I'll be hosting a FREE webinar on June 28, 2025 at 1pm (UK time) where I'll go through an introduction to MRCP PACES, study techniques, and how to make the most of your revision. You can sign up here.

If you're interested in the course, click here to get it now!

When I first began my journey taking MRCP PACES, I remember feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content and information. This was unlike any exam I'd faced before, and I'd heard stories from my seniors about the rigours of revision; going around wards endlessly looking for patients, being grilled by consultants, missing subtle clinical signs.

I spent hours collecting information about the best resources, format of the exam, ways to study. But while revising, I encountered several major problems:

• Before starting revision, I spent hours collecting information about the best resources, format of the exam, best ways to study. I simply wanted to learn more about the exam format and what skills I would need to develop. But this information was incredibly scattered across internets and libraries.
• People tell you what to study, but no one teaches you how. I couldn't find any guides on how to actually study! Revision strategy is highly variable, and revision time can be low yield.
• It's not entirely clear WHAT you should be studying towards. There's no fixed syllabus for PACES; we know the stations but not exactly what might come up, or what is expected of us!
• I didn't know whether my study was actually working as I had no basis to measure whether I was improving, or even practicing the right skills (there is no '% questions correct' option unlike for part 1 and 2).

Studying for the exam was one of the biggest challenges of my career. Thankfully, I passed first time with a score >90%! After completing this milestone, I set out to change things for the better. I decided to create a revision course that teaches you HOW to study, and what you need to know. I wanted to have all the key bits of information in one easily accessible place, and outline the key skills needed to pass each station. This way, doctors are able to revise more effectively whilst ensuring that they know exactly what to expect.

Introducing: The Ultimate MRCP PACES Revision Strategy Guide

Working alongside Pastest and many successful candidates and examiners, I've developed an online MRCP PACES course to help other doctors through their exam. Through this course, I take you through a revision timeline that will familiarise you with the most common conditions for each station, and teach you everything you need to know to master the case including clinical signs, presentation, and Q&A. I'll give you detailed strategies that start with a specific inspection, fitting signs as you go into specific constellations to get the the diagnosis as soon as possible. I'll also give you the tools you need to maximise your chance of success - things like flashcards, mnemonic cheatsheets, clinical sign summaries, and presentation structures for key conditions.

This is everything I wish I had when I began on my journey to take MRCP PACES, and so much more. It's been rigorously tested with doctors across the UK and successfully used by resident doctors in central London. And I'm so excited to finally be able to share this with you all.

What Is Included

This course includes:

• All the information you'll need for MRCP PACES extensively researched, with explanations of the format, logistics, and revision materials. This will save you hours of precious time searching for resources on the internet and in textbooks
• A completely new approach to passing PACES. This condenses all the skills assessed in MRCP PACES  into 4 key domains, and prioritises development of skills that are actually important to passing, while minimising focus to those that aren't.
• A high-yield approach to each PACES station based on the most common conditions in each specialty. I will guide you through a unique method and way of thinking which begins the moment you step into the room, and quickly helps you to narrow down your differential diagnosis through the identification of two things: constellations of clinical signs, and case categorisation.  
• A month-by-month revision strategy guide with break down of key objectives. This will allow you to measure development of key skills, track your revision progress, and know when to utilise each resource when most effective.
• Model presentation structures for important clinical cases, so you know exactly what to say and how to say it.
• A set of flashcards for each specialty, covering key questions from common clinical cases to ensure you are well rehearsed for the Q&A viva.
• High yield cheat sheets with mnemonics, facts, and a guide to how you can use the 5-minute planning time in your exam.
• And so much more!

🚀 You can access the course and read more about it here: https://www.pastest.com/products/paces-revision-guide

Questions? Get in touch 👋 at hi@mbklee.com

You can watch the video above or read the written guide below.

With MRCP Part 1 out of the way, you're now faced with 2 remaining exams to obtain your full MRCP. These are Part 2 and PACES.

🚀 I've just released my MRCP PACES Strategy and revision guide with Pastest, which takes you through revision timelines, key skills, station-specific strategies, flashcards, and so much more! To read more, click here.

Still working on MRCP Part 1 and want to go back to the guide? Click here.

The focus of this guide is to give you the information you need about MRCP part 2. I'm a huge believer of early planning and really understanding the exam that you're signing up for, having a very early and strong revision strategy, and doing everything you can to maximise the chances of passing. I’ll discuss:

• Key logistical information you need to know about booking and taking the exam
• What exactly the exam entails in terms of content
• How you can start preparing a revision strategy for your own revision

I sat the exam in 2023 and achieved a scaled score of 681. In this guide, I'll share some tips on my revision strategy.

What is MRCP Part 2?

MRCP is an internationally recognised exam around the world, crucial in the journey to becoming an internal medicine physician.

The MRCP part 2 exam is the second of two written papers that you need to pass to become a member of the Royal College of Physicians. Unlike MRCP part 1 which comprised of questions focusing on pre-clinical scientific knowledge, MRCP part 2 assesses the clinical aspect of care including differentials, investigations and acute management decisions. Interestingly, the pass rate for part two is actually a bit higher than Part 1 - around 60 to 80% - which suggests the clinical components may be more approachable to study for.

To be able to take MRCP Part 2 you'll have had to pass Part 1. If this is something you're unfamiliar with or you simply want to learn more about what the exam is or what the revision materials and strategy is like, click here.

Exam Format and Logistics

The format of the paper is two sets of three hour papers taken on the same day. Each paper consists of 100 best of five questions. This tends to be split across a morning and afternoon session with a small gap in the middle for a lunch break.

Logistically you need to book the exam on the official website of mrcp.uk, typically at least 2 months in advance. There tends to be four sittings each year and more or less all sittings now are done online (if you're curious to know what the online exam experience is like, watch this video here).

In terms of when is best to take the exam, there’s no hard and fast rule. Statistics show that candidates have the highest rate of passing if they attempt part 2 within 36 months of graduating. The general opinion is that the best time is either right after part 1, or just before you plan to sit MRCP PACES. So in other words, paired with one of the other exams. This is because there is significant overlap in knowledge you need for either Part 1 or PACES so it’s advisable to take it at a roughly similar time, although of course not mandatory - it just saves you revision effort.

Understanding Exam Focus

What this means for revision is that a lot more of your time will be spent applying and consolidating knowledge, rather than learning and understanding new content.

Similar to Part 1, the exam covers a wide range of medical topics including cardiology, respiratory medicine, infectious disease, endocrinology and so on. It's designed to test your clinical knowledge and your ability to make safe and accurate clinical decisions. However, the key thing to know about part 2 is that it has a clinical focus which completely changes how you study for this versus MRCP Part 1. Whereas Part 1 was about ensuring you had a good theoretical basis behind disease pathology, Part 2 is about assessing your clinical judgement. This is done through scenarios that requiring judgement calls, like 'what would you do next as the medical SHO’, ensuring your decision making is safe as a medical doctor.

For example, when testing you about asthma exacerbation, a typical Part 1 question may ask you about the pathophysiology of asthma or beta agonists, while Part 2 questions would ask you what criteria you would look for to escalate to intensive care. So although there are still questions about pathology that require some further understanding and reading,  questions are now much more clinical-focused.

What this means for revision is that a lot more of your time will be spent applying and consolidating knowledge, rather than learning and understanding new content. And this is a really important point because it means your study focus is very different from Part 1 - you won’t be memorising the pathophysiology of diseases and specific molecule pathway of drugs, you’ll be thinking about how to manage these conditions when you’re the on-call doctor.

Another important point is that whereas in Part 1 questions were purely text-based, in Part 2 image and data interpretation form a core part of the exam, just like they would be in your assessment of a patient in the hospital. So make sure you are confident in interpreting things like ECGs and common imaging like X-Rays!

You probably know from your revision which specialties you are stronger at and which ones you’re weaker at, and this is vital information because identifying your weaker specialties will allow you to tailor your revision. You can use your MRCP Part 1 breakdown score will guide you on how you did in each specialty, and which ones might need a bit more of your time. Make sure you are accounting for the number of marks each specialty is worth. For example, there are far more questions in the exam cardiology than oncology, so if you are weak at both then focus on the one with more questions proportionally!

Developing Your Revision Strategy

When you develop your revision strategy, you need to think about 3 aspects:

•      What resources and tools do I plan to use?

•      How much time do I realistically have or want to spend?

•      How much work do I need to do to feel ready?

Resources

There are a number of  resources available including books, question banks, and courses. There are tons of guides out there advocating different approaches. The reality is that everyone learns slightly differently - however from my own personal study experience and speaking to tens of UK trainees, everyone does a bulk of the revision is with a question bank - which is also what I'd recommend.

Passmedicine and Pastest are undoubtedly the 2 best resources. Each have thousands of questions that are modelled from years of candidate feedback, previous questions, and core curriculum, packed with explanations for candidates to consolidate your knowledge. Without a doubt, this HAS to form a core part of your revision  if you want to pass. The knowledge bank and past papers of these online resources are invaluable for access to high quality and relevant materials.

In terms of tools, you probably already know what works for you. For example, I’m a huge advocate for Anki repetitive learning for memorisation, but some people don’t like it. Other people are visual learners and like mind maps. Some people just like doing question banks over and over again. I’d suggest sticking to what’s worked for you in part 1.

How much time do I need for revision?

The general rule is approximately 2-4 months. I’d advise first thinking about what resources you want to use, and based on resources chosen, see how much time each will take. For example, think about whether you want to do 1 or both question banks, the number of questions on your question bank, how many questions you can realistically do in a week plus any extra time to revise materials, and then estimate how much time you’ll need for this. Remember to be realistic and account for any life or family events, and study breaks. Then think about how that fits into your schedule and whether it is realistic.

Finally, what you want to do is create a revision schedule that fits with your work schedule. Divide the number of weeks you have available by the specialty allocations you've made, and number of questions you plan to do. Block off the last 2 weeks before your exam if you can afford to, allocating them for consolidation, mock papers, and final review of things like flashcards.

My personal revision strategy

Finally, if you are interested, here is my study strategy that I used to pass MRCP Part 2.

I studied over 3.5 months, with the 2 weeks prior to the exam blocked off for mock papers and consolidation, and used Passmedicine and Pastest question banks, with self-made flashcards on Anki.

I did the Passmedicine question bank once, and then moved over to Pastest where I did approximately 15 past papers, which was equated to a total of around 4000 questions answered. On top of this, I made 1650 flashcards which I went through each approximately 2-3 times at intervals.

The core of my revision revolved around Passmedicine and Pastest. I personally recommend using BOTH question banks, and here’s why:

• The phrasing of questions in both banks are different even though they are both based on exam content and previous questions. Using both ensures you remain impartial to the way questions are phrased, and are focusing on learning the key content
• They  bring slightly different points of value. Passmedicine has a comprehensive questionbank but their searchable knowledge base was extremely helpful, and I learned a lot along the way from my peers in the comments section. Pastest has a HUGE past paper section that was super helpful in consolidating my knowledge after going through the question bank once, and questions in these mocks did end up coming up in the real exam which I thought was super helpful.

All in all, Both have huge question banks and if you're looking for revision via repetition, you can do both. Otherwise, you can just do one.

As I progressed in my revision using the questionbanks, I utilised tools to consolidate my knowledge. I wrote notes for each core condition as a generalised summary that I could go back and search through whenever needed. This was useful because it created a summary of key points for each condition, allowing me to search for it quickly through digital means.

As I finished each specialty’s questions, I would then go back through these notes and highlight any key points I felt unfamiliar with. For any really important facts I needed to memorise, I turned it into a flashcard to revise with Anki.

This goes on to my next method - Anki with repetitive learning has always been a go-to resource for revision for all my exams. I won’t go into detail about phrasing and how I structure my cards, but I basically created a deck for each specialty and put important facts in. The key thing is to be doing them consistently every day - I started doing them in my second month of revision and usually did around 20-30 cards per day whenever I had time whilst commuting or before bed, before increasing the number of cards per day just before my exam.

I also made sure to complete my question bank well before the last 2 weeks as I saved this period for consolidation and mock papers. I had time to do approximately 10-15 mock papers, going back to review any topics I felt unconfident with.

At the end, my revision paid off! I was grateful to pass comfortably and attribute a huge amount of my success to proper planning and keeping a disciplined revision strategy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s definitely possible to reliably pass MRCP Part 2 with a good revision strategy, and I hope this guide has helped you take the first steps in devising your own plan for the exam. Remember that MRCP Part 2 has a much larger clinical emphasis - but because of this, it also has a much higher pass rate than MRCP Part 1.

