Poppy Iveson

I have just started my fifth year of medicine at Hertford, which is my second year in clinical school.

Despite feeling ready for a new challenge after finishing third year, I was admittedly daunted by the thought of starting clinical school last September. It can feel like you’re being thrown in at the deep end as you’re seeing patients on the first day, however we received so much support from both the medical school and the tutors at Hertford that I quickly got into the swing of things.

Throughout fourth year I got to work with many different specialties through attachments across medicine, surgery and at a local district general hospital. We also get the opportunity to pursue our own interests with a Special Study Module, which I did in Disaster and Conflict Medicine and I presented a poster on the Effects of Conflict on Maternal Mortality to my peers.

One of the highlights of clinical school has been the excellent bedside tutorials given by our three clinical tutors – Mr Brewster, Dr Bettinson and Dr Biswas. Through these tutorials I was able to hone my clinical skills and work on my bedside manner, which led to me being awarded proxime accessit for the John Pearce Memorial Prize, awarded to a student who shows exemplary care and concern for patients.

I’m so grateful for all the opportunities that are available to us at Hertford, including opportunities to teach second-year medical students and funding for academic travel. One of my favourite aspects of college life is the strong sense of community, especially amongst the medical students. This is fostered by Vaughan Williams Dinners twice a year, where we get the opportunity to catch up with medics in all six years at Hertford as well alumni. I’d like to thank Prof. Greaves, Mr Brewster and the Vaughan Williams Fund for all that they do for us at Hertford.