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Ok, so, hello everyone. Uh Thank you very much for attending this evening. Uh Tonight, we're going to be holding er an inter webinar as part of kind of scrubs academic events. Um Thankfully, uh nine people have given up their time to talk about the courses that they've done. Uh they're either interclass um to Maddocks of Queens who have taken time out or people who are currently studying on these different courses. Um So it's not just Queens. Um there's uh stuff over in England and it's out of that. So we hope that tonight will kind of give you a nice kind of a brief overview of these different courses and show you that um there's many possibilities outside of medicine if you want to take a year out between year three and year four, year four and year five. So hopefully this will give you a good, good overview to try and inform you of what you might want to do or maybe be interested in. Uh This is just kind of a brief timetable. Timings are slightly off. That's my bad apologies, but we have our speakers here and as you can see, they're gonna have a seven minute slot to give a brief presentation on their different course to hopefully give an overview on the right there. You can see we're gonna kick off with experimental medicine. Uh then sports by informatics, clinical anatomy, public health and emergency medicine, child health, global health and then finish off with cancer medicine. So, uh thank you very much and I'll now hand over to Hannah, Hannah uh inter last year between um 3rd and 4th year. Um She's currently studying medicine then at Queens and fourth year and she did experimental medicine. So Hannah brilliant. So I hope you can all see my slides. So as James said, I'm Hannah and I did the masters in experimental medicine at Queens last year. So just a bit about what I'm gonna cover sort of the structure of the course assessment, my project, some tips and tricks the application process and then just some final opinions on the course. So the first semester of the course is purely lecture based. This is where you learn the fundamental knowledge and skills that are gonna be required for your time in the lab. So there's three different modules. The first two are fundamental and research uh skills and advanced research skills. And these are where you sort of learn how to do different techniques in the lab. You learn about data analysis, writing papers, all that sort of basic stuff that you need um as a basis for going into your project. And then the final module of the semester is clinical translation. And this is where you learn a bit more about how that's involved in medicine. So you'll learn about clinical trials and the development of medicines, vaccines and stuff like that. So then the second semester, as soon as you come back from Christmas, you're straight into the lab and then you're purely based in the lab from there on there's no more lectures. So you'll be working on your project then um independently, but you'll have a supervisor and you'll be sort of within a lab group of maybe P HDs post dos, you know, more qualified students. Um And you'll get a lot of guidance from them. So, like me personally, I'd never step foot in a lab before. So I didn't know how to do anything really. And my POSTOP was really useful. She showed me all the techniques and made sure I knew what I was doing. Um So you won't just be completely abandoned, but that is an independent project then, right the way up from Christmas. So in terms of assessment, um it's very different to medicine. So we're sort of used to just exams, not really doing anything that requires submission of than our e portfolio mostly. So, um you'll have a lot more to do in that sense, um Stuff like literature reviews and what papers that you have to write. Um And then presentations, we have to do so many presentations. I think there's maybe five over the course of the year, but they're only small and in front of like, just your class. So they're not too daunting, hopefully. Um, and by the end of it you'll be a whiz, like you'll be flying through them and then clinical trial design. So that's sort of the big, uh, project at the end of semester one. that's when you write up your own clinical trials. So it's completely made up a new drug, new treatment, anything you want and you just write it up as if you're gonna be sort of submitting it for approval. Um When you're in the lab, you have to keep a lab book. So it's basically just a diary of everything you do. You just have to put the date and write all your experiments, all the details of what you do in the lab, just document everything um and leave enough detail that you can sort of recreate the experiments later down the line as well. And then finally, the dist that's sort of the big scary one that everyone worries about. Um It is long cos it's masters, it's 15 to 20,000 words. Um So it's definitely daunting at first, but you are literally just writing up everything that you did in your lab, analyzing your data, talking about what you found. Um I did not quite hit 15,000 words, but it was absolutely fine. Um and you can sort of just waffle and then my project. Uh so I was in a vascular lab and my project focused on comparing the genetic makeup of archies and veins. And I did that by just dissecting mouse retinas and staining them for different genes. Um So the main skills that I personally used were literature search and at the start and then microdissection, which involved me sort of cutting up mouse retinas underneath a microscope, um which definitely was a learning curve and then staining techniques. So it's what I spent most of my time doing in the lab, just adding different stains to the retinas, different washes. Um And then I visualized them all with fluorescence microscopy at the end to get my results. That was just my project and different projects use a sort of a wide range of different techniques that will completely depend on what you end up doing. These are just some pictures from my time in the lab. Um probably the most boring one you'll see today. But on the left, you can see the wee it's, you know, like 30 million lb building. So it's pretty cool. Um It was a picture of my lab and then just me doing some staining some dissecting the picture on the right, the very right is what the Mosh retinas look like after I cut them all up. Um I don't know if you can really see, but the one next to it is a picture of the mouse on the Petri dish, the marsh. It's very small. So, yeah, and then just a few tips and tricks. So do your research. Uh, you'll choose your project at the very start of the first semester. And I advise definitely taking the opportunity to speak to different supervisors and discussion, sort of exactly what your role will be in the project and what they want to have done by the time you leave the lab and then you're sort of set up to know exactly what the plan is when you go in after Christmas. Also, the biomed students might know of supervisors. So you can always ask them who's particularly good and supportive. Um, that could be useful as well. And then assignments, as I said, very different medicines. So just make sure you keep it on top of them and then certain targets. So this is something I kind of wish I'd done. Um, when you go in, in January, literally sit down, have a meeting with just a right start and set a date of when you wanna be out the lab, say end of may something like that. Um The issue is the course overlaps with going back to medicine. So I started back in fourth year on the 16th of August and my dis station was due on the 16th of September. So it kind of overlapped by like a month. Um And I was not very good at my time management. So I ended up having to write up my dissertation whilst I was back on placement, which wasn't fun. So I'd advise just making sure your supervisor knows when you're going back to medicine and that you have a plan in place for getting out of the lab well, in advance of that. So you have time to write your dissertation. So just a quick brief bit about the application process. So you do need a 21 equivalent in all your third year modules. Um And you have to pass all your assessments on the first attempt, whether that's third or fourth year, whichever year you're applying for the course. Um You need just a permission letter to integrate from your medical or dental school. So I know Queens do that and I think other institutions will do pretty much the same thing and then you apply for the Queen's portal. So you create a postgraduate application on there that's just linked on the experimental medicine website. Um And you can use your Queens email or if you're an external student, you can use your personal email for that and then in terms of deadline, just do it as soon as possible. Pretty much. Um Your university will probably wanna know that you're into by the end of this month, next month. Anyway. So um yeah, and then once you get an offer, you will have to pay a deposit. I think mine is around 400 lb, um, that comes off your fees the next year. Uh, it's just a secure place and then just to wrap up overall opinions. So the pros are that the welcome of is a world class institution, as I say, uh, they have incredible research output and you'll probably be working with, you know, top researchers in whatever field you choose. Um, it's a unique experience to develop love based skills. Obviously, not when you get to do medicine. Uh You're supposed to see if you want to do that down the line. There's opportunity after you've completed your project for publications, posters, stuff like that, which really boss CV. Um And you can choose project, you know, sort of a wide range of specialties. So whatever you're interested in and that'll obviously boil your application to that specialty later down the line. And then cons as I said, it is a long degree, there's an overlap of the start and fourth year and if you don't manage your time, well, you will not go somewhere. So um I think I got about five days in Greece, but I was writing my dissertation the whole time I was there. So definitely time management is important. Um Speaking to people, there was a wide variation in our experiences across different labs and projects. So um it really requires a bit of initiative to make sure that, you know, you get that better experience. Uh it is busy so you'll be in seven days a week, pretty much, um, long hours in the lab. If you have an experiment that takes 12 hours, you will be there for 12 hours doing the experiment. So it's definitely not a year off, which maybe I slightly thought it might be going in and then it's not directly linked to your medical studies. Obviously, that's just in reference to ones like anatomy where you can kind of see the direct impact. But as I've mentioned, there are lots of way ways that can sort of boost your CV anyway, and then that's me. So thank you for listening. And if you have any questions, let me know. Uh Yeah, I think we just have one question on your chart. Yep. So Donovan ask, do you have any recommendations about establishing good early relationships with your supervisor? Um I'd say meet them regularly, like pretty much I was meeting mine sort of once a week. Um That's probably a good idea but be clear in those meetings about what it is you want done and by when cos that's maybe something I didn't do so well. Um, and try to collaborate with them. So give them feedback and let them give you feedback and sort of set out a plan of exactly what it is that you want done by the end and when you want that done by, um it's probably my, any advice. No problem. Thank you very much for giving your presentation. Thanks. Thank you. So, uh, next up then we have Joe Cromie who's gonna have a chat with us about sport and exercise medicine. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm ready to go now. Yeah, just show your lights. Yeah. So, hi, everyone. Um, my name is Joel and I did, uh, sport and exercise science at Loughborough, which was a bachelor's. So, getting straight into it then, um, the course structure. So, er, you join the third year of the existing sports and exercise bachelor's there. So you'll be joining people who have been doing the course from first year and they're now in their final year. And then there's one compulsory module which is the dissertation and four optional modules. So you choose a total of four out of the list that we'll touch on later. So most of the modules run throughout semester one and two of the course. And then the psychology modules are completed within one semester and the degree is made up of 100 and 20 credits total with the dissertation making up 40 of those. And then you choose your four remaining modules which are worth 20 credits each. Uh, so module options then. So semester one and two, you pick two out of the three, of the following. So there's physiology of exercise and health, sports, nutrition and applied physiology of sport performance and then you can choose advanced motor control as well. Um, and then in semester one, there's applied exercise psychology and semester two, applied psychology and competitive sport. Uh, so I'll not go through the sort of breakdown of how you choose those theres, but they're all uh available on the website if you look for the specifications, but these are subject to change because uh the options are slightly different than when I did the course last year. So just make sure you're looking at the most up to date version, er, content then. So contents taught through a combination of lectures, practical classes and seminars and small group teaching. But the contact hours are very light. It's probably in around 10 hours a week, I think. Um, most of the year and you get plenty of days off and things like that too, like it's not an intense course. Um, so you don't have to be worrying about that side of things. Assessments then. So generally there are two assessments per module and that'll be a combination of exams and assignments, er, depending on which modules you choose. Um, so I think some of the psychology ones potentially are two assignments and then the motor control is two exams and the majority of the rest of them are one exam and one assignment. So it's, it's really not too bad. Er, your exams take place after the Christmas holidays for semester one and in May and June time for semester two. And assignments can include, um, presentations like group presentations, er, reports or essays, the dissertation, then So the dissertation runs throughout semester one and two. I know some courses vary but in LBH you start it straight away at the beginning of the year. Uh, so we were sent out a list of possible topics a few weeks before the course began. Um, there were maybe like 80 choices to choose from and you pick your top four preferences. So there's quite a lot, um, a variety and you're guaranteed to get one of those out of your top four. Uh Last year when I did the course, 20% of the final dissertation mark was made up of a research proposal for your chosen topic. And that was in the form of an academic poster. And then the remaining 80% was comprised of the dissertation itself. So the main dissertation is a 5000 word scientific paper. Um and that can take the form of a systematic review and meta analysis um the study of secondary data. So that's data that's already been collected by the university. And then you just essentially report on it or primary data collection where you design to conduct the study yourself. And that's what I did as well. So dissertation topics, then there's a wide variety of topics to choose from. And some of the options are very much sports science focused uh which was the case with mine. Um There's a good few sports medicine or sports injury focused ones which obviously a lot of people from our background would be interested in and then there's some, like psychology focused ones and things too. Uh, a bit of general advice. Then if you want the sports medicine topic, I'd recommend having all four of your preferences related to that topic because they could be quite competitive. Uh, like there would be a lot of people looking to do physio and things after, um, their bachelors. So they're normally in quite high demand. So make sure you put all four of yours, your preferences as a sports medicine, one and choose four options. You're genuinely happy to undertake uh as your allocation can't be changed. So don't throw something in as the fourth choice and think, oh, I'll be grand and not get that. Like, definitely be, be prepared to do a full dissertation on it. Er, the application process very briefly then. So it's very straightforward. It's an online application and I think you, the, a big part of it was a few 100 words and why you want to do the course, um which didn't really take very long to do. And then I think you need a letter from Queens confirming that you're in good academic standing. So I think you need to be at like a 21 level, uh at least, which I think basically everybody in medicine is anyway. So generally if you apply, you should get in like, I don't think it's too competitive for spaces. So general advice and experience just to finish then overall, it was a very enjoyable and high quality course and it's obviously at one of the top sports universities in the world and it's kind of a backdoor way into the university as well, um, which is very well recognized for sports. So that's a big positive. Uh, there's also plenty of opportunity to get involved in pretty much any sport you can think of at any level on the campus. So it's a good opportunity to try new things. Yeah, Loughborough itself is a small town with not really much to do in it, to be honest. Um, so be prepared for this. If you apply, there are cities like Nottingham and Leicester in London, not too far away as well. And lastly, if you apply for halls, you'll be living with mostly freshers, which can be a good or a bad thing, I suppose, depending on your personal preference. Um, but just be prepared for this as well. But yeah, that's, um, that's my presentation. Thanks for listening and I don't know if there's time to take questions, but I'm happy to do so if there is. Yeah, that was great. Joe. Thanks for giving your time up this evening to talk about that. Um If there's no questions, we'll just move on to the next person. So we have uh cigar now who's going to talk about his experience, uh, inter glitten in bioinformatics at Queens. Uh, hello one. I'll be talking about by informatics at the greens. Uh by informatics is uh uh daily, is developing uh rapidly because of the data it is being generated. So by informatics requires uh programmers, database administrators, web designer. So the course is uh formulated in a way that all the things are matter where it is emphasizing on statistics, computer science and biology. So here it is about computational genomics which is the data obtained from the uh whole genome sequencing. So most of the time the students will be engaged in the data um generated from the sequences. Yeah, this is a one year, full time course uh with two semesters, two semesters and um with uh each semester having three and four modules. Uh Most of the learning takes place via lectures, tutorials, Practicals. So the MC is awarded to students who complete all the TT modules and the diploma exit qualification is available who completed the one the T modules without the desert. Uh Yeah. And about the program structure semester one, we have analysis of gene expression, scientific programming genomics and human diseases. So this is more related to the handling of the data which is generated and available online. So uh and the second semester we will be handling with the data which is available uh in the website but not uh in a way we can handle them. So there are causes like applied genomics, ra informatics and systems medicine uh with their um cat scores. And after the second semester, we'll be handling the dissertation which involves working with the supervisors and uh do conducting research, which is mainly involving all the science and uh computer science and biological science. So in the assessment section, it mainly involves uh coding assignments, data analysis projects and uh oral assessment of the assignments. Um not an exam exam is not there, but you have to be prepared for the all the assignments. It might get a little uh tough considering you have to balance all the three sectors. And the research project is also uh is given to the student based upon the research projects available on the uh um school. So the applicants must have uh completed the 2 to 1 standard qualifications and the students are required to have the biological background. Even computer science students can apply it for the course. And uh yeah, there is a straightforward slide where uh third year and fourth year students from completing uh medical uh degree can apply for the uh course. This is the sample research projects which uh have been handled to us during my course. And uh you can see that uh early onset is a vaginal adenocarcinoma. Uh We data is getting from the uh fibroblast cells. So it's not straightforward uh considering aspect of it, you have to deal with a lot of data which are computer generated. So you need to be good with data as well in order to do these projects. A little bit of artificial intelligence due to the amount of data it generates. Uh and also applying is straightforward. You can apply from the online portal. Uh You need to gather your documents uh including a CV and a personal letter in order to apply it. Mm One advantage I would say is the use of this knowledge in the genomic medicine sector where uh the clinician gets to diagnose the patient with the genomic data available. These are some of the case scenarios where it is uh genomic data is used to used in diagnosis and prevention and uh considering precision medicine is is coming up. So rather than one treatment fits all, uh personalized treatment is coming up. So it is high time to deal with data that can be useful. Uh We need to know how the data works. What is the use of the data that is generated? So, yeah. Yes. Uh these are some case scenarios where the genomic data has been used to help treat patients. Uh You can I will take an example with the uh yeah, the uh monogenic diabetes case there was there, there was a genomic test was done and uh it proved to be crucial in treating the patient. So the future of medicine is interdisciplinary. So learning a bit of data does uh is will be useful in the future. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, thank you very much, Sagar. Um I many medical students maybe aren't as exposed by informatics. So it's really good to kind of get him an insight there cause it really is gonna be integral to kind of the future job. So, thank you very much. Um If anyone has any questions about it, just put it in the chart. Uh Next up, we then have Alex Carton. She is uh she entered last year between 3rd and 4th year, she studied clinical anatomy and she's now 1/4 year me up in Derry and an ultrasound extraordinaire. So, enjoy. Thank you. Um So I'll just share my screen now. Ok. So I'm going to be taking you guys through my experience of the clinical anatomy masters at Queens and basically the Pichai low of looking at cadavers for three hours a day. Um So clinical anatomy is a one year, full time masters and the application process is basically the same as what's already been spoken about. Um But various people apply. It's not just medical students, they're also biomed students, dentists and also from various countries like Dubai, for example, um everyone had different reasons for applying and I really think that clinical anatomy is something that is applicable to all specialties. Um But especially surgery and radiology, if that's what you're interested in. For example, we had James who's a budding cardiothoracic surgeon. Um Mary who's been thinking about trauma and orthopedics and Chris obviously who's thinking about doing plastics for some reason. Um But the reason I picked it is I really wanted a year of in-depth study into something that I was really passionate about. I loved all my previous anatomy classes and this allowed me to just go in depth for a whole year about it. Um, so this is what my general week would look like. You don't actually have a lot of classes. So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you have classes from 2 to 5 p.m. and every week you're studying one aspect of the limbs and back, the trunk and the head, neck and brain. And, um, if those of you who are maybe worried about finances, I have plenty of time to fit in like shifts at work and stuff like that to help me pay for the year. And you can still see there's plenty of time for like any kind of like extracurricular activities or any kind of, um, like things that you have to do throughout the week, basically. Um, so the topics that we covered, you covered the anatomy of the entire body. Um, so every body's system and everything applicable to it, like your muscles, your vessels, everything and often sometimes a whole body part is covered in one day and that can sound quite heavy. But if you look, it means that throughout the entire year, we're really able to cover the entirety the entire anatomy of the human body in just one year of study. Um, so that's like a screenshot from a timetable that you guys might be having if you were to do clinical anatomy. Um But what an average day would look like. I took an example, like our hand and wrist lecture day. So you would have topics um the topic of hand and wrist and you'd be looking at the important like the key anatomical structures like the carpal tunnel, the innervation and the vasculature of the hand and wrist. But also because it's clinical anatomy, you'd wanna be thinking about how your anatomy impacts someone's clinical presentation and how that may cause pathology, like you can see there with finger deformities. Um So you'd start off with your lecture at the start of the day and then we'd move into the dissection lab where you're able to work with demonstrators and have a look at pro sections. They'd be able to take you through them. Uh point out key anatomy. So there's pro sections in head, neck and brain, uh limbs and back and your thoracic anatomy. So they'll be able to take you through all of those. You'll be able to ask any relevant questions that you have and they'll help you navigate through like identifying key structures, which will always be really helpful for you. Maybe when you are being a surgeon and trying to identify structures in the body, but also ask any questions about like really relevant clinical applications of it. Um So the examinations throughout the year, there's multiple exams per body system. Um There's stuff like case studies, written reports, specimen analysis and then obviously your end of year exams, which are just the same as those. Um for example, with your case studies, you'll be given a case that's very similar to what you get in your multiple choice questions in medicine. But the three line of, of it is maybe what, which of the following nerves would be compressed or what anatomical reason is this happening? Then with your uh specimen analysis, it's what you'd imagine. It's labeled pro sections by identifying structures. But then bringing in the clinical aspect, maybe listing what kind of pathology you'd see and what like muscles are innervated by this and what that might cause to happen to the patient if there was damage to it, for example, um one key thing this applies to maybe all of your intercalation, don't forget about your medicine exams. Keeping up revision throughout the year is really helpful. I mean, you probably will, I think most of us kind of did. Um But it's really helpful to keep up on top of that as well. Um And so then at the final part of the year, so th that would take up your first two semesters and then we're moving into the kind of the summer period you'll start your project. So basically, you're creating a journal ready paper on a key area of anatomy that you might be interested in. Um There's different routes to this, for example, surgeons will come in and give you guys talks throughout the year. So if they're in a subspecialty, you're particularly interested in, you can approach them and ask, oh, do you have maybe a any research you want done or, or maybe you have an idea or for example, what I did, um a lot of lecturers will actually come to uh the clinical anatomy people and say I'd like to do this exact research and you can apply to do that. Um I think most people were able to get there towards their first choice. For example, I worked with Aa Sweeney and I created an ultrasound based anatomy teaching resource. So it's maybe not something that you would think of, but it's actually given me so many interesting um avenues and it's been really useful for my academic CV. So it's an example of what you could do and I was able to take that and create uh journal ready paper um out of the benefit that that was given to students. So 20 pages sounds like a lot, but probably half of that as references. So it's about 10 pages of work at the end of the summer. Um One thing I would say is it would tend to bleed into your next academic here. So they recommend that you try to get it done before you go back into medicine. A lot of people struggle with that, but you should be able to get it done and it not affect your, you back into meds in the next year. Uh, I know that I haven't done any real research before, so I was really thankful for like, your prep classes where they teach you about different things to do with writing research, like how to do poster presentation, how to do conferences, how to do figures and tables and you'll be working with the supervisor the whole time. So it really shouldn't be too overwhelming. You should be able to do it really easily. Like if I can do it, you guys definitely can. Um So what I got out of it, I was able to meet people that I wouldn't really have met throughout medicine, like people from all over the country or people who I haven't really interacted with before I was able to get research experience, which I would find quite intimidating. I was able to be in quite a controlled environment where I could ask stupid questions and they were really helpful. Um I was able to teach my research and presented at two different conferences and specifically as mine was a teaching um resource. I was able to deliver teaching sessions to students, which is actually something you guys probably need on your CV. And I know other people in my class are going on to for uh to try to publish their research. And if you look at your um surgical requirements for applying for core training that's all really like high marks for you being able to kind of get above the competition, maybe to help you with your surgical CV. Um I was also able to join stuff like the Clinical Anatomy Society and help teach other students all the like key information I've been learning. Um I was able to actually meet a surgeon, Mister Darwish and I expressed my interest in orthopedic surgery and he let me scrub in for a bunch of different surgeries. I was able to like turn some of the screws in people's backs and get like a really in depth. Look at what being a trauma orthopedic surgeon would be like. So it was for the entire year was a really great surgical CV boost and I just really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it. Um So I think that's me. Uh Thanks Alex. That was brilliant, a great overview. I think most of us who did the anatomy course last year would agree that um you do get quite a lot out of it. Um So even on the wards, um I should say that I also did the course um on the wards and in theater, you will actually remember your anatomy. So um when you're caught in the theater and you're quizzed on a random branch of the S MA, you might actually know it for once and then you get a real feeling of satisfaction from us. So I think that's some other trust for me. Um Thank you, Alex. That was great. Um We're gonna move on now to Leah, who is gonna talk about her um course in public health that she did last year. Hi, thanks. I'll just share my screen now. So does that look good for you? Yep. Great. Um So I'm currently a public health student at Queens. Um and I'm a student rep as well. So I'm excited to share some uh overview with you about the program and highlight what makes it such a fantastic opportunity for um our healthcare workers and people wanting to change disciplines. So the course is