As always, please feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions.

🚀 I've just released my MRCP PACES Strategy and revision guide with Pastest, which takes you through revision timelines, key skills, station-specific strategies, flashcards, and so much more! To read more, click here.

The MRCP PACES examination stands as a pivotal milestone for physicians aspiring to demonstrate their clinical proficiency. Developed by the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom, PACES—Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills—is a comprehensive assessment designed to evaluate candidates' clinical acumen, communication skills, and ability to navigate through the complexities of medical consultations. In the era of modern medicine where physicians have access to advanced diagnostic tools such as cross-sectional imaging and blood tests, PACES puts clinical acumen at the forefront, assessing your ability to learn and form diagnoses from examining patients.

Success in the MRCP PACES examination requires thorough revision of clinical skills, practice in simulated environments, and a strong understanding of relevant medical guidance and ethics. It is undoubtedly a challenging exam, with an approximately 50% pass rate globally, and lives up to its reputation in its rigour and difficulty. It can feel overwhelming to prepare for when you think about the wide range of conditions that each specialty system includes, and the myriad knowledge needed to satisfy the examiners' questions.

However, with diligent preparation, it is possible to maximise your chance of passing the exam.

I passed MRCP PACES in 2024 with a total score of 93.4%.  Since 2020, I've created revision guides to help thousands of candidates pass their MRCP exams, and I'm excited to continue this with the PACES exam. Through speaking to hundreds of successful candidates and going through every resource available, I've narrowed down the core skills you need to pass the exam, and designed a comprehensive guide to give prospective candidates the best chance of success. Here, I'll go into how the exam format works, and key domains you need to pass.

Exam Format

Comprised of five stations, each meticulously crafted to evaluate specific aspects of clinical competency, MRCP PACES challenges candidates to navigate a series of simulated patient encounters and clinical scenarios. The types of scenarios in the stations include:

1. Clinical Examination (Station 1,3,4): Candidates are tasked with conducting a thorough examination of a patient. There are four key stations: cardiovascular, abdominal, respiratory, and neurological examination. This station assesses candidates' ability to perform a systematic physical examination, recognise key clinical signs of relevant disorders, present a coherent summary of findings, and formulate appropriate differential diagnoses. Candidates have 6 minutes to complete their examination, followed by 4 minutes to present their key findings with a subsequent viva.

2. Communication Skills (Station 1,4): This station assesses candidates' communication abilities, ethical understanding, and professionalism. Candidates engage in role-play scenarios, demonstrating effective communication skills, empathy, and sensitivity to patients' concerns. Ethical dilemmas may also be presented, requiring candidates to navigate complex ethical issues with clarity and integrity. Common scenarios that come up here include breaking bad news, managing patient concerns, facilitating complaints, and discussing management plans. Candidates will have 10 minutes to discuss to do this, and there is no viva.

3.  Clinical Consultation (Station 2, 5): In these two stations, candidates must navigate through a presenting complaint. Candidates must integrate their clinical knowledge, examination findings, and communication skills to provide comprehensive patient care and management plans. Candidates will have 15 minutes to take a full history, complete their examination, and then discuss management options and patient concerns. This will be followed by a 5-minute viva.

The carousel for the exam is as follows:

How does PACES differ from Part 1 and 2?

Unlike the written MRCP exams, which primarily assess theoretical knowledge and assessed through multiple choice questions, MRCP PACES focuses on evaluating candidates' clinical skills, communication abilities, and holistic understanding through practical assessments. It emphasises hands-on clinical examination, history taking, communication skills, and ethical decision-making in simulated patient encounters.

How is the exam marked?

The exam is graded on seven skills:

1. Physical Examination
2. Identifying Physical Signs
3. Clinical Communication
4. Differential Diagnosis
5. Clinical Judgement
6. Managing Patients' Concerns
7. Maintaining Patient Welfare

In order to pass MRCP PACES, you must:

1.     Achieve the minimum pass mark of 126
2.     Pass each of the seven assessed clinical skills

How to revise for MRCP PACES

It can be hard to know where to start revising for MRCP PACES. It's unlike any postgraduate you've sat before, with what appears to be a broad scope.

The first thing to recognise is that just revising through multiple choice questions, textbooks, and online revision banks will not be enough. This will have worked for Part 1 and 2, but the focus of PACES is on clinical acumen and patient examination, meaning your approach needs to be different. The fundamentals of what you need to know about each condition are the same, and in fact it's likely that you already have 70-80% of the knowledge needed for the exam stored in your head. However, the focus of PACES is slightly different.

Because of how different the exam is, the study strategy you employ is critical to your success. This means planning out the resources you use, how you focus your time in and out of the hospital, and what skills you focus on developing (whilst ensuring your revision remains high-yield). The risk is that so much of what you can do isn't helpful. If you ask any previous candidate, they will tell you stories about how much time they've wasted looking for suitable patients, going onto the wards to ask teams for good examinations. Scourging through specialty team lists, just to arrive by the bedside for the patient not to be there, or to be turned away because they've had several people examine them today already. Conversely, watching videos at home can be very passive and you can spend hours without having anything sink in!

Therefore, it's important to be intentional with your time, and prepared for the time you allocate to revision.

This exam aims to assess:

• Your ability to identify and interpret clinical signs
• How you contextualise these signs to form a diagnosis
• Developing a management plan and list of relevant investigations
• Communication skills
• Understanding of ethical issues
• Patient empathy and building a rapport

Therefore, your revision should cover these 6 skills.

In terms of how long you should study, there is no hard and fast rule. Nor is there a set amount of time that you can study to definitively pass. Generally, candidates take between 2-6 months to study for the sitting. The average for UK trainees is 3 months. It also depends entirely on the time you have available to study - whether you have leave available to study, or if you are squeezing in 1-2 hours after work a few times a week.

However, I would urge you not to only measure the amount of revision you have done/are planning to do by hours as you then risk falling into the trap of falsely inflating the amount of studying you have done. Instead, measure it by the amount of clinical exposure number of patients examined.

What materials should I use for revision?

There are a wide range of revision materials dedicated towards the MRCP PACES examination, ranging from consumable resources like books and podcasts, to in-person courses. It's important to choose the ones that are most aligned to your revision style.

The core materials include:

• Textbooks
• Online video banks (e.g. Pastest)
• In-person courses
• Podcasts

Of course, nothing replaces examining real patients in hospital. This is essential to master your examination technique and becoming confident in identifying clinical signs. Remember that you will have patients with real pathologies in your exam, so it is crucial that you are exposed to a wide range of medical conditions, in addition to developing a comfortable bedside manner.

You should try to examine as many patients as possible.

Where Do I Begin?

Because of how different MRCP PACES is as an exam to Part 1 and 2, revision is much harder.

First, people tell you what to study, but no one teaches you how. Revision strategy is highly variable, and revision time can be low yield. Materials are scattered across different websites and resources, and hard to put together. When going into each examination station, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the stress and scenarios.

Second, looking for patients on the wards can be unrewarding and low-yield as many of them may be too ill, refuse, or not have good clinical signs.

Third, it's not entirely clear WHAT you should be studying towards. There's no fixed syllabus for PACES; we know the stations but not exactly what might come up, or what is expected of us!

If you feel overwhelmed, you're not alone. I, alongside so many colleagues, was left entirely stumped. It wasn't without much hardship and speaking widely to  many different people, that I finally understood the expectations and what was needed to pass.

After completing my exam, I set out to change things for the better. I decided to create a revision course that teaches you HOW to study, and what you need to know. I wanted to have all the key bits of information in one easily accessible place, and outline the key skills needed to pass each station. This way, doctors are able to revise more effectively whilst ensuring that they know exactly what to expect.

In other words, it's what I wish I could've had when I first set off on my MRCP PACES journey. And I'm so excited to be able to share this with you all.

To learn more about the course, click here.

The path to becoming a physician in the UK in a medical specialty starts with internal medicine training, a 2-3 year training programme that serves as a gateway to a large range of specialities including cardiology, oncology, and dermatology. In this training programme, doctors are exposed to a wide range of medical specialties, developing doctors with strong clinical acumen in managing acute medical emergencies.

However, over the years, entry to this training programme has become increasingly competitive. This escalating competition reflects the growing number of  physicians aspiring to do a medical specialty. In 2025, >8000 applications were received for roughly 1700 job openings, reflecting an increase of almost 30% of applications.

For early-career resident doctors, this means that simply meeting the minimum requirements is no longer sufficient.

Prior to starting IMT training, I ranked 8th in the country among 4292 applications, scoring full marks in the interview. Having been through the process myself, I know how competitive and rigorous the process is. However, with early consideration and thorough preparation, you can give yourself a good chance.

In this post, I'll share tips about the application process and how you can prepare for the most crucial stage - the interview.

The Application Process

The process of applying for an IMT job is as follows:

1. Application submission
2. Longlisting to check elibility
3. Shortlisting candidates based on scoring
4. Interview
5. Ranking and job matching

It's worth checking the recruitment page for details including key dates. Applications are normally submitted on Oriel. On the form, you will need to include personal details, employment history, as well as self-score on key domains that will be used to shortlist candidates against each other for interview.

Shortlisting

With several thousand applications every year and only 3000-4000 interview slots, the programme use a shortlisting criteria to select candidates for interview. This is an objective (if not arbitrary) assessment of your involvements relevant to a medical career and encompass various domains of governance.

The IMT criteria can be found in more detail here, but the main domains you can score points in are:

• Postgraduate degrees and qualifications
• Presentations/Posters
• Publications (with PubMed ID)
• Teaching Experience
• Training in Teaching
• Quality Improvement Projects

In 2025, from a total of 30 points, the cut-off to get an interview was 15/30.

Use this number as a way to assess your application. Aim above this as it is possible (likely, even) that this will go up as application numbers continue to increase in subsequent years. Also bear in mind that they may change how they shortlist at any point so ensure you check their specific criteria in the year you're applying.

The key is to be aware of this 1-2 years before you plan to submit your application, and start planning your involvements:

• Go through each domain and see how many points you currently score
• Identify whether this is likely enough to get an interview
• Identify domains that are low in points, AND are feasible to increase through a small or short-term project within the timeframe to applications
• Make it a priority to do such a project by reaching out incessantly to senior colleagues

One final note about this is that in the previous few years, candidates were only required to upload evidence of their achievements if they were selected through an audit process. How they select candidates for this audit is unclear. Either way, ensure that you obtain clear documentation and evidence in case this is needed.

Preparing for the Interview

Preparing for the interviews can be stressful, given how important they are in the application process and the vast quantity of scope that can be assessed.

The IMT interview consists of 3 main parts:

1. Portfolio: asking about your previous involvements and why you want to do IMT
2. Clinical scenario: a  scenario which assesses how you approach an acutely unwell patient
3. Ethical scenario: a situation that demands consideration of ethical principles.

I’ve been asked by a few people for advice around interviews, so wanted to share how I prepared and my top tips to stand out. Most of these tips are relevant to other specialties applications as well. I’m hugely indebted to the people who helped me on my journey, so I hope to support those applying in subsequent years.

So here are my key tips for standing out and being that 1%.

Plan and Research

• Planning and researching is key. Know what to expect in the interview, including the separate parts and durations per section. Know where the marks are, and where to focus your revision time. Several weeks before your interview, figure out how much work you want to do and divide that by the number of available days to keep yourself accountable. Speak to current IMTs to know what the expectation is, what typically comes up.
• Know what the expectation is. They are recruiting you to be IMT trainees - you need to demonstrate you are good enough to be one. Skim through the IMT person specification. If you’re an overseas trainee without much experience in the NHS, it’s worthwhile speaking to medical SHOs to understand their job roles.
• Find the right resources: there are loads out there. I used the ISCMedical Interview book, and Medibuddy for clinical and ethical scenarios. You don't need to do any courses as I think it’s more about presentation style and learning content, but I’d really recommend finding a study buddy (or multiple) applying on your cycle to practice regularly.
• Compile a list of every possible question that can come up. Portfolio questions are the typical ones you find in the interview book. Clinical questions are scenarios that they would expect you to have the competency to manage as an IMT1. Ethical questions are the typical ones such as in SJTs but you have to be comfortable explaining through them. I liked Medibuddy as a resource because it gave a pretty comprehensive list of clinical + ethical scenarios.

Portfolio

People love stories, so turn your journey into a convincing narrative of why you want to do internal medicine, what you’ve learned from your experiences, and why you would be a good fit.

