Health and Medical Science: First Year Daily Routine

As second year draws closer, I’ve began to reflect on what my daily routine was like during my first year. So, for anyone who is about to start or is considering studying the HMS here is a brief overview of what a typical day looked like for me in my first year.

Mornings: Most days during my first year we would have a CBL or Group Discussion session first thing in the morning. For these sessions I would aim to wake up for 8:00am so I could get ready for a 9am start. Morning CBL sessions can be up to 2 hours long so it’s important to have time to properly get ready, for example eat breakfast. Trust me, doing a CBL on an empty stomach can be killer. Mornings are where most live teaching takes places, so unfortunately, you’re going to have to get used to early starts.

Mid-day: Usually after a morning session I didn’t start working until after lunch.  In a day I would usually try to go through 2 or 3 lectures a day. Between doing each lecture I would probably take an hour break. Lectures can be incredibly time consuming and going through them took up the bulk of my time during the week. Whilst doing this I would usually try and get out of room to work. On a regular day I would rotate between working in my kitchen, the library, or the oculus.  For me, moving around and working in different locations helped me improve my focus.

Evening: On days that I would work in the evening, I would usually try to get some revision done. This may involve, doing any extra reading or going through what I had done in the week to make sure I understood everything. Finding motivation to do this every day was difficult, so I would only work in the evenings a few days a week. Usually, I would reserve this time to go to Tesco’s, do my laundry or just relax.

This is a brief overview of what a typical day would look like for me during my first year. Obviously as you make your way through the course, you’ll develop your own routine which suits you. It important that during your first year you try to develop new habits and routines so that you can discover what works best for you.