CamWAMS Newsletter
Hello readers! Welcome to the Cambridge Widening Access to Medicine Society fortnightly newsletter 😊
Food for Thought: an example interview question
“How does the body respond to major haemorrhage and why do these changes happen?”
See the bottom for some suggested approaches to this!
Behind the Headlines
The impact of Brexit on the NHS is HUGE – in terms of drug availability / medicine stockpiling, staffing (the NHS relies on the EU and beyond for clinical and non-clinical professionals at all levels), resources, drug and other research… A no-deal would be catastrophic and this may well come up at interview. Your personal views are your personal views but regardless of these it is important to be aware of the wider consequences of current UK politics; try to have a think about this and keep up with the headlines on the matter.
A useful starting point: https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/medical-school-interview/nhs-hot-topics-2018-19/nhs-brexit-effect-of-brexit-on-nhs/
Link of the fortnight
A brilliant initiative where you can submit your personal statement for a current medical student to check over and give you feedback for free.
Take part in the UK Medical Applicant Cohort Study (an academic research study into medical school applications) and be in with a chance to win an Amazon voucher!
Myth-buster
“Everyone at Cambridge is from the South East of England”
NOT THE CASE – yes there are lots of people from this area but this is probably something to do with there being lots of people living in this area to begin with. There are students at Cambridge from all over the UK but also all over the world and it’s a really diverse environment with student societies representing many different backgrounds and beliefs. If there isn’t a society yet, then maybe that should be your job in first year…
Food for Thought: an example approach
This is a challenging question because you are unlikely to know all of the answers and because there are lots of things you could talk about. The main thing to remember is that not knowing the answer is okay – try to step back from the situation (mentally…) and think about what could happen based on what you know. Talk aloud as you go, explaining your thought process, and if you get stuck it is ok to pause and have a think. We would advise you to have a go at answering even if you have no idea!
These are some of the things that you could talk about:
1. Blood volume goes down because of blood loss. To compensate for this the body goes into ‘fight or flight response’ via adrenaline and noradrenaline release. This helps to maintain the blood pressure, in order to maintain oxygenation of critical organs (especially the brain, the heart and the kidneys) – sometimes the blood pressure actually goes up at first because all the blood vessels constrict to achieve this. A drop in the blood pressure is therefore a worrying sign, especially in young people whose circulation and blood vessels are more resilient; it usually indicates a loss of >15% of the total blood volume.
2. Heart rate goes up to help maintain oxygenation and “cardiac output” (which is the amount of blood the heart pumps out per minute). The heart also starts to work harder so that the “stroke volume” goes up (the volume of blood pumped out by the two ventricles per heartbeat).
3. Body fluids are conserved, to try to keep fluid in the blood vessels and therefore maintain blood pressure – so changes include increased thirst (mechanisms are activated to encourage drinking), and increased reabsorption of water and salts by the kidneys.
This is not an exhaustive list but gives you some good starting points. Other things to think about in general might include causes of haemorrhage, what happens when these compensatory mechanisms fail, and how we might manage haemorrhage in terms of first aid approaches and in terms of within hospital.
Thanks for reading – if you have any questions then as ever please just email us at access@clinsoc.co.uk!
Hope you have a great fortnight and GOOD LUCK!
Love,
CamWAMS Committee
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