PERFECT your 2 pre-prepared minute portfolio presentation. You already know this will be an important part of your application, there’s no excuse not to. People love stories, so turn your journey into a convincing narrative of why you want to do internal medicine, what you’ve learned from your experiences, and why you would be a good fit. Be broad and cover CAMP: Clinical, Academic, Managerial, Personal. Align it to the IMT person specification (you can namedrop certain aspects from this document as a ‘desirable quality’). Practice it, over and over, to as many different people as you can. Rewrite it, and perfect the delivery (one useful technique is recording yourself).

• The questions that typically come up are very predictable portfolio questions. It’s worth writing down an answer / key bullet points for as many as you can. You’ll need them for registrar interview preparation anyways. This includes having example scenarios prepared for the common ‘tell me about a time you demonstrated…’. questions. This includes but is not limited to: leadership, problem-solving, good communication, kindness and compassion. You can adapt the same scenario for several of these.
• When talking about experiences, have a structure and always find the reflective takeaways to link back to relevance to IMT. A good way is to phrase it is: I did 'x' which involved me doing… I learned that… I believe this experience has equipped me well for IMT because…
  

Clinical Scenario

The extra thoughtful points are what separates the top candidates - aspects of consideration that make the interviewers go ‘I would like them as my IMT1’.

• Know the basics inside out. There is no margin for error for bread and butter things like A-E (rehearse this to perfection as it comes up in >50%) and management of common conditions like pneumonia, PE, or ACS. Be well rehearsed in talking through these common scenarios.
• Have a systematic structure for how you approach scenarios. This can be something like A-E -> Investigations -> Diagnosis -> Management -> Other. I wrote out each of these subsections and made a tickbox of things so I wouldn’t forget - for example, in ‘other’ it would be things like specialty referral, explaining treatments + side effects to patient, updating family, MDT involvement (OTPT, SALT), treatment escalation planning. I then rehearsed it through my scenarios and finessed it.
• The interviewers want to know that you are safe and competent as an IMT1. However, the extra thoughtful points are what separates the top candidates - aspects of consideration that make the interviewers go ‘I would like them as my IMT1’. One helpful way to picture this is to try to think ahead of your level: what would your registrar would say in this situation? Demonstrate you are thinking about the next steps beyond the acute management.
• Examples of ways to demonstrate this: sending off comprehensive blood tests (where relevant), including things like vitamin B12+folate/bone profile,iron. If you are thinking about other differentials, mention them and say how you would test for them. For geriatrics patients, asking for a comprehensive geriatric assessment and assessing falls/osteoporosis risk. For strokes - considering nutrition, SALT, and rehabilitation. Knowing specific relevant guidelines like King’s College Liver Transplant criteria for paracetamol overdose, and scoring systems for UGI bleed. Finally, a big one if they are old/unwell: ESCALATION PLANNING (a good one because it is commonly a senior-led decision so you can demonstrate proactive thinking). Have you thought about patient wishes and updating family?
• PRACTICE HANDOVERS: it’s only 1 minute but worth valuable marks. Have a clear structure (like SBAR) but be comfortable adapting. It can be hard to remember all the key details to handover in the heat of the moment: the way I got around this was underlining important aspects of the clinical scenario as I went along the interview, and using any small pockets of time during to write out a very brief summary handover in the top right-hand corner.

Ethical Scenario

• Common sense and calm mannerism play a big role in this station, but there’s a good amount of preparation you can do too.
• There are several broad categories of scenarios that can come up - confidentiality, challenging colleague or conflict, safeguarding etc. - make sure you are familiar with them. Have a good understanding of the core issues behind each of them, and be confident in discussing in detail why it’s a problem and what you would do about it. Know when to escalate, who to escalate to.
• Get used to identifying which ‘category’ of question it is as quick as possible as this will allow you to have a mental template ready for the discussion. In your interview, you’ll have to listen to the prompt and respond without any down-time. Practice highlighting the pertinent issues immediately as the interviewer reads it out (I wrote down key points on my paper during the read-out).
• The way I structured my answers was 1) state the key issues and what area of ethics there are concerns about such as confidentiality, patient safety 2) explain why each of them are issues and any foreseeable consequences 3) Immediate actions 4) next steps, escalation 5) provide support to involved colleague/patient.
• It’s definitely worth skimming through Good Medical Practice. Ensure you reference it in your answer at least once.

Additional Points

• Unfortunately with the arbitrary marking there is very little room for error if you want your top choice job - it pays to be prepared.
• PRACTICE: Ultimately, the more practice you do, the better prepared you will be for a wider range of scenarios and questions. It’s helpful to practice with a few people - also observe how other people answer questions and absorb any good techniques.
• Try to have a systematic framework for most things you approach in the interview such as clinical and ethical scenarios, specific portfolio questions. This ensures you don’t get caught out on the day.
• On the day: Try to build a rapport with your interviewers. Remember to smile, sit forwards, seem enthusiastic and caring. Give them a reason to want to see you succeed!

Summary

Whilst a rigorous application process, it's possible to plan thoroughly and prepare for the interview in a way that gives you the best chance of success. With the increasing competition ratios, this is becoming essential, particularly if are hoping to remain in a specific region or hospital.

I hope this guide has been valuable to you in some way, and wish you all the best of luck in your applications. If this has been helpful, I'll consider releasing more articles and content on interviews and MRCP preparation so please do let me know!

Is age really the best measure of how far I’ve come today as a person?

I found myself pondering this today as I turned 25 years old.

24? He’s got a bit of time. But hear 25 and expectations creep up. Your trial period as an adult is over; welcome to the real world. And according to friends, books, and inconspicuously cited news articles, 25 is an important milestone. The twenties are the new thirties, or so they say. The body reaches its prime, and you enter your finest working years. You solidify the foundations that lead to success and happiness. Statistically speaking, you're likely to have already met your life partner.

I didn't feel any different from yesterday. Yet at the strike of a clock, a whirlwind of expectation had seemingly been thrust upon me. Suddenly, I needed to have my life in order and create stability for the future. That's a lot of pressure for someone who was just celebrating another day, wasn't it?

Looking back, my life's progression has been dictated by my age since I was young. I entered primary school at 6, university at 18, and started working in my early 20s, not because my parents thought I was ready to kick down the crib and change the world, but because it was the societal norm to do so. I grew through experiences and interactions with the world, and the only measure of this was in the count of my years. I came from an Asian household, where I was constantly reminded of the achievements of those around my age: the 13 year-old Olympian, the 15 year-old climate activist, the 18 year-old multimillionaire startup founder. Yet what was I doing with my life?

Turning 25 came with the expectations that society imposes on all of the age, regardless of who we are. Unfortunately, this ownership that our numerical years holds over us is true for others too. But I questioned its significance on a personal level. I didn’t think my age had anything to do with how far in life I’d come; in fact I thought it happened despite it. So why did I allow it to play such a large part in how I perceived myself? Could my life’s progress and goals really be represented by a simple set of digits?

To challenge the morality of age, I first had to understand what it really was.

Time and Age

Time has been measured as early as 1500 BC when the Egyptians invented sundials. The concept as we know it is originally based on the time it takes for a complete revolution of the earth (or the averages of such a revolution). Yet the division of that period into 24 hours, each hour further into 60 minutes, and each minute further into 60 seconds, are all human inventions. This circularity created days, and the seasonal changes in weather created months and years.

Age can be defined as 'the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed'. It's an objective measure of our time elapsed in this world. It creates linearity in our existence; understandable milestones of being and development. It allows for interpersonal comparisons to validate achievement, identify outliers of excellence, and pile pressure on those who fall behind. However it, too, is a human invention.

We do not see or feel time, yet it passes all the same. We cannot alter time itself. It controls our lives, setting us all on a trajectory towards death. Through its measurement, we only borrow its powers.

Humans need the quantification of age. Without it, we wouldn't be able to identify a developmental delay in a 9 month-old newborn who isn't sitting up, or the 67 year-old with Alzheimer's following years of memory problems. Our age acts as an objective gauge of ourselves that we present to the world. It helps others to quantify how far we are along our journey in life.  A year passed for them is a year passed for us. Its universal generalisability means that you can meet a complete stranger and make many assumptions simply by knowing how old they are.

You can be successful and happy, or successful and unhappy. The difference is in how you measure your progress. - The Gap and The Gain. Dan Sullivan

Age Doesn't Define Us

However, age is far too crude of a measure to quantify one's progress in life. In a world where every human has a completely unique mix of background, genes, and upbringing, no one perceives things in the same way. On a personal level, people learn at different paces, in different environments, about different things. Emotional maturity achieved by one at 20 can happen to another at 15 or 40. One's career calling isn't invalidated just because they found it 15 years later than they were supposed to.

Age quantifies our time on this planet, but it doesn't tell us anything about who we are. And how could it? How could a single numerical tally capture the many dimensions of our lives? How can it encapsulate the immeasurable emotions we feel, the tragedies we suffer, the love we share, the vast quantities of information we learn about the world every day?

Age is just a number. It rises effortlessly despite our attempts to slow it down. Elapsed time in this world doesn't mean anything. Real progress takes effort. Age does not represent our life’s progress, it simply quantifies our existence. If you do not find yourself better than you were last year, you have aged, not grown.

We are all defined by this same single metric because it's convenenient, and because there is no better representation of personal development. The issue is that if we continue using age as a marker of progress, we develop not according to our own needs and desires, but those that the world expects us to be.

We speak of age as our time in living. But in reality, age is nothing more than expectation itself. It invites us to draw comparisons with other people. This train of thought is toxic. If you live your life governed by the constant pursuit of excellence by someone else's standards, you will find yourself deeply unhappy. It's a label, and on a personal level, it shouldn't be anything more. It creates significant strain on people who feel like they need to be somewhere else, as someone else, when they have simply prioritised other aspects of their life.  

Our Metrics Should be Personal

Instead, let us set the bar for ourselves and measure progress using metrics like happiness, fulfilment, knowledge, relationships and morality. These are metrics that promote spirituality, wellbeing, and significance to the self.

This is not an exhaustive list to find life's meaning. These attributes stem from core philosophical values that have been suggested as answers to the holy grail of the question of 'what is the meaning of life'?' Your list may be different. Ask yourself: what do I want to achieve in this lifetime? What are my real higher-level goals? It may be to find happiness, to be wealthy, to be respected, to create value. Like our individual experiences, what we strive for is unique. But the point is that there is no one-size-fits-all. Our metrics should be personal to the self, rather than generalised to other people.

The ultimate goal isn't simply to age and pass through the years. It's to find meaning in your life, to feel satisfaction, to be comfortable and confident with oneself, and to form deep bonds with others. Achievement in your career and monetary wealth doesn't make you happy, yet they dictate what so many of us feel we need to strive for. And if you're not happy, what even is the point of it all?

Thus, let us not be guided by the numerical digits that quantify our presence but not our being. In this modern world that promotes autonomy, personalisation and the focus on the self, our concept of age and expectation is outdated. We need to alter our perceptions of time and progress. We should focus on our own learning and personal progression, and measure the stages of our lives through happiness, fulfilment, and contributions to humanity.

I may have turned 25, but this year I create my own milestones. Time is a given; living is not.

The last few months at work have been really tough emotionally. Covid-19 has been terrifying. At the time of writing, the UK has seen over 125000 thousand deaths. That’s 1 in 533 people.

Death is something that every healthcare professional encounters. But this year during the pandemic, I’ve seen far too much of it. I’ve seen people coming in with their lungs barely functioning. I’ve seen life support machines being switched off. I’ve performed traumatic chest compressions in young adults and elderly gentlemen alike, many of which are unsuccessful. I looked a man in the eye and told him his wife wasn’t going to make it out alive.

I deal with these emotions by pushing them aside so that they don’t interfere with my other clinical decisions. I do everything that I can to move them to the back so that my consciousness remains unclouded. Sometimes, I create mental representations of patients as diagnoses and conditions. Not to objectify them, but because it’s easier to think logically when you remove emotional fallacies. At the end of the day, I reflect, I think about how I can do better, and I move on.

On the other hand, as a human being, I know I will be scarred by many of these emotional experiences for the rest of my life.  

I know I’m not alone in this. Every single one of us is going through a difficult time in our own way. When we eventually overcome coronavirus, many of us will struggle with psychological trauma and anxiety. One battle will finish and the next will begin. We need to be helping one another, and thinking of ways as a society to overcome this.

The Psychology of Death

Much of what we do is governed by our unconscious fear of death. Avoiding it is a key survival instinct alongside gathering food, reproduction, and conserving energy. We tend to repress death because we don’t understand it, and because it goes against all the values our society strives for: youth, survival, longevity, health, and optimism. We subdue its existence by attaching stigma and taboo whenever someone brings it up. We fear because it takes away what we think belongs to us.

