qs for current peninsula students

[Yixian]

Yeah first year is pretty dog eat dog, I can imagine it's not too bad for mature students but you really do have to do a hell of a lot of work on your own. I suppose the good thing is that that workload doesn't really get that high until second year - I'm in 2nd year and if I hadn't cracked SDL by now I'd be USC without a P..

The best thing is definitely imo the focus on learning everything in a clinical context, a second year PMS student can take a complete history (and will have done so on real patients many times), perform an exam, take blood and have a stab at a differential.

^ At most other schools you won't be able to do that until the end of year 3, beginning of year 4 in some cases.


And yeah really, the anatomy teaching here is just appalling, not that it bothers me but if you want to be a surgeon you're gonna want to try one of those schools that spend the first year teaching you the latin names of every bone in the body Here we learn basic anatomy in y1&2, as they assume that you don't need to go into real depth until you're a surgeon, which is true, but they are forgetting surgical entrance exams

[_avfc00013]

Forgot to mention that Peninsula's graduates have a reputation for being far more clinically competent on the wards than graduates from a lot of other medical schools.

Surely going to a university which is more scientific would benefit you when there is a problem because you need to go right back to basic scientific knowledge in order to resolve the issue.

[Yixian]

We're taught the same physiology as everyone else, only schools with integrated BScs or research orientated courses go into any further biochemistry, it's only anatomy that is light in our course, although the whole thing requires a lot self direct learning as opposed to eg Oxbridge where it's all tutorialed.

[Dr Noodle]

Surely going to a university which is more scientific would benefit you when there is a problem because you need to go right back to basic scientific knowledge in order to resolve the issue.

Like Yixian is saying, that's where your SDL (self directed learning) comes in. You can teach yourself anatomy, which is what I think the idea is. Problem is, there's a lot to learn and if you find learning a load of latin words off by heart quite tedious, it can can be quite difficult.

Being only a second year I honestly don't know which is going to be better until I graduate. If you get to talk to a few doctors about different schools you're going to hear different opinions...'Peninsula is shabby, they don't teach enough anatomy, they've moved too far from traditional ways' etc or...'Peninsula is amazing, their graduates have really good clinical and communication skills' etc.

The idea I've got about this place is that by the end we may not be able to name every capillary in the body but we'll still be able to treat patients effectively and holistically. It's a truly vocational course here.

The first year thing is very true as well (and I've noticed some first years have started coming to second year lectures...O_o). It's such a radical change from school style spoon feeding that I definitely feel there needs to be more direction for them. Being a new school where student feedback is taken into consideration (when it's actually given to the right people instead of just moaning to friends!) this may change.

I do love it here personally but that's because the teaching style really suits me. I hate 9-5 lecture as I had at my last uni course and absolutely love group work.

Things you need to ask yourself before applying here...
1) Do I like learning in groups or do I prefer to do it alone?
2) Do I like the idea of reading a case, formulating questions relevant to the case with a group of 6-7 other people, researching answers for a week and coming back and presenting your research to your group OR do I prefer to sit in a lecture theatre and have everything taught to me?
3) Do I want patient experience and to learn clinical skills from the first year OR do I want to just learn the science for the first 2 years and not see a patient or learn any clinical skills until 3rd year?
4) Do I want to live in the South West for at least 5 years? (very important thing to consider!) (also do you mind the idea of moving between cities/towns- we spend our first two years in one city, next 2 in another and either go to a third place for fifth year or go back to where you were in the first 2 years).

[Yixian]

Yeah the opinions of some people can be pretty polarised, most of the surgeons I've met aren't too keen on the PMS course, surgery is the quintessential wrote learned profession and peninsula focuses much more on clinical reasoning, which is by the way what you'll be tested on in your royal college of physicians exams. On the other side of the fence, I know people on the board and Nottingham who over idealise Peninsula and the way we do things. Probably the best way of catering to everyone would e a mixed course like Liverpool, but like I say as a wannabe physician with no interest in surgery I couldn't care less xD

You can bet your ass that no matter where you go when you get to F1 it's like learning everything from scratch again xD

[iceman_jondoe]

Im relieved i dont have to bother learning detailed anatomy..i find surgery so boring..its all about be a proper physician

[_avfc00013]

It's funny how there is a correlation between Peninsula students hating surgery (brain-washed?). Whereas other universities which have a much broader course which include anatomy etc.etc. have a higher percentage of surgeons. Which universities tend to favour each speciality equally and do not tend to divert everyone into one speciality?

[Aneknamin]

_avfc00013 - I find it strange that you come onto these forums and try to antagonise people, not a quality of a good doctor is it?

[_avfc00013]

How am i antagonising anyone?!

[_avfc00013]

I wasn't implying Peninsula is bad, sorry if it that is what you were led to believe. Obviously if you are not interested in anything surgical then anatomy is not as relevant in your future career. personally i'd prefer a broader course because at the moment i have no idea what i want to do and i think it is too early to decide if i want to be a g.p. or not- hence the question of which unis offer this.