to me and my university life! If you’ve got any questions on applying to university, Medicine, societies or…well anything – please leave a comment down below!

Hello everyone! As this is my first time blogging, I thought I’d start with the basics and just introduce myself and my background.

As you can see from my bio, my name is Oliver and I’m currently in my 4th year at Cardiff University. I study Medicine, but this year am doing an intercalated degree in Medical Education. I’m sure this is a foreign concept to most people, so I’ll explain. An intercalated degree is where you step out of Medicine for a year and enter the final year of another degree (this has to be related to Medicine). This means all the coursework, deadlines and (eek) the dissertation! Joking aside, it’s a great opportunity and so much fun so far!

I thought I’d give a little throwback to my pre-UCAS days where some of you might be at the moment. For my A Levels, I studied Maths, Chemistry and Biology (the dreaded trio). I’d wanted to study Medicine for as long as I could remember so spent a fair bit of time doing different volunteering/work experience for the personal statement. Thankfully, it all paid off and I got accepted to Cardiff!

Throughout my 4-years here at Cardiff, I’ve participated in so many different societies and activities! There are tonnes of different sports and societies which you can join at university – I tended to focus on the societies related to my course. I’ll give you a brief overview below:

• MedSoc – Medicine society, they organise so many different events, from revision sessions and welfare cafés, to Christmas and year-group balls
• First responders – through this society I get to respond to ambulance calls and stay with/treat patients until the ambulance arrives (very scary but so much fun)
• StreetDoctors – this is a national charity which teaches essential first aid to young people at risk of witnessing violence, with the aim of eradicating youth violence.

I’ve also tried to dabble in languages whilst at university. There’s a scheme called Languages for All (check out the blog about it here). This is where you get to learn languages alongside your course – for free! In my 1st year I studied French, to ensure I didn’t forget any of my AS French. In 3rd year I studied Welsh, so I can have a basic conversation with Welsh-speaking patients whilst on placement. Finally, this year I am working towards my BSL Level 1 (British Sign Language)!

So, that was an extremely brief introduction to me and my university life! If you’ve got any questions on applying to university, Medicine, societies or…well anything – please leave a comment down below!