one year, full time or three years, part time. Um Obviously, there's admission requirements with that as well, which I'll go into at the end um advanced career er opportunities and as well as this global health students also work alongside us in most of the modules in semester one. So we get to see different disciplines, different backgrounds from different countries and make loads of great connections um through that as well. Um Alternatively, you can study this part time as well if you want to fit in personal professional commitments. So here's just an overview of the core modules and the optional modules. So the core modules are health and social care systems, determinants of health improvement, public health concepts and methods and statistics. They all run in semester one and that is sort of like a five day week. So it's it's really full on in the first semester. Um And it could be a struggle to keep up to a workplace commitments. Um, but it is really rewarding at the end and you have like a really depth knowledge then of public health theory and practice. Um And at the end of semester, one as well, you'd get an exam. So here's just an overview of what the assessments will be like. So for most of them, except for public health methods and statistics, you have an exam which is two hours. Um And all the other ones that I mentioned in semester one, they're all just essays and all presentations. Most of them did have both, although one of them did have sort of like an EPO that we had to present. Um And then with that as well, you'll have like AQ and a, a few days later where you'll sit in f in front of the exam board, um and present your work and they'll ask you questions, which is quite good um to sort of widen your knowledge as well outside of what you've already presented. Um And with that, obviously it gives you a really sort of complex topics and you can really put your own spin on a lot of things. Um As an example of one, we did a economics paper on the cost benefit analysis of coch implants, which is really interesting. Um And a lot of people did the, their own spin on that, whether it was cost effective or not and what the implications in different countries were if they were low or middle income. And it really gives a good public health perspective on what you can look at outside of sort of the general health care. So why should you choose public health? Um I chose it because uh Queens is a world class institution with a strong reputation for academic excellence. Um And because Belfast is one of the cheapest cities in the UK as well, it's great for cultural diversity and professional opportunities and it's such a vibrant city as well. It's, it's great to live and study here. Um And as well as the research excellence. So it offers students obviously a chance to engage in impactful and cutting edge studies with leading academics in their fields within the course. Um Most of the modules are in the Center for Public Health, which is located in the Royal Victoria Hospital and in the Center for Public Health is the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry. Um And we've had a lot of great opportunities to talk to the director of the Cancer Registry. Um Damien Bennett. He comes in sometimes and lectures us about different occurring issues in women's health and cancer in general, um which is really great insight into specific areas of public health. Um which for me, I find really interesting um wanting to go into cancer epidemiology as well um as well as in the center of public health and medical library, which is accessible for graduates then as well as well as that the statistics and one of the optional modules in semester two is offered in the Medical Biology Center which is then located near, nearer to the main campus at the landing building. And this then offers the medical library. Um and yeah, II haven't really studied here so that I can't really give much, But I know that they do have really good resources um in terms of other courses as well. So as you meet a lot of other people in sort of the the breakout rooms and the coffee shops, so it's a great opportunity to network as well. The program is catered for graduates who have recently graduated or want to get back into practice and widen their knowledge in advanced public health training. So um disciplines such as social sciences or even clinical backgrounds, there are a lot of people on our course who are doctors, dentists or other clinical disciplines who just want a wider sort of insight into other theories um outside of practice as GPS or dentists, which is really interesting to see their, their input on how they've practiced and seen the first hand where they can like apply that then to a public or global perspective um as, as well as people who are just genuinely interested and passionate about addressing health inequalities, um which is a major part of the program is just helping the wider society on, on sort of diseases and infectious diseases. Um and the career opportunities that I've I think are really interesting with this course is that you can go into public health agencies, you can make a direct impact on communities as well as government and policy organizations um such as uh well, the UK HSA or the PH A. Um And you can help shape healthcare policy um as well as international health organizations such as the World Health World World Health Organization, sorry and other NGO S um and make uh tackle global health challenges on a wider scale as well as research institutions and academia. Um You go back and teach the next generation of public health practitioners to contribute to the growing body of knowledge that is always needed for different types of research um or even in health services management to make sure the systems run efficiently to benefit populations. And that is pretty much everything I have as an overview. Here's just a screen grab of the public health uh website on the Queen's website with the link there. And it gives you an insight into all of the other modules and what they really, what sort of assessments and what you'll gain from those the learning objectives um as well as other bits that sort of go with it. So I hope that's giving you some knowledge on the public health course. And thank you very much. Yeah, thank you very much le for giving the presentation. I appreciate it. Um Always good to hear about the different side of things next up. We have Fisher. Um She's underlining an urgent and emergency care and she's in declining, I believe between 4th and 5th year. Yeah, that's me. Indeed. I'll just share my slides. Not. Oh yeah, it's just load, ain't I? Ok? So hopefully you can all say that. Um So yeah, I'm um I'm Interlay after fourth year um at Queens and like um they said there in urgent and emergent care through Plymouth. Um So, um this is a really clinically based intergrated degree, which is quite different than a lot of the other ones. So basically, um it's a year placement in either Ed or IC. Um So I'm doing mine in. So it's the urgent and emergent care. There's an ICU version which is called Critical Care, but it's the exact same like assessments and teaching. It's just you do it in ICU rather than Ed. Um So it is taught by Plymouth, but um they put people all over the UK for your placement. So I'm actually in the Royal in Belfast and you do have some choice in what that is. Um You're in the same department the whole year round. Um And then you'll have teaching by Plymouth kind of throughout the year. Um It is a BSC. Um So it's a little bit shorter. Our place is kind of around October to June. And so it's nice to have a little bit of a longer summer. Uh, it's quite a small, sort of cohort of students, especially compared to like normal medicine. And I think there's about 35 in my year, the year before I think there was 50 or so. Um, so it's a lot smaller, it's a lot easier to kind of contact people and get to know people. Um And you can do it after third or fourth year. Um, Plymouth recommend you do it after fourth year when you've had a little bit more experience in likes of ad or ICU. But there's lots of people on the course this year who've done it after third year. So you definitely can do that and I'll speak a little bit more about the differences. Um And you can see a wee map there that just has all the different sort of places throughout the UK, you can do it. So kind of how it works is, um, it is placement based. So most of the year you'll be in placement sort of three days a week and then the other two days are for self directed study. Um, when you're in placement, it's quite varied and it's quite flexible. So at least for me, um, we don't have a specific timetable, you kind of can do what you want, go where it is more useful for you that day. Um But then you get some teaching while you're on placement as well. Um, but of course, it's a bit dependent on sort of the department and staff who's on how busy it is and things like that. But there's other things you can kind of get involved in, um, teaching, like junior doctor teaching and audits and things. Um, and then every sort of 4 to 5 weeks there is a lecture week from Plymouth. Um, so most of that is online, we have to go over to Plymouth three times throughout the year. So we went over once before we started placements and then twice. Um the rest of the year one in February 1 in April. Um but most of them are online, so it's quite handy. Um Most of what they teach you actually in these lecture weeks isn't like emergency medicine. Most of it's not clinical, it's mostly sort of based around your assessments. Um Research, quality improvement projects, academic writing, things like that, but there is an optional module which is a bit more clinical um based. I think the options were like peds or ICU or mental health, things like that. Um Assessment wise, it's a little bit more chill. So there's no exams or tests. Um There's no big dissertation, it's just coursework based. So you've got kind of three main bits of coursework. They're all about 2 to 3000 words. So you've got a gi proposal. So you just sort of find something in the department you're in that you think could be improved. And then it's mostly kind of about academic writing, um, and how you write that up. But they do teach you a lot on how to do that throughout your learning, your taught weeks. Um, there's then a portfolio. So you pick five things that you kind of want to improve on, um throughout the year and then you have to get evidence that you've done that. And then you write an essay on how you've done that and you're learning throughout the year and then you've got an optional module assessment as well, which it depends on the module, but most of them are kind of an in depth case study. So again, about 3000 words, um but nothing massive, which is quite nice in terms of applying. Um There are some