As a doctor, death is a difficult outcome to accept because it goes against everything we fight for. We’re trained to treat illness so people can live longer and happier lives. To fight death at all costs. The issue is that while we use medications and interventions to extend health in many, we ultimately cannot defeat it. The only thing certain in life, is death. We spend so much time focusing on extending and living life, that we neglect the dying. Death is the only eventuality in all of our lives, yet we fail to prioritise dying better or normalise the process of loss.

‘Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of it. By living our lives, we nurture death.’ - Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood)

Sometimes, death doesn’t mean failure. There are good deaths too: planned, painless, emotionally whole. People argue that if it comes a time when living creates more misery than happiness, we should be allowed to plan it. We die eventually, and it saves from the pain and misery of terminal illnesses. The counter is that no one can truly predict the course of a human life, or define its value. This is the ethical grey area of euthanasia.

As humans, we can’t help but feel pain in loss. But instead of condemning death, we should learn to embrace it as a celebration of life, and use it to live more considered lives. Through more open conversations and proper educational infrastructure, we can learn to respect the art of dying - physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.

On a more personal level, the concept of death takes several different meanings to me. It feels so much harder for me to talk about my own death compared to a patient’s. Yet by avoiding the topic, I fall victim to the same problem that plagues our society.

I fear death more than anything because I know I will never understand it. But at the very least, it’s not something that has control of me anymore. Knowing that once I die, my existence amounts to zero allows me to live freely. It drives as a motivator to make a difference in the world before its eventuality.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it!

Deciding to go to medical school is a huge decision and commitment, and the path towards getting into medical school can be even bigger. As someone who went through the process myself, I know how competitive and stressful applying for and getting into medical school can be.

For the last few years, I’ve tutored aspiring students in their medical school applications and worked on the interview panels of medical school admissions teams. I thought I’d make an article to share some of my knowledge about the application process, from starting your application to reaching the interview stage. I also want to share some tips on how to make your application stand out. Most of this article will be relevant to medical school applications in the world, but I do also mention some UK-specific information too (so check how your country differs if you’re not applying to schools in the UK!). I’ve also included a planning exercise that a lot of my students have found helpful in their processes. I hope you will too!

Let’s get started!

1. Planning

1.1 The big picture

Applying to medical school is often described as the ‘hardest part’ of your medical journey. Nowadays, competition ratios average at around 5-10 applicants per medical school spot, and this number is even higher for international applications. Lots of people apply to medical school, but getting in can be difficult! For me, applying has probably been one of the biggest challenges in my medical career so far because of how competitive admissions was and how much preparation my applications required.

When applying to medical school, keep the big picture in mind. The ultimate goal of getting into medical school is to become a doctor. Therefore, the question of:

What makes a good medical school application?

... can be translated into:

What makes a good doctor?

Start by thinking about these 3 questions:

a) Why do you want to be a doctor?
b) What attributes make a good doctor?
c) How are you demonstrating that you have the qualities to be a good doctor?

1.2 Ideal Qualities of Medical School Applicants

• Integrity, compassion, honesty - this can be difficult to demonstrate, but take care to make sure that there isn’t anything in your application that demonstrates otherwise.
• Academic excellence and intelligence - medicine is a hard profession physically, mentally, intellectually, so medical schools are looking for signs that you'll be able to handle the career such as through taking challenging classes or through extracurricular activities
• Qualities mentioned in GMC Good Medical Practice - this includes traits such as intelligence, leadership, patience, good at high pressure situations, problem solving, teamwork, good communication, proactivity
• Leadership, teamwork, communication skills, proactivity, problem solving
• Scientifically inclined - medicine is a scientific course, so being competent in science is important

Finally, medical schools want to see consistency in personality. This means demonstrating the same qualities throughout all your activities. If you say you are a compassionate person, this needs to be reflected in your choices and activities, from extracurriculars to volunteering.  

Ultimately, the picture you paint of yourself in your application needs to be a true self-reflection. It’s immediately obvious to the panel if you’ve only just thrown together a few extracurriculars in your penultimate year to scrape together a medical school application. If you choose certain activities, they want to see that you stick to it and learn to develop your skills. This is important because consistency is a big part of being a doctor. Medicine is a lifelong commitment where you’re constantly learning and developing your skills. It’s also not something you can drop just because you changed your mind.

If you’re just beginning your application, you might find the framework below useful:

1. Determine your motives: Why do you want to do medicine? - This is an important question to think about for more than just your applications. Deciding to become a doctor is a lifelong commitment, and it's certainly not an easy path. What are your motivations for wanting to do medicine? What would you do if you didn't get in? Could you see yourself doing something else? Figure out the real reason you want to go to medical school and question whether you’re willing to put in the work for the aptitude tests, exams, interviews etc. I'd suggest writing your reasons down somewhere so that you can remember it. It's also so important to remember when it comes to interviews, personal statements, and it will keep you pushing when you're studying for exams and preparing for courses
2. Analyse your attributes - Think about what your best qualities and strengths are. How have you demonstrated these traits? This will give you a good idea of what to write on your personal statement.
3. Ask yourself: What are they looking for in applicants? - Put yourself in the examiner's shoes. What do you think they're looking for? What qualities make a good doctor? The GMC Good Medical Practice is a great place to start when answering this question.
4. Ask yourself: How can I display these qualities? - What have you done to display these qualities? Where is there overlap between your good qualities and what the GMC are looking for? What else could you do to demonstrate more qualities? What qualities do you think you have that would make you a good doctor? What qualities can you build on? And then, what things can you do from now until your application that would make you seem an even better future doctor?
5. Do your research - Finally, it's important to do some research into medical schools, their statistics, and which aptitude test is needed for which schools. Which schools are the best fit for you? Location? Cost? Do you want integrated learning (e.g. clinicals from year 1) or a strict pre-clinical, clinical split? You might even consider applying only to UCAT schools so that you don’t need to take the BMAT and have one less thing to worry about. Doing your research on the different medical schools will allow you to plan your strategy and decide the set of medical schools that work best for you so that you can tailor your application towards them.

1.3 Choosing which schools to apply to

You can only apply to four medical schools through UCAS, all of which have differing requirements and preferences! Also think about if you want to apply for a fifth course. Students often use this as a backup. You might also want to write up a separate non-medical personal statement to submit to that university depending on what course you’re applying for.

1.4 A Helpful Application Planning Exercise

One of the activities I like to have my students do that works really well is to sit down and jot down a plan for all this.

In the first column column, list all the attributes that make a good doctor, like the ones I mentioned above. In the next column, match all these attributes with activities that you do that you think helps you build this attribute. For example, football can demonstrate teamwork, and volunteering can demonstrate compassion. Experiences and activities can  also demonstrate more than one thing. Finally, the last column is for the things that you can do going forwards. For attributes where you don’t have any examples, what activities can you pick up to demonstrate them? For attributes with one example already, what can you do to improve it or make it sound even better?

This is an essential activity because it allows you to plan your application and see what you’re doing well and what areas could be improved in. When it comes to writing your personal statement, this table will also really help you keep your points concise because you’ll know exactly what you are trying to demonstrate and say.

This is an example of a table that a student like you might fill out:

1.5 Activities and Extracurriculars

Extracurricular activities and events are important because they are an extension of your personality.

The medical school panel have never met you before. When reading your application, they'll make an assessment on the kind of person they think you are based on the activities you do. Of course, the personal statement and interview will guide them further, but it all starts with what's written down on the paper. As such, once you have a plan for the qualities you want to demonstrate, how the activities you do show this, and what other things you want to achieve, you want to think about how your activities reflect on you.

Personally, I did a variety of activities and was engaged with different extracurriculars. I played a lot of football, taught English at a local centre for disabled peers, and played violin and the guitar. Most importantly, I did these activities because I loved them rather than out of necessity. Find things that you enjoy doing and build on those. Don't force yourself into activities like learning a new instrument just for the sake of appearing better. That defeats the point! Do activities that you enjoy and that will show in your application. Every single activity and skill will teach you something.

There are a few categories of activities and experiences that you might think about:

Academics - Medical school can be very academically tough. Beyond that, the life of a doctor involves constant learning; exams which don't stop even after you graduate! It's important that you're able to handle your high school exams before moving on to tackle medical school. Nowadays applications are so competitive that some medical schools consider good academic results as a barrier of entry. Having said that, your academics are only a small part of your application. Universities also really value what activities or experiences you’ve had and your interview performance, so don’t feel discouraged if your grades aren’t perfect.

Extracurricular activities (ECAs) e.g. sports, music, debating - Extracurriculars are important to doctors because they allow you to develop important life skills like communication, teamwork, leadership, patience, and determination. Your ECAs show you're capable of seeing life beyond just exams, and also that you have the patience to work on a skill. ECAs can also help support having a good work-life balance, which can be really helpful after a stressful day at school or work.

Leadership opportunities - Taking on leadership positions, working with others, and showing that you can take initiative are all important characteristics of a good doctor and traits that medical schools are looking for. You might demonstrate this by people the captain of a sports team or initiating an activity or event within your community.

Volunteering - Compassion and giving back to the community is a large part of what people in medicine do. What work do you do that directly helps others?

Work experience - Try to spend some time shadowing or volunteering in a hospital, hospice, care home, or GP surgery for at least a few weeks (or as long as you can). Your work experience doesn't need to be strictly medical. Medical schools understand that not everyone has the opportunity to spend time in the hospital, but do try to find something that demonstrates you've made the effort to pursue some exposure in the medical profession. Equally as important is seeing whether you enjoyed the experience or not. If yes, then perfect, that’s a great sign given you’re applying to medical school! If not, think about whether you could see yourself working in this profession in your future, or whether there is something else that you'd rather pursue. Work experience can be a great way to help you better figure out what careers you might be interested in.

2. Application

2.1 Personal statement

The personal statement is the essay that you’ll write to summarise why you’re applying and why the medical school should accept you. For UK schools and UCAS applications, it can be a maximum of 47 lines, or 4000 characters including spaces, which works out to be around 500-550 words. You send one statement to all the medical schools, so try not to be specific to a certain medical school here.

The three big questions you want to answer are:

1. Why do you want to be a doctor?
2. How can you show that you would be a good doctor?
3. Why should medical schools accept you?

Things you might want to answer in your statement include: What have you done? What have you gained from your activities and experiences? What have you learned? What qualities do you have that will make you a better doctor?

Remember that admissions committees read hundreds of personal statements a day, so in addition to demonstrating competence in the abilities that would make you a good doctor, it’s also valuable to find ways to make yourself more memorable. You could do this through your writing style, writing about an activity that is particularly interesting, including a thoughtful reflection, or from a particular experience that had an impact on you.

Writing your statement will take some time and work. It's important to be clear and concise because you don't have many words. I reformatted and edited mine around 15 times before submitting it. I also found it really useful to have multiple friends, teachers and family members read through it. Ask someone you trust to read through your statement and ask them for suggestions!

2.2 References

As you near the end of secondary school/sixth form, hopefully you’ll have built up a good relationship with a few teachers. Think about which teachers know you best and will have the best things to say about you. You need two references from teachers, so consider which teachers will help strengthen your application with what they say about you, and ask those teachers if they will write your references early on.

2.3 Aptitude tests

The two main aptitude tests that UK medical schools use are UCAT (previously UKCAT) and BMAT. There’s lots of information and courses about the two exams online, so I won't go into too much detail about this. Do some research and  try some practice questions to see if you have a preference.

Different schools place varying importance on the tests compared to personal statements, interviews etc. Play to your strengths and see what factors schools care about the most when thinking about which schools to apply to. This is especially relevant for UCAT schools.

3. Interviews

If you made it to the interview part of applications, congratulations!

Interviews are the next part of the admissions process and are a great way for the admissions committee to see who you are and understand more about you in person. I’ll stick to the basics here because there’s so much to say about medical school admissions interviews. It’s really worth doing some preparation beforehand so that you go in as prepared as you can be.

3.1 The style of the interview

There are two main interview styles: panel interviews and multiple mini interviews (MMIs). Panel interviews are more traditional and involve you speaking with the same interviewers for a longer period of time and answering multiple questions. MMIs involve rotating through various stations during your interview, with each station having different questions or tasks. It’s important to know what style of interview the schools you’re applying for use so that you can familiarise yourself with the question format and know what to expect on the day.

