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Name: Shamini V De Silva
University: University of Leeds
Program: BSc Medical Sciences
Year of Study: Year 3
Contact details: bs18svds@leeds.ac.uk
Institution: Program:
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Campus Facilities: Academic Environment:
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Social Life: Career Planning Opportunities:
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Overall Experience:
1 2 3 4 5
Contrast Between Workload hours in University vs High School:
I did less work in university than in high school
Same number of hours
1-3 more hours of work in university
4-6 more hours of work in university
7-9 more hours of work in university
10+ more hours of work in university
What made you choose your institution over others?
The University of Leeds has a very strong online profile and this allowed me to learn a lot about the University and what it has to offer me. Compared to the other choices I had, Leeds had a little bit of everything that I was looking for. For example, the Leeds for life: Broadening scheme attracted my attention as it made the University unique. The scheme allows students to pick modules outside our chosen field (in my case, Biomedical Sciences) and pick discovery modules from fields like Law, Philosophy and History, just to name a few. This broadens and adds variety to your degree. As I learn more about what career path I would like to follow, I begin to question things like doing a PhD and how to improve my chances of successfully getting on to a PhD programme. However, there are limited resources provided by the university for students who are curious about doing a PhD. I am planning on contacting the School of Biomedical Sciences student representative who can raise this during a Faculty meeting in the hopes of resolving it.
What did you wish you knew before choosing your specific program?
I wish I had known more about the workload. It is very different from that in high school. If I could go back, I would try to improve my approach to lectures, where rather than trying to write down all the bits of information the professor speaks about, I spend more time listening and actively thinking about what they're trying to get across to us. Time-management is an essential skill to master at university. I only fully realised this, however, at the beginning of my second year when you have multiple deadlines to meet (coursework), lectures to catch up on and at the same time balancing work and social life. The biggest advantage I get by being a Medical Sciences student is the range of exposure to a variety of areas in Neuroscience, Pharamcology, Human Physiology, Microbiology and many others. The degree I have chosen is very flexible, as I get to choose my optional modules from a wide range of fields.
What was your best experience at university?
One of the highlights was when I was given the chance to do a summer placement working on an Alzheimer's Disease study with a professor, after my first year ended. I was very worried in the last few months before summer as I had limited work experience in a lab and I wanted to gain some during my time at Leeds. I sent an email to just that professor and I am so grateful he was willing to give me a chance!
What was your worst university experience?
I had applied to a Teaching Enhancement Internship at the university in January 2020. As my second semester was about to start, in a moment of panic about "having too much on my plate", I sent an email withdrawing my application. I received a reply saying that I was actually one of the strongest candidates and that he was just about to send an email offering a place to me. I thought I made the right decision by withdrawing, as there was actually a lot of work to do in my second semester. However, I can't help feeling regretful over that one decision I made.
What is the hardest part about your program and what were the steps that you took to overcome any difficulties?
As a Biomedical Sciences student, you are expected to be able to comprehend complex information in a short period of time. Reading research articles can be extremely daunting and difficult at the beginning when you don't understand the technical terms. As you've only begun to dive into scientific articles, it can be extremely overwhelming. To overcome this challenge, I took my time with reading complex scientific literature, I told myself to be patient (which may seem counter-intuitive as you have limited time to submit coursework assignments). I did my best at understanding what I can and what I didn't as I noticed that it would pop up again sometime in the future (sometimes in lectures and other assignments). Over time, you learn to engage better with the literature. A helpful way to deal with having to read many articles is to learn to use your reference manager of choice effectively. You cannot remember everything you read! I learnt to take notes within the reference manager rather than separately, hence keeping the notes for each article attached to it. By doing so, I was also able to hop back and forth between different articles, gaining a better understanding of the topic.
What was your favourite module/course and why?
Although I found most of the modules I chose interesting, one of my favourites was Cognitive Neuroscience. This module introduced me to the processes underlying how we recognise faces, make decisions and memory and learning. I had already found Neuroscience to be a fascinating field so this module allowed me to explore a sub-field that I was curious about.
What tips and advice would you give to first year students?
In general, as a first year student, have an open mind. First, about the course and modules you choose, career paths, learning methods (as you'll find that what worked in the past, may not work anymore) but also be open to new experiences, like meeting people from different backgrounds. First year is meant to introduce you to life as an undergraduate student and, more importantly, to finding a balance between your social life and academic life. I would suggest using your first year to explore opportunities available on campus. These could be related to your academics, extracurricular activities, career events or even volunteering opportunities. As you progress into your second and final year, you may not be able to explore as much because you might find yourself working most of the time (which does not mean you shouldn't spend time exploring at higher levels!). I certainly feel as if I should have explored more in my first year and asked questions more often. There are so many opportunities and information out there, but you have to seek it out by doing the work yourself, asking questions and approaching the right people.
Additional Comments
At Leeds, mental health services are improving and the student union is doing an excellent job at representing the views of the students. In addition, there are 300+ societies and clubs for students to join, and these are all extremely diverse in that there is something for everyone who joins us!