virtual info days. Uh I'm not sure whether there'll be another one before the deadline, there was one in January, but definitely have a wee look online to see and they might have recorded the last one as well. Um So there's an online application form. The deadline is in a couple of weeks, just um just a note, but like I said, you can do it after third or fourth year. So it might be something to think about for future years and it just has all your details and then there's a couple of sort of personal statement style questions. They're quite short so it's 650 to 1000 characters. And so it's only about kind of 60 to 200 words and they're quite structured. Um Like it tells you what it wants in each question. So it's not too taxing. Um but just be noted, you need that signed by Queen. So don't leave it too late because I had some difficulty with that. Um So just kind of give Queens a little bit of notice they can send off and then there was an online, it should be for us and it was March time. Um And it wasn't too, it was quite simple. So there's just a couple of normal interview questions. Why do you want to do this course? Tell us a little bit about you. And then there was like a small clinical scenario based to sort of. Um and they asked you a little bit about what you sort of would do and then they gave us some time to speak to um students who had just done the degree, which was nice, we could ask them their advice. And then um with a couple of days after the interview, they sent out a list of placement locations and got you to rank them and then they released the offers a couple of weeks after the interviews. So it was quite a sort of short process. Um So why I think this is a really great degree? Um Basically, it's great practice for F one, I'm a lot more confident now, sort of clinical skills seeing unwell patients. It is clinically based, which is quite different than other ones, but it makes it a lot easier to go back into me. And after, um, I don't have to like relearn how to take history and things, which is really helpful because I'm after fourth year. So I'll only have six months between me finishing and then having to do my ays in fifth year. Um So it's really great that way. Um, you're in one place for the whole year, which is great. You kind of get more comfortable in your location and that's something that's not gonna happen again until you're in sort of specialty training because you'll be rotating every 3 to 4 months. So, sort of foundation years. Um, you got, they've got lots of other opportunities as well throughout the year. Got to go over to a trauma course in England through Plymouth and they've aligned our assessments with a lot of conferences. So you can kind of use your assessments and directly, um, uh, like apply them to a conference. Um And then you can kind of take the opportunity to do your whole year somewhere else in the UK. So I'm doing mine in Belfast, but you can do it elsewhere and then you've got a little bit other time for other things because it is sort of three days a week, most of the time and it's pretty well supported because it is a small course. They're really great at like answering any queries. You've got, um, a couple of things to consider. Um, it is quite self directed. So when you're on placement, um, you can kind of do what you want and you can make the most out of things and you have loads of opportunities or you can kind of do the bare minimum and not get a lot out of it. So, um, just that might suit some people, it might not suit others. The other thing to note is, um, you might be the only intercalated student in that department, um, or in that hospital. So you're not gonna have a wee grip of placement buddies to go around like that you might be used to. Um, so again, it's quite sort of self directed. Uh, most of the clinical teaching is done in your department and by yourself, not through Plymouth, that's another thing just to note. Um, obviously there is a bit of a cost involved with traveling to Plymouth, especially depending on where you're doing it from and where your department is, uh, fees wise. It's a BSE. So it's paid by student finance or the department of health. Uh, as long as I'm not sure what the rules are if you're a post grad, but at least for undergrads it is. Um, and you can do it after third or fourth year. So they recommend after fourth year cause you've had a bit more experience. But, um, that means I've also done my MLA already. Er, so then I just have to go and do my ay afterwards but you can do it after third or fourth year. Um, yeah, so in conclusion, I'm really glad I've done it. I've got a lot more experience clinically. I'm a lot more confident in going into F one and now it's a bit different cause it's clinically based. It's really great if you're interested in emergency medicine. But even if you're not, there's a lot to learn in ad, there's so many different presentations and so many skills to learn and just if you're going to do it, definitely make the most out of it and use the year and get lots of stuff out of it. I put a wee link there. I'm not sure if you're getting a copy of the slides, but there's a wee link just to the website. But if not, you can just Google it and it comes up very quickly. And then if you've got any questions, feel free to email me about it. There's my queen's email and yeah, that's me done. So I'll just stop. Thanks. A and that sounds like a really unique intergrated degree that you're doing. Um I was just wondering when you were talking um How different would you say it is being on placement when you're compared to maybe fourth year on your placement? Like do you have a log book or anything like that? Um So our log book is just what you kind of want to do. So, it's quite different. It's not like your set things to do. You pick sort of five things whether that's like Cannulas or ECG interpretation that you want to improve on and then do that. So it's a lot more self directed, um, in terms of general placement, um, it's, it's similar in the fact that like you can, you're seeing the same sort of things, but you're a lot more comfortable there. You've been there for longer, the doctors kind of know you, so you're a lot more likely to kind of get opportunities to do things. Um So it is quite, it, it's a kind of a step up from fourth year. Ok. Thank you. Um So we'll just move on now to Maeve who's going to talk about her interval degree that she did in Bristol last year. Um And this was in child health research, so I'll pass it. Hi, I'll just get the slides here. Now. Can you see that? Ok. Uh Yes. Yes, great. Ok. So, uh my name is me and last year I did a Bachelor of Science in Child Health Research at the University of Bristol. Um So just a bit of an overview of what the course was. So it's was an integrated Bachelor's. So specifically for medical students, it was in um like the final year of another course. And it was basically designed to provide some experience in research and specifically pediatric research for anyone who's considering to do pediatrics or just wanted um some experience within research and like academic medicine. Um So an overview of the course structure. So the again, cos this is also a bachelor's a bit shorter than a master's year and just ran from September to around May. So teaching block one, there was two units um and one unit um focus mo mostly on like research methods, how you do research in Children specifically and what makes that difference. Um We did a bit of critical appraisal um did journal clubs for that and learned about study designs. Um And then also we did do a little bit of clinical pediatrics and that child development that that wasn't, the course is mostly more about um the research side of things. Um But we did do a bit of that and it was quite um casual um in how that was taught and they were happy to kind of talk about cases and whatever he wanted to do. So it was quite fun. And then the second unit was um about conducting the research in terms of ethics. Um public patient involvement, we did a bit about leadership skills, wellbeing, some general stuff like that. Um And how you actually write a paper, apply for funding and all of the basics is how you actually conduct research and then, so we were in four days a week, the first teaching block and we had one day um that was dedicated to start working on our project um which we'll talk a bit more about in a second. Um Then in teaching block two, we only had one contact day um a week. Um So we were only in for around one or two hours in that week. And we did statistics, we learned how to use our coding um to do um statistical analysis, um how to write abstracts posters. Um And we did writing workshops, which we got to like work on our projects together. But then um the tutor and things were there if we had any questions. Um So then the fourth unit which runs through the whole year really was the research project which was conducting a project with pediatric researchers in Bristol. And I'll talk a wee bit more about that. Um In a second. Um So, in terms of the assessment, then the um in teaching block one, we had some formative assessment um just before Christmas, which was a practice M CQ and that was on all the unit one topics. Um And then we also had a formative reflective note. So something quite similar to reflections we're used to doing. Um we had to do it on either public patient involvement, research ethics or on leadership or wellbeing. So the summative assessment was after Christmas and it was um like a real version of that um M CQ um which was delivered online. Um And then we had to do two reflective notes. Um So you had to cover all three of those topics. So whichever one you didn't do for the formative. Um And then the other assessment then was um and teaching block to the project itself. So before we were finished, kind of halfway through, we had to do a poster presentation on the progress of our project. Um But this was formative and it was actually a really good opportunity to get feedback on from different academics on how your project was going in some advice. Um And then the summative assessment was the actual pro project write up. So ours was around a 3000 word um like article length. They didn't want like a full long dissertation, they wanted it you to produce it kind of as it would go into um a medical journal. Um And then we had to do a research log book alongside this. Um And that was all submitted in around in May. So that was us wrapped up. So a bit more detail then on the research project. So how it worked is we were given project titles and um subit preferences and everyone got allocated one. There was loads of different options. Um Most of them were quantitative. Um I ended up doing the one qualitative project, but there was lots of different clinical areas. Um some were lab based, so there was kind of something for