Bhavya's Experience

• What inspired you to pursue your program?

  • I always knew that I wanted to be involved in the healthcare field and after completing some co-ops and observerships in high school I had my heart set on pursuing medicine and surgery. I wanted to start learning about medicine right away and wasn’t inspired by any of the undergraduate programs in Canada, as they had a lot of courses with physics, calculus and subjects that I wasn’t super interested or fascinated by. I wanted to start building on my passion right away so I decided to launch right into the direct medicine program at RCSI.

• Why did you apply for the Irish Universities?

  • The accelerated route of the direct entry medicine program was super appealing to me because I got to start medical school right after high school and skip writing the MCAT as well. My brother was also in dental school at Cork so I felt more comfortable moving to Ireland when I knew I had some family there.

• What was your experience with the application process?

  • I found the application process fairly straightforward and quite simple as I used the Atlantic Bridge Portal. They had all of my questions answered on the FAQ page, and the deadlines were all super reasonable so I did not run into any issues with my application submission. The interview process was also super easy-going and it felt like a conversation rather than a one-sided questionnaire which I really appreciated. I also only had to travel 2 hours for my interview which was really nice and they had a great panel set up with an academic advisor which was the best part of the whole application process. I got to sit in one on one and ask every question about my future, the match back process, and got some really good advice on what to do if I got into RCSI to set myself up well for the match.

• How did you adjust after moving to Ireland?

  • The first week was tough, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I moved during peak Covid in September of 2020, so none of my family or friends could come with me and help me move. It was super hard figuring out everything for yourself, like getting a phone plan, groceries, residence permits etc, and it was a really overwhelming first week. What made it nice was having other students around who were going through the exact same thing and figuring it out with them. I would highly recommend living on the first-year student accommodation that your university offers because it’s the best way to meet people right away. It’s also the easiest way to make new friends and helps with the homesick feeling by always having people around.

• Describe a typical day/week in your program.

  • Each year at RCSI is super different; the first 3 years for me were very lecture based and I was on campus all the time, however the next 3 years are really placement based which is what I am entering now. My last year (Med 2 year) I had classes from Monday-Thursday and had Friday-Sunday off. This is the only year that you get Fridays off as the course load is quite high so we get an extra weekend day, which is great to use to catch up. A typical day in Med 2 is about 5-6 classes a day with about 2-3 tutorials a week. Classes start at 9am and will run until 4pm. Between classes we usually get an hour lunch break and a 30 minute coffee break so it’s a good way to break up the day. After classes, I typically study for a few hours and just hang out with friends or go to school events and end the day off by going to the RCSI gym.

• What resources have you taken advantage of at your university?

  • I will say I’ve used a good chunk of resources at RCSI. I use the RCSI gym almost everyday, which involves free personal training sessions, group classes, and nutrition and fitness advice. I go to all of the peer tutoring and mentor sessions that run, attend any academic and career based workshops run by the Careers team at RCSI, and all of the personal development workshops run by the SARA team. I also am always in the Student Services office, because I worked with them very closely during my time on the Student’s Union so I often go there for any merchandise or placement based questions. I also have used the free counseling sessions run by the COMPASS team at RCSI which has provided a great sense of support.

• What is the best kept secret of your university/program?

  • Around exam time, study spaces are always booked out and full so I always find little hidden tutorial rooms in our old building which not many students use. I can’t just spill those coveted study spaces to anyone!

• Have you taken part in internships, research, and or clinical electives? If so, where and what has that experience taught you?

  • I have taken part in the Keenan Research Summer School program that RCSI runs, where they give 8 students a research scholarship and we get to work at St. Michaels in Toronto, Canada. It’s probably been one of my best experiences, where I have been able to work on multiple projects in a variety of disciplines, and I also have been able to shadow surgeries and doctors that I have always wanted to work with. It’s been a great way for me to figure out my own strengths and weaknesses and also what specialties I find interesting which is setting me up well for narrowing down a top residency option.

• How did you prepare/are you preparing for your next steps after graduation?

  • After graduation is when I would start my medical residency which is something that I have been preparing for since I started at RCSI essentially. Every experience and opportunity that you have is extremely vital and I think all links into transferable skills later down the line. In my first year, I joined 2 societies at RCSI so that I could get involved with the extracurricular side of things. The year after I started doing research in the summer, joined 4 societies and really was launched into university as a whole. I then joined the Student’s Union, which was one the best experiences I could have asked for at my time in university, and is where I met people from every aspect of student life at RCSI. I am now the co-chair for the International Conference for Healthcare and Medical Students (ICHAMS) and I believe that all of these extracurricular activities are one of the most vital parts of the match process and your experiences define who you become and what makes you different from the rest of the crowd. Academic wise, alongside my school, I am heavily involved in research, both clinical and non-clinical, which I have been using to help distinguish what speciality I want to eventually work in.

• What do you wish you knew before applying?

  • I wish I had done more research and had more insight on the match process. It’s something that I have learned and picked up during my time at RCSI, but it’s a huge obstacle for international medical students to be able to match back to Canada or the States. I think it’s important for people to be super aware of the challenges of it, especially the limited number of spots for some specialities, and also being aware that you might have to choose between your dream specialty and your dream living location after your graduate. When I joined RCSI, I had my heart set on matching back to Canada, but as I have gotten more interested in certain fields, I now have changed gears to matching to the States, which is a huge change from 3 years ago. So just be okay with things going a bit off course and not being exactly how you envisioned them to be!