WM: Why did you pursue a career related to medicine?
 

IL: I always wanted to do medicine. I nd the human body fascinating. Medicine also gives you the chance to experience life at its extremes and makes you appreciate how important health and life are.
 

WM: What university did you go to and why?
 

IL: I went to Hull York Medical School. I ended up here by chance after hearing about the university from a school friend. I applied to London universities and had an interview at Queen Mary, however I didn’t really enjoy my interview and wasn’t too keen on living in East London. So after my interview at Hull York - which I de nitely enjoyed, I hoped I would get in. And luckily I did.

WM: What do you currently do?


IL: I am currently a Pediatric Trainee doctor at Ipswich Hospital.

WM: What steps do you need to take in order to become a doctor in the UK?

IL: The process following graduating from a UK university is that you apply online and rank deaneries (areas) which you would like to go to. Deaneries cover areas of the UK and di erent hospitals. When I applied, the application was different to now, whereby you had a score based on your exam results at university and then a score based on answering 5 ‘white space’ questions.

The new process has changed the ‘white space’ questions and replaced them with a written exam called the Situational Judgement Test, or SJT for short. They put the scores together and then based on how good your score was and based on what deanery you ranked, you get the deanery that accepts the score you got. Once you get the deanery, you have to rank which hospitals in that area you would like to be in and again get allocated based on scores. After that you get loads of paperwork to fill in before starting work at a hospital in the area.



Read the entire WORLD Magazine Summer 2015 edition here.