everyone. Um So they also did give um an opportunity to get your or to suggest your own projects. I, no one, our course, no one ended up doing their own. Um So I think if you did have something in mind yourself, it's probably best to kind of get the ball rolling on it quite early. Um But it is an option. Um So in semester one, you kind of started preparations for the project, but it was mostly everything was done in semester two and you had four days a week free, all of your own time to work on it. So there was, there was lots of time. Um And then in terms of kind of opportunities for, you know, doing something with what you produce in future presentations and publications. Um Most of the, like I know my project was stemmed off some other research that's going on and they're all quite eager to help um with it getting published and things like that. And the course organizers also are unhappy to help with that. Um And there's funds available, you know, for um conference fees and things. Um So I just put in as an example of what um this was what my uh project ended up being. So mine was qualitative and it was analyzing um interview data. Um But there was lots of variation in the kinds of projects people ended up doing so then in terms of the applications, so applications are open to the 29th of May and they only have about 10 spaces or the last year they did. So it does say on their website to apply early in case um the spaces fill up. Um though I think last year they actually might have had um extra space. So and and then in terms of how it works, there's an online application port or portal need all the kind of usual things they do have a personal statement and it's just kind of on why you chose the course. Um how your past experience have prepared you for the course, what challenges you might face and how you deal with those and whether you have any research experience and then any topics um you'd be interested in researching. Um Bristol also let you um put in a 1st and 2nd choice course. So, um if you're interested in applying, I would have to look at the other courses they offer, they do, they do loads, they pretty much do everything you can think of. Um And lots of Bachelor's options, which is kind of nice. Um So you can put another one down as well. So then decide to kind of just to summarize and talk a bit about my overall experience. Um I would say I really enjoyed interluding. Um I'm glad I did it. Um This course in particular was a really small course. And it was taught in a really relaxed environment. Um There, it was a lot less hours than normal medicine, only about an hour a day at a time. Um And the workload was really, really manageable, had a lot of free time. So I would say about that, that kind of means you had to be very self directed with your time. Uh The course organizers are really helpful and really friendly. Um And there was a really nice um atmosphere. Um I had really great support for my project supervisors. Um I would say that I have some friends who didn't have as good of an experience. So I think with something like that, this like it will what you get for your project. Um and your supervisors can affect your experience. Um But the core um course organizers were really helpful for helping anyone who did have issues that way. Um And then for Bristol overall, um it's actually a really great city. Um There's lots to do. I find it really easy to make friends. Um There's a lot of INCL courses at Bristol. So there's a lot of other students, there was like a mixer for um everyone inter at the start of the year and stuff which uh made it easy to settle in. Um And they also do guaranteed accommodation for external students. Um Something to consider is that Bristol is a bit more of an expensive city rent wise and things than um Belfast. Um but the there are some slightly cheaper options in the university accommodation. Um Yeah, that's everything really as that's the website, the Bristol website has pretty much all of that information, maybe a bit more. Um And that's my email. Um If anyone has any questions. Yeah, thank you very much. May uh interesting about degree from different institution and one that I had not heard before. So thanks. Cool. So next up, then we have Katie Kley. Uh She did an indicated master's degree in Global Health uh and master so overdue. Um Sorry, Katie, we might not be able to hear your sound. Um Maybe just potentially join back in again, it's saying it's unable to receive audio to refresh your browser and rejoin the call. Um Yeah, so everyone a few moving parts to this one. So uh we'll hopefully get Katie back on in a second here to give her a presentation. Um But yeah, just give her a second here. Sorry for the wait. Um If you unmute, it says that you're muted. Um Let's see, still not able to get your audio. Unfortunately. Um Let's see. Um Even if you wanna take a second to try and do that and if we can get uh az if you're ready, could you potentially present first while kitty sorts are sound? Hello? Can you hear? Yes, I can hear you. Um I think that's me there. I'm just gonna try and share Um Yeah, no problem. I will give you an introduction. So this is uh Eze Akama. So she intergrated between 3rd and 4th year and she did cancer medicine at the Patrick Johnson Cancer Center at Queens. Um So yeah, thank you. Ok. Um Can you see this? Yeah, I can see them. OK, perfect. Um Thank you for the introduction. Um So yes, my name is um and I did the um intercalated master's um in cancer medicine. So I'll just give you just a bit of an introduction as to what I did. So the structure of the course really follows lectures which are really 2 to 3 days a week. So typically Monday to Tuesday, um it's typically 9 to 5, but there are breaks in between. Um and although it sounds like full on which it is, it's like you're learning a lot of new stuff. So you're kind of happy in a way to get those lectures to kind of give you a bit of a basis for what your, your assignments and then your research project. Um And the research project itself is Wednesday to Friday. So typically three days a week um and this starts mid October time until the end of June. And typically medical students are encouraged to finish up a bit early. Um at the end of June, I think some of my colleagues who did um all degrees like from biomedicine, et cetera, they finished up end of July time. So um as med students, I'd say if you do this course, try and finish up really as early as you can. Um And then from mid May slash June to September is a dissertation project. So this is time where you don't really have any lectures, you're just given time to slowly finish your lab work and then your dissertation. So yeah, that's really the course structure there. Um in terms of the modules that you did all that I did. Um The first one was cancer biology. And a question that I always get from everyone who wants to do this course is how did I transition from more of a clinical like background to more of a scientific course? So this one was um a bit of a transition because this was more of the like molecular biology hallmarks of cancer, um like signaling pathways, et cetera. Um and the principles of cancer, pathogenesis, pathogenesis. So, um I feel like once it was a transition for me, but also everyone in the class really, like everyone was trying to find their feet, like even when you enter third to fourth year of medicine and second to third year, like there's always an adjustment. So that's what I say to everyone who asks me that like there's an adjustment into this course, but like there's going to be an adjustment into any new course, any new year you do. So you just have to look at it that way. Um And then the next module is a diagnosis and treatment of cancer. So this one is a really clinical module. So you'll know about, you'll learn about like ovarian cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, um prostate cancer, you'll learn about really like all types of cancers from doctors, which is nice. Um So that's a really nice module you'll hear from oncologists, you'll hear from doctors who um have their clinical practice, but also do the academic practice. So it's a really nice clinical module and the clinically based people always usually really enjoy it. Um The next one is research translations. This really is a module that helps you understand like the processes from the bench to the bedside. So I think this was one of my favorite modules actually because it helps you kind of understand how like a drug is kind of like the phase one, phase two, phase three, the clinical trials of it of like producing a drug, et cetera into the clinic. So that was a really nice um module. And this module kind of goes into semester two too where you would produce something called a lean business model where you would essentially think of a an idea in cancer medicine, write a proposal for it and kind of like present it back in group in a group work type format. And I really enjoyed that. And so did some of my other friends as well who did the course And then um another module is cancer genetics and genomics. So this one is kind of like the cancer biology module in a way where it's more of the nitty gritty stuff. Um And there is some coding that you can learn in our too. So I think we did around, it's like four or five or six classes in R that were like a couple of hours in length. So by the end of it, you know, you kind of understand how to at least navigate r um you understand, like where to go for resources, et cetera. So I found that really good. So overall, I would say the modules give you a great overview of cancer medicine. Um And people always say this course is a good stepping stone into a future of a phd or things like that. But even if you're not looking to do phd, it's just an allrounder course, but I'll get into what I learned from it um in the next couple of slides. So in terms of the assessment, I just screenshot of this here because I remember when I was looking at intercalating, I never understood like how the assessments would be until I started doing them myself. So the Cancer Biology module that would be an essay, an oral presentation. And you can see there from the table that they really are, are all composed of either an essay, an oral presentation or group work. Um And then of course, the dissertation component is 100% the dissertation which I'll get into in a moment, but the essays are typically 2.5 1000 to 3000 words each, but this is dependent on the modules. So from the top of my head, the Cancer Biology one was around 2.5 to 3. Um The research translation, one was around that too. Um Maybe a bit less. And then, like you do have your shorter essays, like your research proposal ones, um which are 750 words. And then your views would be around 1.5 1000 words. So there is the assignments there. But again, if you're in the lectures, it kind