Shaila Haque is in her penultimate year as a medical student.

When did you decide to go into medicine?

Pretty early! After doing work experience at 15. I think it's probably the best way to find out if you like the idea of medicine or not!

Did you enjoy doing Medicine at Oxford?

Yes, definitely. Oxford has a very traditional course, with an emphasis on the science which is pretty challenging but very rewarding. I have always appreciated the collegiate system at Oxford, which meant that I didnt spend the entire time solely with medical students- I think it might have been quite claustrophobic otherwise!

Can you explain to us the overall six year process of qualifying – how is it structured?

At Oxford it is slightly different, as the course is spli down the middle into 'pre-clinical' and 'clinical medicine'. The first two years cover the basic(!) sciences such as physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, pathology, neuroscience.... At Oxord this involves 2 or 3 tutorials a week, as well as daily lectures and all manner of practicals. The third year comprises of the compulsory Final Honour Schools, known as the 'intercalated BSc' at most other med schools. This is a year where you choose one area to 'specialise' in (I chose cardiovascular physiology) and then you sit finals for a BA in Medical Sciences. Then the final three years are known as the 'clinical years'. At Oxford and Cambridge, there are fewer places in the clinical schools than the pre-clinical schools so there is a large exodus of medical students towards the London medical schools. I chose to go to GKT. Everythign changes at clinical school. We spend nearly all of our time at the hospital shadowing doctors and getting formal and informal teaching directly from them. The focus is on putting everything you learned in pre-clinical medicine into practice and learning core clinical skills like examining patients and taking a history.

Where are you based at the moment? What's it like?

I'm at GKT and I'm in my 5th and penultimate year. Clinical medicine is completely different to pre-clinical medicine. You are expected to treat medical school more like a job, though in reality, your timetable has enough gaps in it for it not to feel like a job!

What do you do in a typical day or week, or is there no such thing?

My weeks and days do vary a lot. A typical day would involve joining a ward round in the morning, maybe being grilled scrubs- style, maybe not. Perhaps a leisurely well earned coffee afterwards, or perhaps I'll try to take a history and examine a patient so I can 'present' what I've learned to a doctor in the afternoon. At some point I may get an hour's worth of teaching in small groups from a doctor- usually done in an office or seminar room. In the afternoon I could sit in a clinic, where often I will see patients on my own, like a real doctor...

The kind of things you get up to depend on which area of medicine you're on. the above describes a typical timetable for a medical specialty. If I was doing a surgical speciality, I might spend the whole day in theatre. If I was on dermatology, there might only be clinics. There are big gaps in the timetable, but you're expected to fill these by seeing patients on the wards independantly, finding a doctor or a procedure to observe or if all else fails, studying.

Any good anecdotes from your experiences of working in hospitals?

Although medicine is pretty hard work, life can really be like scrubs sometimes- it can often be really fun. However, the sensitive nature of the events that have unfolded prevents me from going in to detail....

Do you have lots of exams and tests to pass? Can you tell us about them?

Yes. In the pre-clinical years we had exams every year. They were very stressful and there were lots of them. There is a huge amount of material to cover. At Oxford there were essay papers as well as short answer question papers.

After 3rd year, exams are in MCQ format, but these are no easier! We also have practical exams called 'OSCEs', where your clinical skills are examined.

What area of medicine do you think you want your career in?

I would like to go into Psychiatry. I found it fascinating, and I love that you get spend huge amounts of time with patients.

Do you have any advice for medics who are just starting out?

Find out as much as you possibly can about the course and the lifestyle from as many people as you can! It's a long hard road, so you have to be sure you want to do it.