3.2 What types of questions might come up?

Regardless of what school you apply to, there are lots of questions that are commonly asked during medical school interviews. Questions like why medicine, asking about your portfolio or work experience, why you want to go to this uni and not another one, solving problems, and medical ethics scenarios frequently come up during interviews, so make sure you’ve done your homework beforehand!

3.3 Know about the medical school itself

It’s important to know about the medical schools you’re applying to. Beyond just whether they use MMI or panel interviews, it’s worth doing research into unique attributes of the university and course. Think about why you chose to apply to this school in the first place. This information can also be really helpful if you’re lucky enough to have multiple offers and are deciding between schools.

Knowing specific facts about the medical school and course curriculum will go a long way in your interviews. For example, for my Bristol interview, I had a MMI station asking me about why I wanted to study at Bristol. I mentioned specific historical facts about the city, and the integrated streams of holistic care in the medical school course. I think they were impressed!

What do you like about the medical school you’re interviewing for? Think about things like the weather or the location. What is the medical school curriculum - do they use PBLs, normal tutorials, or something else? Are anatomy teachings dissection or prosection-based? What do you like about the area the medical school is based in? What can you learn about the medical school and their values through their websites? What do the schools most proud about themselves?

3.4 Do mock interviews

Lastly, practicing your responses to questions before your interview are a great way to make sure you say everything you want to on the day of your actual interview. This might look like writing some answer ideas on a piece of paper, practicing questions with a friend, or taking part in an organised mock interview. This can be especially useful for familiarising yourself with the different interview formats.

Summary

In summary, applying to medical school is a long and complex process, but it also marks an exciting milestone and potentially the start of your medical career! When decision day comes, whether you are accepted to all your schools or didn’t get into medical school, you should be proud of how much you have learned and all you have achieved.

Even if you weren’t accepted the first time round, don’t be disheartened. If you know medical school is for you, then work on making your application stronger, have faith in yourself, and try again. It’s important to build your application from the basics, which means really figuring out your motivations for applying, your qualities, and what activities or experiences you’ve had. This is the foundation of your application that you can then build up from afterwards.

I hope you’ve found some of this useful! If you had any comments or wanted to ask me anything, feel free to drop me a line. I share my daily life as a doctor on Instagram and write about it on Twitter.

Finally, make sure you’re subscribed to my website (down below) where I'll share thoughts and articles regularly about medicine, healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship!

That's it for now guys, and best of luck!

I did the online sitting of MRCP Part 1 in September 2020 as part of the first cohort to do so. It was certainly a strange experience sitting a formal exam from the comforts of my own home! Although I experienced some technical difficulties, the Royal College have worked hard to resolve any issues on the platform.

As MRCP begin moving towards more online sittings, I wanted to share my experience and create a guide for those looking to take it down the line. There are a few rules to bear in mind while setting up for the exam as well as what you need to do on exam day. Hopefully after reading this you won’t be as lost as I was!

I wrote this article based on my sitting in September 2020. At the time of writing, the disclosed information is up to date in terms of services and platforms. I would, however, advise any candidates to view official documentation sent by MRCP to confirm the correct protocol. I do not speak on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians or any organisations.

If you'd like to know more about MRCP Part 1, click here. To read how I studied for the exam and managed to get top 10% worldwide, read this!

Setting Up Before Exam Day

On exam registration day, log onto the MRCP Portal. You sign up for the online sitting on the portal in the same way as the physical sitting, but double-check the location before submitting.

You’ll need to following equipment for the exam:

1. Laptop
2. Working webcam – Built into laptop or external
3. Working microphone – Built into laptop or external
4. Phone – Used as an alternate angle camera in the exam
5. Phone and laptop charger
6. Paper and pens to make notes during the exam

Software Requirements:

1. Google Chrome – Up-to-date version
2. ‘ProctorExam Screen Sharing Extension’ Google Chrome extension
3. On Phone: ‘Proctorexam’ application (from app store)

Get comfy with using google chrome as this is the mandatory browser for the exam.

You’ll need to download a few things to allow for the exam board to moderate the sitting. On google chrome, you’ll need to install their required extension by searching ‘ProctorExam Screen Sharing’. Make sure you also have popups enabled, or you can just enable them when you get to the website on the day.

On your phone you’ll need to install the ProctorExam app which you can get from the apple app store, or play store if you’re android.

Finally, a few days before the sitting, MRCP will send you a link to do something called a system check, where they will ask you to test your microphone, your webcam, check your internet connection, and make sure your ProctorExam mobile app works. If your devices and extensions are set up correctly, this should be quick. Don’t worry if not – there will be someone you can speak to for troubleshooting.

After you do all this, you are all set up and ready to go!

Setting Up Your Room

The released exam regulations are strict about what is allowed in your room at the time of the exam. The key things you’ll need to do are:

• Removing anything that the invigilators will question on your walls or in your room, such as posters, post-it notes, cards.
• Ensure your desk is clear. Remove second desktop monitor screen, speakers.
• Ensure stable wifi connection. Connect your computer via ethernet if you can.
• Keep your phone and laptop plugged in and charging for your exam

Your phone will be used as a second camera as part of the invigilation process. It needs to be set up to have a good view of you and the space around you, around 2-3 meters away. Make sure it’s near a place you can plug in to charge.

Finally, if you have flatmates it would be worth letting them know about your exam sitting in advance. Put a sign outside your door as a reminder. The last thing you want is for your flatmate to be constructing furniture in the middle of your exam.

Exam Day

If you'd like to see my exam day experience in real time, I filmed a vlog on it which you can watch here.

Before The Exam

Exam day has finally come! Thankfully, you’ve set up your room in advance and made sure everything works. Have a stress-free morning, a nice cup of coffee and a hearty (non-heavy carbohydrate) breakfast.

On exam day, you’ll need all the things I mentioned above, as well as a form of identification. Your passport or driving licence will do just fine.

30 minutes before starting time, log onto the exam room portal via the link sent to you. You’ll be connected with a proctor. Before starting the paper, you’ll need do a series of checks:

1. Show your ID on your camera
2. Connect your phone with the exam platform. It’ll need to be set on airplane mode connected to Wifi. Make sure it’s plugged in to the charger!
3. Scanning your room with your phone: around your desk, screen, under your desk, 4 walls, ceilings

Prop your phone back on the platform 2-3 meters away from you. It’ll need to be kept on for the duration of the exam.

The  Royal College are fairly strict on candidates when it comes to what’s allowed and not during the exam. You’re not allowed:

• Mobile phone or tablet aside from one being used as camera
• Earplugs / earphones
• Clothes that cover your neck e.g. hoodies, scarves
• Second computer monitor
• Calculator
• To have a dark room – must be well lit (presumably so they can see you)
• Vaping/smoking
• To communicate with anyone outside the exam, through any means
• To look around during the exam (this one sounds ridiculous but I think they’d be sensible with what’s considered reasonable)

If you have any pets, lock them away for the duration of sitting. Remember to tell your flatmates and family not to interfere during the sitting. If possible, ask them not to use the Wifi too much.

During The Exam

With all the checks complete, the invigilator will signal for you to start the paper.

You’ll have access to two chats: one to the proctor who can aid you in any exam-related issue, and one to a technical team. There’ll be a countdown timer in the top left and a bar on the left side to scroll through question 1 to 100, while the questions sit on the right. Once you start the exam, you’ll have 3 hours to complete it and you can’t leave early even though you finish with time to spare.

Don’t forget that you can’t change tabs or switch screens during the exam. You’re allowed to use the toilet but you MUST ask for permission by messaging your proctor first. When you get back, they ask you to rescan the room and the walls to ensure nothing has been stuck on outside of the field of vision.

Finally, when you finish the exam, they’ll ask you to tear up your notes in front of the camera before closing the platform.

And just like that, the first paper is done. All over again for the second!

Thoughts on the Online Exam Experience

Never in my life would I have expected to take a major medical exam from the comforts of my own home. It was a really interesting experience. Oddly comforting doing it in my PJs. It was nice to not have to worry about logistics like food and travel. I even had time for a cold shower between papers!

I felt very self-conscious with two cameras were facing and recording me during the exam. I also felt hyperaware moving my gaze over anywhere beyond the screen, worried about being accused of cheating. In real exams, I do this all the time to relieve my eyes so I had to find new ways of coping. Towards the end of the sitting, it became less of an issue because I had to concentrate on the questions. Some might find this a disadvantage of the online sitting if they become particularly nervous about being watched.

One thing I did worry about whether I’d be able to shift into the exam mindset. I did the sitting on the desk in my room where I do practically everything from watching TV to eating meals. I find it much easier to shift into the exam mindset when I’m somewhere foreign like an exam hall. Ultimately, I didn’t need to worry as the nerves on the day ensured I was well focused. I’d recommend anyone who has the space to try and find a desk away from their usual workspace. It does just help you into the right mindset on the day.

Something that bugged me during the exam was that on moving questions, there was always a slight 1-2 second delay before the next one showed up. In total, it probably wasted around 2 minutes of my time – not significant, but something to be aware of. It’s not a dealbreaker but it just made the whole process a little more clunky. In a time-sensitive exam where every second is valuable, it certainly creates a bit of stress!

Finally, I encountered a few technical issues. Aside from the invigilator monitoring your exam who is able to respond to your questions, there is also a tech support member to speak to in real-time. Several questions did not show up correctly in my sitting, and despite my numerous attempts to speak to the invigilator and tech team, they were unable to help. MRCPUK ultimately resolved this issue appropriately. However, on the day of the exam it was incredibly stressful.

Verdict

Overall, the online MRCP Part 1 exam platform offers a good alternative to in-person sittings. Although I encountered a few technical issues, I’m certain the Royal College will have solved these issues by the next cohort. My personal preference is sitting exams in person as it helps me to get into the right mindset. There is also less risk as computer software and platforms can sometimes create unpredictable errors. However, I do believe that online exam sittings will become increasingly relevant given the pandemic, and the need to offer examinations to increasing numbers of doctors around the world.

I hope this has brought clarification on details of the online sitting of MRCP Part 1! All in all, it was certainly a different experience. Although my sitting was complicated by a few issues, I would encourage candidates to attempt the exam via the online platform.

If you have any particular questions, please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter, Instagram or Youtube.

Next: Exam Day: My Actual Exam Experience!

This is the first in a series of articles where I break down my revision strategy for MRCP Part 1. To see more, click here.

What is MRCP Part 1?

For anyone looking to pursue a career in a specialty in internal medicine, the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) examinations are an important requirement for progression. It consists of 3 examinations: Part 1, Part 2, and PACES (Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills) which must be completed before advancing to registrar level (in the UK, this is ST3/ST4).

MRCP Part 1 is the first of these examinations, and can be taken after your first year as a doctor. This is a single day, multiple choice exam assessing preclinical and clinical sciences in medical specialties. To be eligible, you must have a GMC recognised primary medical qualification and have at least 12 months postgraduate experience in medical employment. Once you have passed MRCP Part 1, you can attempt Part 2 and PACES (in either order).

The objective of the exam is to ensure an appropriate level of knowledge of physicians at the beginning of postgraduate training. Successful candidates should understand key aspects of histories, examinations and investigations that allow you to draw correlations and form differential diagnoses in clinical decision making. This understanding stems from basic preclinical sciences learned in undergraduate training, which invariably forms a large basis of the questions. MRCPUK correlate this to the expectation for core/internal medical trainees in the UK, of which the details can be found here.

In essence, anything preclinical and clinical in the specified specialties is fair game. This is why it's such a difficult exam to study for; the scope is huge. To study efficiently, you really do need to have a comprehensive plan.

Is this the right exam for me?

You should take MRCP Part 1 if you are:

1. Looking to specialise in an internal medical specialty. Specialties requiring MRCP include cardiology, neurology, geriatric medicine, gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, dermatology and many others.
2. Looking for an internationally recognised medical qualification. This may open you up to job opportunities outside your country. In some places, this may result in better salaries.
3. Considering coming to the UK to work as a doctor. MRCP qualification can be used as an alternative to PLAB.
4. A house officer/junior doctor unsure of your career path, but hoping to gain some knowledge in medicine.

You shouldn't take this exam if:

1. Your professional medical body doesn't recognise MRCP as a qualification.
2. You are planning to pursue a career outside internal medicine (e.g. in surgery, anaesthetics or emergency medicine) with certainty.

