Class of 2019
My name is Lucy I left Grace College in 2019 and I am currently In my 3rd year of studying Pharmacology at Newcastle University, currently applying for masters in Physician Associate studies.
I first heard about the Physician Associate role during careers talks in first year of uni. In the time since then I have been trying to gain the relevant experience to support my application alongside studying my undergraduate degree. I’m now writing my dissertation and have applied for the masters course.
I’m currently working on my research project in the lab at Newcastle Universitys Campus for Ageing and Vitality. My project is based on adenomyosis, a clinically neglected womens health condition. In my spare time, I write up my results for my dissertation, prepare for lab meetings and work on my masters application. In the past year I have also trained with St Johns Ambulance as a volunteer vaccinator so this has been a really good way for me to get clinical experience during the pandemic where opportunities have been limited.
I hope to study the Physician Associate Masters course at Newcastle (in order to become a Physician Associate). From working on my research project, I have found lab work is something I also enjoy so I would definitely reconsider working in this field in the future.
I wish I had known that medicine and nursing are not the only options if you want a career in the massive field of healthcare. There are so many other options.
I got 4 rejections for medicine but it led me to discover what my dream career is. Don’t worry if you feel like you don’t know what you want to do with your life or you end up going into something that wasn’t your main goal.
I would probably say adjusting to COVID and trying to learn such a content heavy course with minimal academic support was the biggest learning curve. In general, going from sixth form to university is a learning curve in that you are not necessarily told what you need to know. Particularly when studying science based subjects, what was true yesterday might not be true today so keeping up to date with knowledge is crucial.