of helps to grow the assignment and um because you do get a really good overview. Um And yes, some of the, the research project there, the second to the last line of the table. Um That one is simply if you like maintain your lab book, you get 20% there. So, and then you have a scientific paper review which is related to the topic that you're studying. So, um although it looks like a lot there, by the time you're in it, you're doing it, it's you kind of just get in the swing of things. Um And there are no exams. So this is why we, we have the essays, we have the oral presentations, et cetera cause there are no exams. Um So that really covers the assessment and then the projects. So there are a range of projects available. So projects can either be wet lab or dry lab. So essentially in dry lab projects, that is what it says in the 10 dry lab. So this is typically computer based and I'll get into what I did because my project was a dry lab project. Um or you can have a wet lab project which is typically, you know, in a traditional lab, you'll have your prepare, you know, um you can do some cell culturing some drug testing. Um And then some of my friends use prism for the data analysis, which I'll get into later. So the projects can really be in three strands. So you can either choose a cancer medicine based strand, um a radiation oncology based strand or like an oncology drug discovery based strand. But um it's dependent on the availability um each year. So what was my project? So my project was, as I mentioned before, a dry lab project that was clinically focused, which was nice. So this involved utilizing a digital pathology platform to measure biomarker expression of the Vitamin D receptor and then calcium channels, trip C one and trip B6 in esophageal cancer patients. So I just put a, a stock image here. This isn't a real um image of any of the specimens I used or anything. This is just a stock image from Google, but this just represents um a generic digital pathology platform, something which looks like something that I used previously. So essentially I would like annotate the cancer regions and I would have help from like um image analysis in the lab that I was in. And then I would um like try and measure the expression of each of the biomarkers by like training the, it's hard to explain, but training the, the like model on the digital pathology platform to recognize it. So, um but you learn as you go along, cause I remember at the start, I wasn't too sure what I was doing. But as I got into it, I was like, things were coming together, you know, almost like in medicine at the start of the year, you're thinking, OK, where am I gonna go from here? But as you go on, on the year, you kind of find your feet. So it's the same idea. Um And then I was given the clinical data. So um this was essentially an Excel file. Um And then um for my project, I learned like the basics of R um And then the survival analysis learned that and then ran that data analysis to provide sur survival statistics essentially. So, essentially saying, OK, if they have a high expression of one biomarker, do they have a poor prognostic outcome? Um So, yeah, that was really a dry lab project, I would say as a med student, if you're more interested in the clinically focused ones. Um You can see if any of the projects that are being offered have like maybe a doctor that's the primary supervisor. Um But even if not, um you'll be fine cause all of the projects really have a clinical focus cause it's all really to improve cancer care and cancer medicine. So I wouldn't worry too much about it, but you do get a project booklet and just have a wee flick through the through the booklet and then you can always meet with your supervise, like prospective supervisors as well. So don't worry too much about it because at the end of the day, um all of the projects will essentially build similar skill sets. So it's nothing to worry about too much. Um So I just put a slide here of like tips, common questions I would, would usually get because I just thought like these are the questions that I wish I kind of knew before I intercalated. So how was the adjustment? I kind of covered that already? It was at the start. I was thinking, oh, this is like, it's a bit, it's a bit different from medical school, you know, but um once you get in the swing of things, you just find your feet and I would say as well, like try and make friends within the class. Um uh just so you can like chat amongst yourselves about like what resources you're using, et cetera. And also it's just nice to have like some friends um whilst you're intercalating too. Um And it's a small class, there's only like 15 or 16 in my class. So um it was really nice to be honest, you all get to know each other quite well. Um Any general advice from picking projects. Um I covered that and then deciding on doing an educated degree. So I would say that's a really personal choice. Um For everyone, if you wanna do an integrated degree, if you are interested in research, want to try and build your skills, I would recommend it. Um But again, you can either do it between third year and fourth year or fourth year and fifth year. Um And I would recommend that if you know anyone that's integrated, just even text them and ask for a coffee or like an MS teams chat just to see how they find it. Cause that's really the best way to, to find out if you would like it just by chatting to someone who's done it. Um What did I enjoy most? Um I think I enjoyed the change from medicine um because I was just using like a different part of my brain and now that I'm back, I feel like it's kind of all coming together with the research and the clinical side. So I definitely will do clinical academia in the future. Um Because of this and the skills I gained, I gained so many skills from this. Um So literature review skills just, I didn't even cover the dissertations, dissertations around 15 to 20,000 words. Um And it's a, it's a lot when you see it. But if you just start writing, like along the year you'll get there. Um So I learned writing skills and then coding skills, presentation skills too. Um And then with the work that you get well with the work that you do in your degree, you can present it in different places. Like I have the opportunity to present my work in Cambridge. You know, I have the opportunity to present. I can't remember what else. I think it was just Cambridge. Um But like there's an Inspire conference, you can present that like there's so many places that you can present your work, there's so many essay prizes you can enter with this. Um You can try and get publications like there's plenty of things you can do. Um And I think that was me. Hold on. Thank you. Uh That was a great talk. Um It sounds like you got a lot out of the course and um this would probably be a good option for people who are interested in like dipping their toes into some lab based work and maybe doing a phd down the line. Um So we're gonna move on now to Katie again. We're gonna give it another go and see. Um So she's gonna talk a little bit about uh her experience over in Maastricht in the Netherlands. Yeah. Can you hear me? Ok this time? Yeah, we're good to go. Perfect, great. Thank you. Um Sorry about that as well before I don't know what was going on with my mic attack. No, no, all but yes, I'm going to do a quick run through of um global health over in Maastricht. Um I do have quite a few slides. I'm just gonna stop her through them and if anybody has any questions or anything, my email is there so feel free to send on any extra questions or anything. I don't really touch on enough. Um But firstly, I'm sort of going to say like why I decided to do this course. Um So it is a master's program and it was a little bit more intense to be fair once I was actually over there doing it than I expected. I feel like people sometimes see um the Global Health course something. Oh, it's all travel and yeah, there was a fair bit of it but it actually there's a good bit of work behind the scenes as well. Um But you do get a good qualification out of it. Um It is one of the programs that are offered that allows you to sort of study um based somewhere outside of the UK, which was something I was interested in, in doing. Um There was good opportunity to travel both whilst based in Maastricht and sort of visiting the surrounding area. And then as I kind of go on to touch on, you've got an elective and you've got a global symposium at the end of the year, which will take you to different areas of the world as well. Um There's a lot of transferrable skills as the others have talked about as well with any sort of Interocclusal degree. I think there's a real opportunity to pick up a lot of new skills, especially in ones that are based outside of a clinical context. So as um I know Maeve was saying to her, it's like you do a lot more reading a lot more academic literature, stuff like that, but I really had no clue how to approach um before taking the year out and then also obviously like the course content. Um I was interested in studying global health and learning a bit more of a wider context of things. Um So that was definitely a selling point um with the course overview, I've kind of just inserted this picture that master have on their website, which breaks it down. However, before I started and I looked at this, I didn't really have a clue what it meant. So I will break it down a wee bit farther into um how the course is structured through the year. Um So firstly in the fall term um that they call it. So September to December, you were based in Maastricht. So it did start this course, early September. I know quite a few of the degrees actually didn't start till maybe a little bit later on in September. So you did have that longer summer, um, between like when you finished up medicine in June, July time, um, and starting the degree, but we did start pretty, I think it was the end of August was like maybe the initial mixers and stuff with the course. And then we started very beginning of September. And for this, I was based in Maastricht. So Maastricht is just down in the south of the Netherlands. Um really sandwiched between like closely between Germany and Belgium on both sides. And at the start you study three modules and these all run alongside one another. So initially we had governing health and then foundations one and statistics one and governing health ran for sort of half of the semester. So maybe September and October and then new biology, a new society took over then um for uh November and December. Um but the foundations, one of statistics one and then ran alongside these. So governing health, which we began with was quite heavy literature wise, which was a bit of a shock to the system. Um There was a lot of reading and at the start that was kind of tough to know how to approach. But