Key facts

These are the key facts you need to know about the examination:

• Exam Format: One day examination consisting of 2 papers, 3 hours each. Each paper has 100 multiple choice (best of five) questions per paper.
• Timing: All doctors in one sitting take the same paper worldwide simultaneously.
• Marking: The examination is pass/fail, with no opportunities for distinction/merit. There is NO negative marking (you will not be penalised for wrong answers).
• Content: Basic sciences and clinical information from 17 specialties. Questions per specialty varies.
• Question style: Most questions have a clinical stem. There are no images (and therefore no questions on subjective interpretation of imaging, ECGs etc.)
• Pass mark: MRCPUK do not release the raw pass mark. However, from looking at results from previous sittings I calculated it to be between 59-63%. On average, only 38% of candidates pass MRCP Part 1. Certainly a difficult exam!

The Logistics

I've summarised the key bits of logistical information here:

• Time: The exam sittings are held 3 times a year - normally around January, May and September.
• Location: Sittings are held in approved test centres. There are 167 test centres in the UK, and many others across the world. You can use this link to identify test centres internationally. In September 2020, due to pandemic restrictions an online sitting was introduced (I had the misfortune of being the guinea pig for this. You can see my experience here). The Royal College of Physicians have announced plans to continue this in further sittings.
• Registration: Applications for the exam can be made on the MRCPUK website, found here.
• Application date: Applications must be made 3 months before the sitting. The website usually specifies periods when the portal is open for registration.
• Cost: As of 2021, UK: 419 pounds. International: 594 pounds

Personal Thoughts

MRCP Part 1 is definitely challenging. This is evidenced by its low pass rate which has created its notorious reputation for being extremely difficult to pass. In many countries it's a requirement for progression in a medical specialty, meaning there's no way around it.

Anyone who has made it through medical school will be more than capable of passing this exam. However, the huge scope of preclinical and clinical content means that you do need to put in the work and time. There will be a lot of new content in each specialty that you'll need to sit down and learn. You can get around this to a degree by targeting your studying effectively, however it's not one of those you can wing in the last week and hope for the best.

The good news is that questions often follow a similar theme and assess the same topics. Through resources like online question banks, you can get a firm grip on core content. I'd definitely say Pareto's Law applies here: 20% of all the material will result in 80% of the questions. Learn basic conditions such as acute coronary syndrome, asthma, and stroke like the back of your hand. Common things are common, and they want to make sure you know it.

Overall, I do think what I learned revising for this exam has made me a better, more informed doctor. People often say the preclinical bits are pointless, but I found it just as important as the clinical parts. I've always stressed on the fundamentals when it comes to learning anything, because I'm a firm believer in learning through first order principles. In the process of forming memory, understanding is a key stage before learning and memorising information. You need to learn to crawl before you walk.  You can't understand quantum mechanics without learning the thermodynamic laws of physics.

By getting a good grasp on immunology and biochemistry, you will better understand the pathophysiology of diseases. Your knowledge will extend beyond memorisable; it will become applicable. For reference, the preclinical learning in MRCP Part 1 is MUCH less than the USMLE step 1.

If you're planning to take the exam, I'd recommend picking a sitting you'll have at least 2-4 months to revise beforehand. I'd also recommend allocating 2-3 hours of revision a day.

I hope this has been a helpful introduction to the MRCP Part 1 exam. If you'd like to know more about my  experience or the revision strategy that helped me pass the exam, read on!

Next: How I Ranked Top 10% in MRCP Part 1:  Preparation and Planning

In my first article, I introduced MRCP Part 1 and shared key bits of information to help you decide if this exam was worth taking for you. In my next, I wrote about how to plan and prepare for the exam. This time, I’ll be taking you through my actual study process: the resources I used, and how I used them.

We’ve done a lot of planning. I think it’s time to actually get some revision done!

‘When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something.’ James Clear (Atomic Habits)

Resources

The resources I used include:

• Pastest MRCP Part 1 book
• Passmedicine question bank
• Flashcards: Anki
• Mock papers: Passmedicine, OnExamination, Pastest and MRCP
• Mindmaps: Goodnotes on iPad
• Paper notebook for notes

The truth is that nowadays there are a multitude of resources to choose from for MRCP Part 1. With a finite revision period, you want to focus your efforts on the highest yield resources. I would certainly pick a reputable question bank source like Passmedicine or Pastest as it forms the bulk of your revision.

My study revision plan involved working through the specialties one at a time, revising all the subtopics within it. I would then continue revising this content periodically, while moving to the next specialty. Some people find it easier to mix the specialties altogether. See what works best for you.

To give you guys an idea what I mean, I'll take you through my learning process for a single specialty and go through the resources and tools I used and how I used them.

Pastest MRCP Part 1 Book

Define your revision scope. What are the key topics of each specialty?

I started each specialty by reading the MRCP Part 1 book by Pastest. This book is great because it lays out the topics of each specialty very clearly. I used it to map out my revision topics and look through the subsections of each specialty. I then went through each subsection to get a rough idea of the amount of content, determine familiarity with material, and identify new concepts I’d need to spend more time on.

The writing style is clear and concise. It’s designed to have only essential concepts so you can be confident that its relevant content to the exam. However, bear in mind that reading is a limited form of learning. It’s very easy to switch off or trick yourself into thinking that you’re retaining information. I made that mistake a lot throughout medical school.

Therefore, I limited my use to just initial material exposure. Most of my time was spent glancing through with a highlighter, copying key points out for future reference. Overall, it was a valuable addition to my revision that I found myself coming back to for concept clarification.

The book can be purchased on Amazon here.

Question Bank

The question bank is by far the single most important resource you will use for MRCP Part 1, no matter what kind of learner you are. If you are short on time, do question banks. If you aren't short on time, do question banks!

They’re the most effective resource for several reasons:

1. Questions and format are entirely relevant to the exam. Majority are based off previous questions
2. Detailed explanations on key concepts and conditions to improve understanding
3. Built in progress trackers to guide your revision
4. Signpost to good resources which saves you valuable time including relevant NICE guidelines and helpful videos.
5. Information is kept up to date and in line with guideline changes
6. There are so many questions (usually 3000-4000) which means repeated testing and application - you'll be familiar by the end!

Question banks are incredible because they cover every single learning stage you need to memorise things. You see a concept, you read around it to understand it, you recall the information intermittently to remember it, then you apply it to answer questions. It allows you to learn your content through both RECALL and RECOGNITION (which are two separate memory formation pathways) so it’s a double win!

If you were curious to find out more about how your brain forms memory, have a look at this.

There are quite a few excellent ones out there including Passmedicine, Pastest, Onexamination and the Royal college. I chose Passmedicine because of recommendations of an excellent bank of information for each disease, topic and concept. I found their detailed explanations of everything from drugs to diseases super informative, precise and relevant to my revision. They also have subscriptions to various resources like Osmosis which are really useful for understanding difficult concepts. For the price they charge it provides IMMENSE value so I would 100% recommend this to anyone doing the exam.

Putting Things Together

In my revision plan, I completed all the questions in that relevant specialty and read up on conditions as I went along. I made general notes of topics to revise further by copying text from the explanations into a word document to revise later. I then wrote my own summarised notes on my iPad. This had 2 benefits:

• By limiting myself to 3 pages per specialty, I was forced to break down concepts into key bits to only include vital information. It helped me understand from the basics and learn in the process. First order principles.
• I had a set of good notes to revise later on that were clear and concise. This helped a lot in the last 2 weeks when your head is drowning in information!

Moving on, I created flashcards for facts I needed to memorise. I also created mindmaps of topics I was unfamiliar with to join concepts in my head. Mindmaps are effective because it mimics ‘procedural learning’. repetition of step-by-step learning until it becomes natural. It’s how our brain lays down memory. Think about it; no thought is ever made in isolation. It becomes easier to make new memory when you join it with old ones.

These processes helped me extract important information into the condensed format of notes, drawings and flashcards that I could revise and consolidate repeatedly. I scheduled to review my notes in 5 days, then 10 days which were the limitations of my retention. I reviewed my flashcards using Anki, a flashcard app with pre-programmed intervals for effective retention. I continued on with these flashcards as I moved on to the next specialty.

Final Few Weeks

I did the above process for all 17 specialties and finished with 2 weeks before the exam date. My total percentage on Passmedicine ended up being around 64.5%.

It was time to put everything together, tying loose ends in my knowledge and practicing more questions. The 3 main things I did at this late stage was:

• Revising my summarised notes
• Doing Mock papers – Pastest, OnExamination, Passmedicine, MRCP
• Revised flashcards daily (by this point I’d accumulated over two thousand flashcards, that were all being repeated at intervals)

I was strict on time allocation and held myself accountable to completing tasks through my spreadsheet. I continued my full time job throughout this process and scheduled revision blocks around my timetable. For example I scheduled mock papers on weekends where I could guarantee 3 uninterrupted hours, while I saved flashcards and going through notes for work days.

In total, I did 4500 questions, 11 mocks, made 2327 flashcards, and went into the exam feeling fairly confident. I sat the exam online in the comfort of my own home and despite some technical issues, it turned out OK in the end! I vlogged my exam day experience which you can watch here.

Final Thoughts

As evidenced by its notoriously low pass rates, MRCP Part 1 isn’t an easy exam. There’s a seemingly indefinite scope of information to learn. However, with good planning and the right strategy, you can maximise your chances of passing.

The final thing I want to say is that you shouldn’t obsess about learning for the sake of passing. Exams exist only to standardise quality among doctors, however the bigger picture is that we should all be learning as much as we can treat patients better. I approached exam revision with the intention to learn content not just to pass the exam, but to make me a more informed doctor. I do think that I’ve been able to apply a lot of the information I’ve learned into real clinical practice! It was a challenging but rewarding experience.

I hope this has been insightful for some of you, and please let me know if you have any feedback!

Next:  Online MRCP Part 1: Everything you need to know

In this article, I talk about how I devised my strategy for tackling the exam, and the key learning points I found in the process.

To find out more about MRCP Part 1, click here.

What is MRCP?

The Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) examinations are a set of three exams for certification of the Royal College of Physicians. This is an essential part of progressing as a doctor in a medical specialty in many countries including the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and Pakistan.

I took MRCP Part 1 – the first of the three examinations - in 2020 and received a scaled score of 732/1000, ranking me in the top 10% of candidates worldwide. It was certainly a rewarding experience albeit a challenging one.

I did a lot of research before deciding to take the exam and frustratingly couldn’t find a good source of information in how to prepare for it. Most of my insight came from word of mouth. I thought to myself: If I was struggling to find the key information, surely others would be too?

I think it’s important that candidates know what they’re getting into when they begin their preparation. In the vast world of medicine, we all have the same objective: improving the way we treat patients and help others. We should all be trying to help one another achieve our goals. I wanted to create something that future candidates could refer to, in a format that I wish I’d been able to learn from before studying for the exam.

I created a video to share my study process. I wanted to break it down into even more detail including how I devised a thorough strategy in preparing for the exam and managed my time and resources. Hence, this series of articles on MRCP on my website!

I’ll share my insight in 3 sections:

1. Preparation and Planning
2. The Study Process
3. The Online MRCP Part 1 Process

I like to be strategic in my exam preparation and thoroughly research anything I do to save myself time. I carefully selected my resources and study method to optimise memory retention. These were the approaches that worked for me, but your preferences may be different. Everyone studies slightly differently which is completely fine! I hope these articles will at least serve as a framework for those who are looking for some study guidance.

As always, feel free to let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you!

Overall Study Duration

In total, I revised for a rough total of 3 months, 2-4 hours a day on average. I did this while working full time as a foundation doctor in the UK.

I answered ~4500 questions on questionbanks which comprised of:

• 3500 questions
• 800 mock paper questions
• 300 questions that I redid as I’d gotten them wrong

I also supplemented my learning with self-made flashcards which I reviewed daily.

Looking on other forums, it appears the average study duration of candidates is around 2-4 months. I only completed my question bank once (Passmedicine) because I integrated it with other techniques and resources, but I’ve noted that several candidates completed multiple question banks with varying degrees of success.

Realistically, I could’ve slashed 25% of my total revision time and have still felt able to pass. It’s definitely doable in much less time. Despite this, I worked by the philosophy ‘better safe than sorry’. I simply asked myself: ‘What would I regret more? Overworking or failing?’ The answer was easy.

The Importance of Planning

I can’t stress how important planning is for an exam like this. Studying for MRCP Part 1 is a HUGE commitment of your next few months, and a lot of your free time. Many of you will be working full time in medical employment alongside your revision. You need to understand the task at hand, your personal situation and motivations, and the most efficient ways to study.

If you don’t go in with a game plan, you’ll drown.

