The 70 new doctors were the first cohort to enter the first graduate-entry School of Medicine in Northern Ireland, and include students with a wide range of related and non-scientific/ healthcare backgrounds, from politics to investment banking, radiography, management consultancy, optometry, forensic science, nursing and even a previous lecturer in Irish at Ulster University.
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00:00First off, first of all, could you just introduce yourselves please?
00:02Yeah, hello, my name is Dervla McCann.
00:05Hi, my name is Emma Cooney.
00:06Hi, Ciara McCoy.
00:08And how do you feel about today, graduating with a festival coming back?
00:12I kind of can't believe it's actually happening.
00:16It's four years and it's very exciting to be finally finishing and graduating, yeah.
00:22Yeah, I feel the same.
00:25I feel like, I don't know about everyone else, but I didn't know if we'd actually get to this point.
00:28It's been a lot of hard work, but it's been a really nice four years.
00:33So I feel like we'll miss being a student, but looking forward to getting out and working.
00:37Yeah, definitely.
00:38It just was so long, but also coming around so quickly as well.
00:41So just can't believe that it's really around the corner that we'll be starting with that.
00:44So, yeah.
00:45Can you deal with the work at Scotlandless?
00:47I mean, how many years of studying and what you have made?
00:50What's your life at Scotlandless?
00:54Like every part of our lives, I think.
00:57So, we would have all done a degree before and then some people may have just came straight
01:03into the course and others may have worked for a while.
01:05And then it was about four years in the course and it was between university and then we were
01:11on placement, especially for the last two years.
01:15And it does take up a lot of your extra time.
01:19You do have to spend a lot of time working, but you also need to make sure you're doing
01:24other things as well to ensure you get some sort of a work life balance.
01:28So, yeah, definitely.
01:30Yeah, that's it.
01:31I think it's very hard.
01:33The first year is very intense academically, but we were all in Derry together and, you
01:38know, kind of supporting each other.
01:39And then the last couple of years when you're out in placement, you might only be with one
01:42other person.
01:43So, it's been hard, I think, academically.
01:46And then when you're out in placement, it's hard in different ways, because you're maybe
01:49not having as much of a support and you're having to go off to people and maybe make your
01:52own opportunities.
01:53So, I think every year has been different and hard in different ways, but then rewarding
01:57as well.
01:58Definitely, yes.
01:59I think it gets a lot easier with the years and you kind of get more into it and stuff.
02:03And it's definitely fourth year was different in a hard in different ways, but first year
02:07was definitely the toughest.
02:08And as Debra was saying, it has taken a toll and kind of had to make a lot more effort to
02:14like go outside and exercise and intentionally see friends and stuff, but it's been worth it.
02:18It was really good and a good bunch of people around us.
02:21I think we were definitely encouraged to make sure we had a work-life balance as well,
02:25because especially in the first year, I think I found it quite hard to balance that.
02:29And then, as we were saying, as you went on and the years got easier, I think it was
02:33because you learned how to manage your time a bit better.
02:35Yeah, definitely.
02:36But, yeah.
02:37Are you staying in Northern Ireland or are you going elsewhere?
02:42I'm staying in Northern Ireland, yeah.
02:44I am too, as well.
02:46I'm actually going to Scotland.
02:47Scotland.
02:48Are you staying in there?
02:49Are you going to Belfast?
02:50My first year is in Eltnag-Geldman, yeah, and then my second year is in Belfast.
02:56I am in Belfast for the whole year.
02:58Or, sorry, the whole two years.
03:00So, that won't be too far from Eltnag-Geldman, I'm sure, in the future anyway, for the training
03:04and things.
03:05What's made you stay in North Scotland?
03:07Um, just like family ties and I have worked in Northern Ireland in different jobs and
03:13I really enjoy being here.
03:14So, yeah, I don't want to go too far away.
03:17Yeah, definitely family as well.
03:19Yeah, definitely family as well and the whole process of getting a job is based on a random
03:23number generator.
03:24So, you could be in Northern Ireland or anywhere else in the UK, like in the middle of England.
03:30So, I think it's a lot nicer just to know that you're staying in Northern Ireland if
03:33you choose it, which is nice.
03:35You know, the system and stuff.
03:36Well, that's okay.
03:37Why are you getting off of Scotland?
03:39Um, I don't really know.
03:41Um, I've actually loved, I, so I did my first degree in England and then I came home and
03:46I've loved being home and I think I will come back to Northern Ireland and do my training
03:49here.
03:50But, um, I'm from Belfast, I grew up here.
03:52I think just wanted to change for two years, experience another healthcare system and then
03:56I think when I come back from Northern Ireland, it'll be for good then, so.
04:00Are you still in a specific few months in Melbourne or?
04:03I haven't given a decision yet.
