For many students in Lower 6th, deciding on a career can be a challenging prospect. I interviewed aspiring student Mina. K about her experience of following a career path in medicine. Currently a member of the MVD (Medicine, Veterinary, Dentistry) Society, Mina also spoke of her recent experience of Operation Live! an opportunity offered every year to members of the society.
Operation Live! took place on Thursday 23rd January 2020, at Reigate College’s Sports Hall, an event designed to give students an insight to how medicine is applied in the real world and teach a variety of clinical skills crucial to entering a healthcare profession. Sharing her thoughts on this immersive experience, Mina describes it as ‘a whole different thing compared to seeing the anatomy on a diagram’.
What made you get involved in Operation Live?
Mina says that she would like to pursue a career in medicine and acknowledges that this career requires experience. ‘Medicine is about applying what you know to human beings, you can have all the knowledge in the world but if you don’t know how to apply it then there is no point.’
What did Operation Live involve?
‘First, we dressed in medical gear, apron, gown, and masks, we practiced setting up a hospital bed with a dummy – everything for the op was sterilized and nothing could touch the floor. Two people from the company Operation Live! gave a PowerPoint about the 7 systems of the body, including questions about medicine in general, seeing the structures on the PowerPoint and being able to relate this to the dissection was really helpful.’ A hands-on experience, students had the opportunity to dissect a specimen using surgeon’s tools, ‘we dissected a pig’s heart, brain, lungs and touched a GI tract.’ Notably one of the more memorable parts of the event, as Mina said ‘it smelt really bad!’
What did you find most interesting about Operation Live?
‘What I found most interesting was learning about the functions of different membranes within the body such as the meninges and the pleura as well as about organs in the body. We also learnt the difference between local and general anaesthetic, the night before I watched a TED talk on how anaesthetic works so I was able to apply this to what we were doing’
Having researched and decided on a medical career, Mina shares the inspiration behind wanting to pursue this demanding yet rewarding profession and this included her experience of MVD Society, where students have the chance to explore contemporary health related issues.
Why have you chosen medicine as a career path?
Mina says that her role model and inspiration is her dad who is a doctor, but she is also ‘excited about the prospect of having a positive impact on others. You go through so many phases as to what to do as a career, but I always came back to the idea of a medical career.’
What is it like to be part of the MVD Society?
‘Most people are aspiring medics or vets, few are dentists. It is led by Liz Sanders who gives such good advice. I always learn something different at MVD and it is a lot more in-depth than some of the stuff we cover in class. More recently we have had speakers come in including GP’s, consultants, surgeons and an anaesthetist, so we also learn about the different branches that we could go into.’
Overall, it is clear the amount of dedication and commitment that is put into pursuing a career, especially one in the healthcare profession. A final thought from Mina who adds ‘once you are in it, you are in it for life!’