“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” - Albert Einstein

Doing your Due Diligence

Doing research is undoubtedly as important as the studying process itself. Understanding the exam requirements, format and syllabus lets you tailor the most relevant approach to revision. After all, if you don’t know what the question is, how do you come up with an answer?

I comprehensively researched the exam to understand the task that i was getting into. The key sources and resources I obtained my information from included:

• MRCPUK Official website
• MRCP official exam reports, statistics
• Word of mouth: Colleagues and seniors
• Youtube videos
• Forums: Studentroom, Reddit

These are the key points of MRCP Part 1 which I also highlighted in my last article:

• Exam Format: One day examination consisting of 2 papers, 3 hours each. Each paper has 100 multiple choice (best of five) questions per paper.
• Timing: All doctors in one sitting take the same paper worldwide simultaneously.
• Marking: The examination is pass/fail, with no opportunities for distinction/merit. There is NO negative marking (you will not be penalised for wrong answers).
• Content: Basic sciences and clinical information from 17 specialties. Questions per specialty varies.
• Question style: Most questions have a clinical stem. There are no images (and therefore no questions on subjective interpretation of imaging, ECGs etc.)

From statistical reports, I also found that:

• Candidates tend to do better if they take it sooner after medical school
• The more attempts, the lower the overall proportion of successful candidates. Better to pass it first time around!
• The scaled pass mark was 540/1000
• Opthalmology was consistently the worst performing specialty among all candidates

MRCPUK do not release the raw pass mark for papers. However, from looking at results from previous sittings I calculated it to be between 59-63%. On average, only 40% of candidates pass MRCP Part 1. Certainly a difficult exam!

The allocation of questions varied per specialty:

Learning from other people’s experiences, I found that:

• Average study durations varied from 2-4 months. The most extreme cases were 1 month (I deduced that it was therefore doable, but not ideal)
• Every single person used a question bank as the main source of revision, with the number of questions done by successful candidates ranging from 3500 to 10000
• A study partner was not necessary for Part 1 as much of the work was self-revision and memorisation
• Preclinical sciences were the biggest source of misery. Many people required supplementary resources for revision of immunology and biochemistry.

Determining Your Motivations

Revising for the exam is a huge commitment. Before signing up, it’s important to understand several things: why the exam is necessary, whether it’s logistically feasible, and your motivation for working hard to pass.

I asked myself a few questions:

• Reason: Will this exam help me get to where I want to be in my career?
• Cost: Can I afford the application fee at this point in time?
• Time: Am I willing to dedicate 2-3 hours a day to study in the next few months?
• Result: What are the consequences of failing?

For me, I was hoping to pursue a career in cardiology so MRCP qualification was essential. I was lucky to be in a financially stable position and going onto a less busy rotational job so could commit time to studying. Although the consequences of failing weren’t huge because I didn’t have any urgent application deadlines, I hated the thought of failing. I’d managed to get through medical school without failing any exams and knew I’d work hard to keep my record intact (many of us as doctors have huge egos – it works for and against us at times!).

If you’re looking to take the exam, I’d recommend doing something similar as it’s important to establish 1) Whether you really need to take the exam, and 2) If your circumstances will allow you to take it.  It may be that you find now isn’t a great time, or you have outstanding personal commitments. That’s complete fine! You can always take it several months later when you’re in a better position to study to give yourself a higher chance of success.

By considering the consequences of failing, you learn to value your efforts now. This will establish your motivational driver for your revision process.

Doing well on an exam is 90% about the mindset, and 10% about the execution.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

Equally as important to the planning process is awareness of yourself and your abilities. This allows you to dedicate revision time according to your strengths and weaknesses. How did you perform in medical school? How confident are you in your preclinical foundations of immunology, biochemistry, physiology, and pathology?

Let’s take a chapter out of the entrepreneurial book to do this by performing a SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). This technique is normally used to assess business opportunities, but the principles apply in our situation.

• Strengths: Themes that you are familiar with. Conditions that give you a favourable environment for productive revision.
• Weaknesses: Less confident specialties or areas that you will likely need to spend more time on.
• Opportunities: Logistical changes that would make your revision smoother e.g. hiring childcare over the weekend so you can focus on studying, or allocating every Saturday morning as quiet time for revision
• Threats: things that would subtract from your revision process. In this context, it includes things like a busy work schedule, holidays and family events.

I identified my weak specialties that I would need to brush up on such as haematology and ophthalmology, and also went through the subsections of each specialty to determine the amount of work I'd need to do for each one.

Planning a Study Strategy

You’ve heard me say it several times already. Planning is essential! I was working full time while maintaining other commitments, so it was important that I had a time-efficient and structured approach to revision.

The 2 things in particular I determined were my study METHOD, and SCHEDULE.

Study Method

My study strategy was based off 5 key principles of learning:

1. Exposure
2. Understanding
3. Learning
4. Spaced Repetition
5. Application

In my opinion, how you facilitate your learning is equally as important as the content that you are learning. Understanding the flow of information has been key to my medical career. What I mean by that understanding the WAY you learn: taking a fact or concept, breaking it down into comprehendible information, learning it and practicing it repeatedly to instil it into your memory.

Having a strategy to achieve this lets you learn maximal content, most effectively, in less amount of time. I won't go into too much detail about this, but if you’re interested in understanding your learning you can find out more here.

I chose my resources and sequenced my study process based on these 5 steps.

Study Schedule

I created a study schedule for several reasons:

1. To keep track of my progress
2. To maintain consistency
3. To hold myself accountable to tasks I was setting myself

Subtracting 2 weeks for final revision to do mock papers, I allocated the remaining time from my 3 months to revising specialties. My study time per specialty was proportional to its number of questions. Larger specialties worth more marks like cardiology and respiratory medicine were allocated more revision time than smaller specialties like ophthalmology.

I created a spreadsheet with the specialties, number of questions and details about my studying. I then created sub-sheets for each specialty and listed key topics to ensure I would comprehensively track progress.

Having a central point of organisation kept me helped me stay on top of revision throughout. It was also satisfying to tick off boxes as I went along!

With all the planning in mind, I moved on to my revision process.

In the next section, I’ll take you through my resources and how I used them to pass MRCP Part 1.

Next: My Revision Strategy and Resources

Hey All,

I hope you've all been well! I write this as I've been recovering after finishing a set of nightshifts this week. My sleep patterns are always slightly whack after adjusting my rhythm, not unlike a hangover.

As a junior doctor, one of the most exciting things about working in A&E is that you never know what will walk through the door. Over the course of the week, I saw a variety of conditions ranging from heart attacks, to traumatic injuries and psychotic depression. There were lots of drunk people. Many people with non-specific symptoms who probably would've been safer at home.

One thing I am grateful for is far fewer Covid-19 cases. The UK's R rate (number of people infected from a single person) has finally dropped below 1, meaning incidence should continue decreasing. As the world looks to take steps towards reopening communities, it's important to stay vigilent and look after each other.

Innovation in Medicine

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the role of innovation in medicine. Anyone who's spoken to me recently will know that I work a lot with 3D printing. I recently joined the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, an incredible NHS initiative that allows mentees to turn their ideas into reality through guidance and teaching of management. I'm really excited to see where I can take my vision of 3D printing, and my passion in medical technologies.

I can't help but feel that there is a certain stigma around the word 'entrepreneurship' in the medical field. People associate it with connotations of money-chasing. Leaving medicine for the fame; the alleged 'Silicon Valley life'. For being a sellout. If you're pursuing something outside of medicine, it means you're not dedicating 100% to your career. And that makes you a 'bad doctor'.

I think being an entrepreneur is so much more than that. It's a mindset that helps you think beyond the world you live in. It's about contrarian thinking: being willing to question and conceive ideas in great uncertainty. Finding a problem in today's society, and thinking it deserves better. Having the guts to stick with an idea and turn it into a tangible change in the world. In many cases, profitability does provide incentive, but it also provides sustainability to the business idea.

Derek Siver's book Anything You Want really changed my perspective on this. The novelty of taking an idea and building it into something that provides intrinsic value for others. It also has one of my favourite quotes that I keep wherever I go:

Never forget why you're doing what you're doing. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn't that enough?

In medicine, innovation is undoubtedly necessary. Without the previous generation thinking outside the box, we wouldn't have things like gene targeting therapy, cancer treatments, or new drugs. As healthcare faces increasing burdens of population and cost, it needs new ideas to evolve. New technologies can directly improve human lives and mortality, and that is all the incentive that we should need.

I wonder why this mindset isn't more relevant in medical school. Not even the business-oriented side, but the ambitions of promoting and pursuing your ideas. Why, instead of pursuing innovation and creativity in medicine, are we encouraged to simply 'be good enough'? When the benchmark is simply passing exams, it's easy to fall into a sense of complacency. This extends beyond medical school as well. We have been spoiled by the fact that progression is inevitable in our careers, provided we tick the right boxes. The mindset that if we do the time, progression will take care of itself.

Is it because medicine as a career is tough enough in itself? Have we been conditioned to follow paths rather than create them? Medical students are some of the brightest students in the world, and it feels like a real waste.

Many more words to say about this, and I think I'll write a separate article down the line. Watch this space.

Favourites

I recently read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, essential reading when it comes to the entrepreneurial and startup space. It details the Lean Methodology which allows companies to find what the customer really wants, as quickly as possible based on tangible metrics. As someone new to the business sphere, this was a really enlightening read. You can find the book on Amazon below, and I'll also share my book summary on my blog in the near future.

The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses : Ries, Eric: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses : Ries, Eric: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Eric Ries

What I'm listening to

I'm a huge fan of Lofi when it comes to studying and chilling. So much so that 4/5 of my Spotify artists were from my Lofi hiphop playlist. I've been enjoying some nostalgia in my latest listen, Poke and chill which is a redone version of many Pokemon soundtracks into laid back lofi versions.

Poké & Chill

Support the album ~ http://smarturl.it/pokechillPoké & Chill is a 16 track Pokémon remix album, with faithful lofi hip hop renditions of music from Nintendo’...

YouTube

As always, let me know if you have any comments or thoughts about anything. That's all for this week though. Stay safe and stay happy!

Matt

Hey there,

I hope this finds you well, and you've been staying healthy in these difficult times!

February marks the 1 year anniversary that Covid-19 announced itself to the UK. And honestly, who could have possibly predicted a year like 2020.

After getting Covid-19 myself last month, my symptoms have thankfully mostly resolved. bar an occasional tingling on my tongue that makes food taste bland. I've been thrusted back into the relentless long hours and busy shifts in the hospital. Work has been hectic but thankfully, cases are starting to fall. Our hospital trust now has roughly 50% of Covid admissions compared to the (second) peak a few weeks ago. The UK is making progress in its vaccination programme.

Things are looking increasingly positive, but we shouldn't get complacent. We cannot afford to be tricked into a false sense of security like the first lockdown when the country reopened, resulting in an exponential increase in cases. This is a crucial turning point in the battle, and it's so essential that we all stay patient. The decision to continue restrictions is a difficult but necessary one, at least until vaccine programmes progress.

Until then: Hang tight, stay safe, believe, and look after each other.

Coping with Death

The last few months at work have been really tough emotionally. Covid-19 has been terrifying. At the time of writing, the UK has seen over 120 thousand deaths. That's 1 in 550 people.

Death is something that every healthcare professional encounters. But this year during the pandemic, I've seen far too much of it. I've seen people coming in with their lungs barely functioning. I've seen life support machines being switched off. I've performed traumatic chest compressions in young adults and elderly gentlemen alike, many of which are unsuccessful. I looked a man in the eye and told him his wife wasn't going to make it out alive.

I deal with these emotions by pushing them aside so that they don't interfere with my other clinical decisions. I do everything that I can to move them to the back so that my consciousness remains unclouded. Sometimes, I create mental representations of patients as diagnoses and conditions. Not to objectify them, but because it's easier to think logically when you remove emotional fallacies. At the end of the day, I reflect, I think about how I can do better, and I move on.

On the other hand, as a human being, I know I will be scarred by many of these emotional experiences for the rest of my life.

I know I'm not alone in this. Every single one of us is going through a difficult time in our own way. When we eventually overcome coronavirus, many of us will struggle with psychological trauma and anxiety. One battle will finish and the next will begin. We need to be helping one another, and thinking of ways as a society to overcome this.

The Psychology of Death

Much of what we do is governed by our unconscious fear of death. Avoiding it is a key survival instinct alongside gathering food, reproduction, and conserving energy. We tend to repress death because we don't understand it, and because it goes against all the values our society strives for: youth, survival, longevity, health, and optimism. We subdue its existence by attaching stigma and taboo whenever someone brings it up. We fear because it takes away what we think belongs to us.