04:05I think I'll have to work first to work out what I like and what I don't like and then
04:09go from there.
04:10Yeah.
04:11So, we have like six jobs each over the next two years, so I'm happy I got a job in paediatrics,
04:16like children's, um, which is something I'd be interested in, but I think it will be different
04:20working than being a student, so.
04:22Yeah.
04:23I love general practice and that's something that this course is emphasised from the get-go.
04:26We had, like, a placement, like, a couple of weeks into our first year, so I think
04:30that's something that I'll be going towards, but I don't actually have a job for that in
04:34the next two years, so.
04:35Yeah.
04:36But that's something I'm interested in, yeah.
04:37And how could you encourage more young people to get involved in science and medicine?
04:42Well, that's a tough one.
04:44I think just even, like, if they knew the support that you can get for it, like, whether
04:49it's financial and also, like, the support that the staff have given us throughout our
04:53four years to help make sure that we're okay, like, mentally and things like that, then it
04:57would be a lot more encouraging, because I know there's so many people who want to do
05:01medicine and think it's so out of reach.
05:03Yeah.
05:04There's a lot of reasons not to do it, but I think, like, there's barriers in certain ways,
05:08like, financially, or maybe it's something that you don't think is for you, but I think
05:11we've all shown that, like, the age range in our courses, maybe from early 20s to 40s,
05:15there's people with families, there's people who come from English backgrounds and come
05:18from Australia or England, or maybe who just come from Derry, but we're all here and we've
05:22all kind of worked together over the last four years to get to this point, so I think if
05:28we can all do it, why can't anyone else, you know?
05:30Exactly, yeah.
05:31And I suppose now they've introduced more funding, so you can apply for the student loan,
05:36even as a graduate student, which will be really, really helpful, and we're offered different
05:41ways to, like, access, like, different funding schemes or bursaries and things, so it can't,
05:47as the other girls have said, it can be difficult, but I think there is the ability to do it and
05:52you can definitely get help, there's lots of help if you ask for it.
05:56It's not too inappropriate, can I ask, what age do you have to do?
06:00I'm 33.
06:02I'm 26.
06:0326.
06:04And what's it like, you know, Neil, I don't know, in the future, you want to say,
06:07it's not going to call her name?
06:09Bracing ourselves for that, because we still have to get our exam results, so very much
06:16kind of waiting until we get the exam results.
06:18I don't know if it'll feel real, probably.
06:20Yeah, I can't believe that we've actually done it, like, it's, I think it will take a while
06:25to sink in.
06:26Yeah, definitely.
06:27Definitely.
06:38Yeah, so my name's Kyle Adair, I'm a final year medical student at Ulster University.
06:42And where are you from?
06:43From Utenards originally, but I live in Belfast.
06:46Can you tell me how you're feeling about today and actually, well, near enough, being
06:51in a locker room?
06:52I'm relieved, tired, a little bit of pride as well, just still want exam results to come,
07:01so overall relief.
07:03And, like, can you tell me about the mental worker team, do you hear from any years of
07:04scholarship?
07:05Um, so it's four years at university, but realistically there's a couple of years before that we have
07:14to do an entrance exam called the GAMSAT, and I've been in preparation for that as well,
07:19so it's probably closer to five or six years.
07:21And, um, are you planning to stay in or are you planning to jetting off to someone else?
07:27No, I have a job in exams, exam results pending, I have a job in Antrimaria Hospital next year,
07:33and then another job in the Madder Hospital in Belfast the year after that, and then I'll
07:37not be going anywhere too far away, I'll be staying local.
07:40And what do you want to stay?
07:42Uh, well, I'm married, uh, and my wife has a job in Belfast, and we have a mortgage, and
07:50we're very happy where we live, so we don't really have any plans to go anywhere too exotic.
07:55And then, for how can we encourage more people, more your body, get involved in medicine and
08:00science?
08:01Well, for me it was a change of career, so I think, obviously if you are working in a job
08:07that you don't feel fulfilled in, or you're not achieving your potential, or you've always
08:11had that little itch that you want to scratch to become a doctor, then it's a four year
08:16course, an opportunity to do that.
08:18On the other hand, if you graduate from school and you don't have the grades necessary to
08:23get in straight away from school, it offers you the opportunity of a second chance.
08:26So it's, um, it's a menu of second chances, really.
08:30Do you mind me asking what you did before hand?
08:32I worked as a dentist beforehand.
08:34And, um, can you tell me, what do you think it'll be like when you first see that DR,
08:39that doctor before you leave, when you need that letter on?
08:43Yeah, I, so I never used that as a dentist, I never used the title doctor because I never
08:47felt like I was a doctor.
08:49And, um, I think it will be pretty, pretty special to have it, yeah.
08:53I feel like I've earned it, and I feel like I am a doctor.