once we got into it, you learned to skim read really well and you could pick out what content was actually important and what they were looking for you to get out of the course, it was interesting and then foundations, one was a different sort of module. So it was all based on grip work. But we were working with groups of students from partner universities. So initially in my foundations, one module, we were working um with three students that were based in Maastricht and then three students that were based in Canada. And then in the winter term, when we had our foundations two module, it was three of us that at that point in time were based in Canada because that's where I did my active and we were working with three students from a university in Bangladesh. Um So it was all sort of done online and we had meetings with them a couple of times a week and then the statistics one module was sort of learning about quantitative research and we had to come up with a research proposal and stuff like that. And we were all pretty much taught through lectures and problem based learning, which was sort of in some way similar to CBL. Um But it was a good way to meet people at the beginning of the course. Uh That's how the main governing health modules and that were taught. So we would have a few lectures and then we'd go and have these tutorials in small groups and we'd have to come up with our learning outcomes and things like that. Um, pretty similar to CBL and the groups were maybe 10 to 12 students, but it was a really nice way of mixing with, especially the Dutch students and not on the course. Um, and we got to know each other pretty quick that way. And then in the winter term it's very much elective dependent where you go what you study. So everyone still has two modules in common throughout everybody who's in master and everyone at all, the partner universities that we link up with all electives, all have foundations to and statistics to. And at this point, statistics too was a lot more based on your research project. Um Over there, they call it the thesis, like the master's thesis. Although I think here for masters courses, it's still considered a certification and it would be a thesis if you were doing like a phd, but it's just the way they termed it um in matric. Um But yeah, so our research project had sort of begun at that point, we were having meetings with our thesis supervisor um throughout that winter term. And then we also had foundations too going on online and then the different modules that you would have at your partner university. And then finally, in the summer terms in May to August, we had a global symposium that took part, er, took place in India, which I'll speak a little bit more about and then you were undergoing your thesis project. So this ran over the summer and some people went on particular like internships and placements for this. I did mine remotely but I'll also discuss that a wee bit more. Um So the elective period, um you put in preferences for this in sort of mid late October and it was confirmed in November. So you placed your top three choices, one of which had to be matric just as a backup in case you didn't get the other two. I ended up going to Canada quite a few of the other girls who went to matric also. Um they, a lot of them went to Thailand me and Orla, one of the other girls that went to Canada and then a few went to India as well and one girl, Grace went to Colombia. So we did end up a bit scattered all over the place. Um They were quite competitive, some of the locations. So Thailand was one of the more competitive ones and so some of them required a statement of motivation and each elective then had different course structures after that, different assignments and time and timetables and it lasted sorry for roughly 12 weeks. So we headed over to Canada in early January and were there pretty much through to the symposium. So this was mine, it was based in Canada um in mcmaster University in Hamilton, which was about n from Toronto. So we were able to select three modules that we wanted to undergo while we're here. So I did refugee health, global burden of disease, which was quite a medical um based one. So we actually required to have kind of a medical background. And then I also did challenges in health equity. So it was quite nice that when we went in this elective, we had a bit more flexibility about what we actually wanted um to study and the in person contact hours were quite module dependent, but we were roughly in it for about three days a week and for about three or four hours um each of those days. But there was quite a lot of self study and work to do around this because it was based quite a lot on group presentations and things. So you kind of had to arrange that in your own time. But in terms of the campus and things there, it was a big campus, really good facilities and it was a nice base also to travel around from a bit. And then in terms of assessments. So in the fall term, it was mostly open book essays for the assessments. We were undergoing a Maastricht and three part questions. We would get maybe a week to do them and they were quite intense weeks. I think anybody who came across us during those times, everybody was quite stressed, but it was quite nice in ad it was just a different way of learning. It took a bit of getting used to. And then with stats, we had a stats exam and we had a quantitative research proposal to write and foundations was all based on group assignments. Then whenever I was in Canada, it was really a mix of more sort of independent assignments and some group ones as well. So we had different response papers and things like that to write. And then the group assignments were mostly presentations and essays. And then in the summer that was when we were working on our thesis project. And then this is just a little bit about like the global symposium we went to in India. So you go and do two weeks based at the University of Manipal in India. Um students from all the different universities that are associated with Maastricht. Um gathered there, we had lots of group work, field trips presentations and stuff to do whilst we were there. Um But there was a lot of free time around it as well to explore around the campus and around the town we were based in and then with the thesis project, it's probably similar and overlaps with the sort of dissertations and things people have talked about for other integrated degrees, but involved sort of coming up with your research project. We were given a selection of different topics that you could choose from or you could come up with your own and they were carried out over the summer months. Um Some people did carry theirs out with certain like um different NGO S or organizations. So some people I know went to Cambodia for a couple of months and carried out their research project and did all their data collection all in the field. Um Some people went to Ethiopia, some people who were maybe on, they're active in India, stayed on there and collaborated with hospitals and stuff. So there was a lot of different opportunities with what you wanted to do with it. Um I actually did mine remotely so I decided to do a literature review, a scoping review on um sort of menstrual disorders and factors contributing to diagnostic delays within the UK. So I was able to just do that from home um to allow myself a little bit more time to adjust back in that before starting back into medicine, but there was plenty of opportunity to keep sort of momentum going if you wanted to continue to kind of visit other places in the world. Um And just very, very briefly because I know I'm kind of going on time wise here. Um the application process. So with Queens, you just obviously apply like any interclude degree to take the year out. And then I've just added screenshots from master website um of sort of their timeline of when they want people to apply and what it involves. Um But it is pretty straightforward, it all just applies through their website, some of the things are worded a wee bit funny, but all you really need to do to apply is to have had your three years background of medicine and to pass that third year, you know, some people do it between 3rd and 4th or, you know, people do it between 4th and 5th as well. Um But yeah, so that was kind of the background you needed. And then of course, these, as it does take place outside of the UK, no funding is available from student finance, which is a pain and it means it's all pretty much self funded. But um the way I went about this is kind of if you apply with an Irish or Eu passport, you do get reduced fees, which does help. But if anybody had any more questions on that as well, um you can feel free to email me. Um And then just finally, um some of my highlights you do meet people from all over the place, people with lots of different academic backgrounds, professional backgrounds. Um A lot of people in Maastricht had already been working as a doctor for many years. People came from different like pharmaceutical backgrounds, um epidemiologists. Um, some people had completely different careers outside of a health focus and then decided to study global Health and then there was other medical students as well. So it was a real mix of people. Um you learn content which I just feel really actually, um it is becoming a lot more relevant um, day by day. Um You learn a lot of new skills and sort of like the bigger picture of the impact a lot of the conditions would be treating. Um And then, yeah, experience a new way of learning. As I sort of said, I'd know, would had no idea how to approach doing a literature review before last year. So it really opened my eyes to maybe the field of research and um getting involved a bit more of it in the future and then yes, lots of sort of opportunity to travel and see different places alongside it all. Um But it was a busy year and I definitely recommend um interlay if you are considering it. I think people think maybe it's a scary thing to take a year away from medicine and you'll come back and not know anything but a year is really nothing in the grand scheme. Um But yes, so thank you, I'll stop here now. But yeah, my email is on the first slide if anybody um do have any further questions. Ok. Thanks very much Katie. Um I think the masters course offers a good balance of work in place. So you're getting the research skills, you're learning the skills you need if you wanna do research, but you're also getting to travel and meet people from all over the world. So thanks for sharing that. Um I think we'll wrap up now. I just wanna say thank you very much to everyone for um taking the time to speak about their interfluent degree this evening. And um if anyone has any questions, feel free to direct them to me or James and we can forward them on to uh the people relevant.