Manchester II

On Sunday, I came to Manchester University dorms. It was a typical student dorms for what can I say. I was happy we didn´t have to share rooms and impressed they actually had a common student room with a piano. Oh, and don´t forget that swimming pool just next to it. In the evening, there was an orientation meeting. We were divided into groups we have chosen before according the topics and were ready to start on Monday.

Day 1:

There were two main streams - surgery and internal. You could choose between 7 main groups. (More: HERE) I was in Surgery Stream. So everything I have attended was related to surgery. To be exact, I have chosen POE group - plastics, orthopedis, ENT (ears, nose, throat). I am sure those seven groups are actually more than enough to choose something you like. Our first day was dedicated to the lectures describing "The Day In the Life Of..." I think it was a great starter. It might have been a little too long but I greatly appreciated it as I didn´t know much about UK medical system. The short overviews tought me about differet kinds of specialties, how to become a certain specialist, and most importantly what the specialist really does.

Day 2:

More lectures. Mostly on the topics of our groups. For example, "General surgical emergencies" or "ENT pathology". Good to revise our knowledge. As there were a great mixture of all of the years, I am sure that everybody learned something. People were getitng to know each other on coffee breaks more. Organizators were available for us non-stop to help us with any issues or questions. Also, there were interesting bookstalls for a whole week. And in the evening - more social programme! :)

Day 3: 

Workshops!!! You know that all medical students love workshops. It makes us feel like we can actually do something real. There were a few main workshops that everybody could attend together with more lectures. In my group, we had lectures focused on presence and future of plastics/orthopedics surgery. We went through burns management or future carrier and specialties related talks. Obviously, real workshops were actually the best part of it! :P

So there was:
Basic Orthopedics Workshop, Basic and Intermediate Surgical Skills or Anesthesia Procedures, Laparascopy or Trauma skills or Life Support and more. (Internal stream had also Gynecology and Obstetrics workshops or Oncology Talks, too).

Day 4:

Research. The art of publishing. My shocking discovery was that unlike in my countries, medical students abroad actually start publishing at very young age - meaning NOW. Some of them even before they go to medical schoools! They take break from med schools to do different kind of research, too. Just learning about this and the whole "how to publish" topic was really important. I am sure I have actually learned a lot.

Day 5:

Last day. Anatomy Challenge Final! You can see the buzzers on the picture. More talks and debates with proffesors. Information about UK system.  Last party at dorms. And more :)

I really cannot describe everything - there is so much to tell! The whole social programme, fun we had, Manchester itself, also awesome teachers and techniques we learned. For sure, the best time of my summer this year.

Many more awesome photos from summer school: http://www.doctorsacademy.org/AcademyCMS/SS_2012_Gallery.html