Today, Regional Lead Hannah Stobbs talks to us about her intercalation experience at Liverpool.
I didn’t plan on intercalating until right at the end of third year but now I’m really glad that I did. I think it’s easy to get bogged down by medicine and develop a bit of a tunnel vision where you’re learning purely to pass exams. Taking a year to study in a part of medicine that I’m interested in has been helpful for me to refocus and reminded me why I wanted to do medicine in the first place.
Even though a Masters in ethics might not seem as clinically useful as some of the other courses offered, ethics is never not going to be relevant in medicine and through this course and my supervisor, who is involved in clinical ethics within the UN, I’ve realised just how important it is. My final project is around the ethical implications of food banks and how we discuss the health of those relying on them for survival, which has been interesting and learning about the different social barriers to health is becoming more and more important, especially if you’re planning to stay and work in the UK. Aswell as giving me insight into the major ethical dilemmas, it has given my invaluable experience in research methods and writing, which is always useful!
Obviously, there’s some downsides to intercalating. Financing another year of university is a big challenge and some degrees charge more than others so make sure you check that. I managed to reduce costs a little bit as University of Liverpool discount your tuition if you continue your Masters study there! Also, the more flexible schedule has meant I can work part time to save up.
I was worried about being away from clinical practice and content for a year, and it is difficult but the knowledge comes back quicker than you’d think and I’ve found that by helping out my housemates revising for their OSCEs and exams you don’t lose touch with it too much.
It’s definitely not a year off and you have to go into it expecting to work hard, but as long as you’re efficient with your time I’d say the timetable is much more flexible than medicine and you can make what you want of it.
If you have any questions about the course or intercalating in Liverpool, drop me an email! hlhstobb@liverpool.ac.uk
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