As a doctor, death is a difficult outcome to accept because it goes against everything we fight for. We're trained to treat illness so people can live longer and happier lives. To fight death at all costs. The issue is that while we use medications and interventions to extend health in many, we ultimately cannot defeat it. The only thing certain in life, is death. We spend so much time focusing on extending and living life, that we neglect the dying. Death is the only eventuality in all of our lives, yet we fail to prioritise dying better or normalise the process of loss.

Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of it. By living our lives, we nurture death. - Haruki Murakami in Norwegian Wood.

Sometimes, death doesn't mean failure. There are good deaths too: planned, painless, emotionally whole. People argue that if it comes a time when living creates more misery than happiness, we should be allowed to plan it. We die eventually, and it saves from the pain and misery of terminal illnesses. The counter is that no one can truly predict the course of a human life, or define its value. This is the ethical grey area of euthanasia.

As humans, we can't help but feel pain in loss. But instead of condemning death, we should learn to embrace it as a celebration of life, and use it to live more considered lives. Through more open conversations and proper educational infrastructure, we can learn to respect the art of dying - physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.

On a more personal level, the concept of death takes several different meanings to me. It feels so much harder for me to talk about my own death compared to a patient's. Yet by avoiding the topic, I fall victim to the same problem that plagues our society.

I fear death more than anything because I know I will never understand it. But at the very least, it's not something that has control of me anymore. Knowing that once I die, my existence amounts to zero allows me to live freely. It drives as a motivator to make a difference in the world before its eventuality.

I hope this has been insightful. I'd love to know what you think. Feel free to reply to this email or connect with me on Twitter or Instagram.

Speak soon,

Matt

Dear all,

I'm super excited to be starting my personal newsletter to share my experiences and insight into medicine as a doctor!

Every week, I spend time reflecting on my experiences in medicine, and what I've learned from the books, podcasts, and people I've encountered. My work in the hospital is a myriad of difficult emotions, heartwarming experiences, and learning. Outside of it, I'm constantly working on myself as a person, building up skills and knowledge that will allow me to contribute more meaningfully to society.

I've been inspired by how much I learn from others when they share their ideas, and I wanted to do the same in my own way. I hope it reveals the realities of working as a doctor, and allows others to learn from my experiences. I'll talk about experiences in medicine, insight into medical technologies (a huge passion of mine), and share tips and resources that have had a positive impact on my life. I promise to be 100% truthful in sharing the highest highs and lowest lows in my journey.

I'm super excited for you to be a part of this. It's very much a two-way street and I hope to learn a few bits from you too!

What I hope to achieve.

• Share real experiences and insights as a doctor, particularly during the pandemic.‎‍
• Talk about exciting healthcare innovations such as machine learning and 3D printing. It's one of my passions!
• Break the stigma around being vulnerable in medicine by talking freely about my emotions and mental wellbeing. It's equally important to acknowledge happiness, as it is to normalise weakness.
• Sharing insightful resources, books, and quotes that have had a positive impact on my life.
• Hopefully hearing from a few of you along the way and making a few friends 😊

Why do I like writing?

Did you know that your mind goes through 60,000 different thoughts in a single day?

Despite this, our minds only has the capacity to process one thought at a time.

When your head goes through too many thoughts, it forgets many of them. Do you remember all 60,000? I certainly don't. I wish I did, because then I'm sure I'd have a ton more ideas on how I can change the world for the better.

For me, writing is a way of jotting some of those thoughts down. It's a form of reflection. It's therapeutic and lets me declutter my head to make room for new thoughts. I rest easier knowing that I'm not going to wake up the next morning and forget it, because it'll be right there on my screen for me to work on!

With the birth of my website and newsletter, writing takes on a new meaning for me because I get to share the things I write. I hope I don't bore anyone to sleep (although I guess that would still make for good bedtime reading)!

Inspiration

If I come across anything during the week that has really resonated with me, I'll share them here!

My favourite quote

“Happiness is the state when nothing is missing. When nothing is missing, your mind shuts down and stops running into the past or future to regret something or to plan something.” - Naval Ravikant

What I'm reading

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tvosky. Such an incredible book breaking our mind down into two simple systems, each with their individual flaws. Although it's not a light read, I'd 100% recommend it for anyone looking to understand behavioural psychology! It's even changed the way I structure my medical differentials. You can pick it up here.

Video of the week

I've unfortunately been struck down with Covid-19 and took some time to share my thoughts, and why it felt inevitable working in the hospital.

That's all for this week folks. I have lots of things I want to share with you all but if had any ideas or comments, please feel free to let me know!

Connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. Hoping to hear from some of you guys!

I recently posted about some protests outside my hospital which was deservedly met with public outrage. The video hit 4.9 million views. That's a lot more people than I can imagine.

It was incredible to see my videos and messages being distributed across the world, from media outlets like BBC News, ITV and The Guardian to social media-based platforms like Ladbible. I'm glad people are speaking about it and are equally as angry as I was that night. A lot of good conversation has happened because of it.

I've since had some time to reflect on things and see how I want to build on it. Unfortunately I've been fairly limited in my media opportunities, so I never got a chance to tell the world about the actual events that night. So here it is.

I want to shed some light on what really happened that evening, and share my thoughts.

All opinions expressed are of my own and not those of affiliated hospitals or organisations.

11.30pm, December 31st 2020

I walked out of my hospital in central London after finishing a late shift. It was a tiring one but I'd seen quite a few sick patients, and left with a satisfaction that I'd done some good. It was a New Year's Eve unlike any other. The fireworks I'd been looking so forward to seeing had been cancelled this year, and the country had been thrown into yet another lockdown to control the Covid-19 pandemic. Although there weren't to be public celebrations this year (or so I thought), I was looking forward to going home to count down with my flatmates, and starting 2021 in a really positive way.

As I made my way to the entrance of what I anticipated would be an empty Westminster Bridge, I noticed a lot of noise. There was a large group of people walking across the bridge in my direction. The first thing I noticed was how loud they were, chanting things like "Covid is a hoax" and "They can't take our freedom away". The second thing was that none of them had masks. There were at least 50-100 of them there. They made their way outside the hospital gates where they continued their shouting.

I was so angry, but in that moment it felt like I was the only one; everyone else was laughing, shouting, chanting, dancing, drunk. I spoke out at a few to tell them they shouldn't be there, but was quickly laughed away. I spoke to a couple of uniformed police officers and was told to "not get involved". They were numerically overwhelmed and sensibly trying to disperse the crowds peacefully, although without great success.

I stared in disbelief as more people poured in from other directions. I took a few videos to share my anger with family and friends, and made a mental note to bring this up with my colleagues when I saw them tomorrow. My presence and voice clearly weren't making a difference, so I left.

The police had barricaded the entrance to Westminster Bridge but after telling them I was just trying to get home from work, was allowed over. I walked over the bridge and was met with a lot more bustle. Not protesters, but individuals who'd just come out to enjoy New Year's Eve. I guess they didn't get the memo about the pandemic.

Come on, people. We are in the midst of a global health crisis. I was heartbroken. How could people still be so ignorantly doing this? Why couldn't they respect the death and sickness that happened in hospitals? Not only were they compromising the safety and health of themselves, but they were also compromising that of those around them.

Real people are dying. Tomorrow, it could you, or someone that you know.

I frustratedly shared my thoughts on Twitter, before heading home. Because of all the commotion, I never made it home on time. I spent the strike of New Year's on the Jubilee line. In one year, out the next.

January 1st, 2020

I didn't think too much about it as I went to work the next day. I worked the 2-11pm shift on January 1st, and my head was preoccupied with a few sick patients that had come into the department.

A few hours into my shift, a friend tapped me on the shoulder. "I saw your tweet!" This startled me into a mental flashback, as I tried to recall when I'd shared my Twitter profile with my colleagues. I hadn't, her friend had seen it and shown her. Another hour or so later, another colleague came up to me and exclaimed, "Matt, Piers Morgan has just retweeted you!" I couldn't understand how it had blown up so quickly. It appeared quite a few others had seen the tweet too - I had people constantly messaging me throughout the day. Colleagues I'd worked with recently, old friends I'd not seen few years.

I also remember feeling extremely anxious and being unable to comprehend the situation. At the same time that this was going on, I saw a gentleman who had come in with chest pain and had dynamic electrocardiogram (ECG) changes, potentially suggesting an acute heart attack. These situations are time critical as blocked coronary arteries need to be reopened ASAP, and I had to act fast. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the social media situation, but having to really focus on my clinical decisions. Thankfully, he was OK in the end.

The funniest thing was at the end of my shift, several of the consultants (most senior doctors in charge of the departments) and some of the middle-grade doctors formed a circle around me and told me they'd seen my tweet. I don't know how word travelled this fast, but it did. It's a weird feeling when your bosses know the latest gossip about you. Or follow you on Twitter.

The Aftermath

It took a few days to comprehend what was really happening. The post continued to reach many more people, and I followed the conversations and comments with interest, seeing how different communities reacted. Back at home in Hong Kong and across Asia, disbelief at how people were still treating Covid-19 so lightly. Among the UK networks, a familiar story. Once again, ignorant people out there. A residual sense of resignation of what once was extreme anger at the situation, normalised by the tens of stories of people breaking rules and not taking the pandemic seriously.

The media team and heads of my department were in touch with me shortly after. I was told to pass on any requests by media outlets, but they would likely not be granting any interview opportunities about this matter. Any publicity can appear as bad publicity.

I understand the conversations about media, and will always respect the boundaries and their wishes. But I don't necessarily agree that all publicity is bad publicity. Media is an incredibly powerful platform that exists to deliver important messages about our world. People learn what's really happening, and gain real perspective. Everyone should be allowed to speak.

At the end of the day, I'm just a small cog in a big system. We're all working for the same thing: a safer society and better patient healthcare.

Spreading Important Messages

This event and its discussions have highlighted to me just how much misinformation there is. Many people don't know what's really happening out there.

It stems from a government level: when Boris Johnson announces that schools are safe to reopen before declaring a nation-wide lockdown right the next day, of course it's going to send mixed messages and confusion. Good policy and understanding stems from good leadership. We have not had any of that in the United Kingdom.

But I believe that to a certain degree, this ignorance is also driven by social media and information availability. If you've watched 'The Social Dilemma' recently, you'll know what I'm talking about: the algorithms dictate what you see and feeds you content it thinks you'll like or relate to. The more articles you read on Covid being a hoax, the more you'll see.

As a medical professional, I'm in an incredibly privileged position of awareness. I've been taught so much in medical school, and am now seeing the realities of what's happening in hospitals. Other people don't see the same thing, and as a result they might not be able to comprehend it. In the same way, you might experience something or have been affected in a way that only you can describe. If you - or I - don't speak out, we'll never come to understand each other's perspectives.

But that doesn't mean hope is lost. If we all speak out, we can populate the internet with posts filled with truth and wisdom, drowning out the fake ones. For those who choose to think a certain way that endangers the safety of others, perhaps by finding out more on about what is really happening, they might change their minds.

We all have the responsibility to do this, and I touch on this concept in an article about why every medical professional should be writing. The more of us speak out the truth, the less prevalent false information will be. This is the message that I'll be advocating going forward. We, as the people, have the most powerful voices.

Final Thoughts and Moving Forward

First and foremost, I will never, ever, underestimate the power of Twitter and social media again. For all the things I could have gone viral for, I'm glad that it was a meaningful one. I'm relieved so many people were as angry as I was that evening as I stepped out of my hospital. I may have been alone that night, but I certainly don't feel alone now.

On a personal level, this whole experience has been incredibly humbling and shown me just how big and volatile the world is. It's created opportunities and conversations that I never would have had otherwise, and I'm so excited to see what I can do with things. It's also provided a slightly larger platform for me to share my thoughts in a more meaningful way.

I make videos, write articles and post frequently on Twitter and Instagram. I hope to continue sharing my stories and messages on social media, where I can speak for myself instead of under affiliation. This is a voice that no one can take away from me. I'll be aware of the constant scrutiny and accountability for everything I do, make or say. But I embrace this. It's a luxury to be able to speak, and to be heard. I hope to use it for good.

In a global battle against the virus, we need to be working together and not against one another. I hope to play my part, seeing patients on the front line and speaking out. Covid-19 doesn't discriminate. Stay safe, and let's fight this thing together.

Thanks for reading, and I'd love for you to share your thoughts with me!

Connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. And if you haven't already, make sure you're subscribed to see more like this.

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