Welcome to the Cambridge Widening Access to Medicine Society monthly newsletter 😊. We hope you have had a great August! In this month's newsletter, we will be exploring the importance of empathy, busting the myth that the Tompkins table is the only way to choose a college, EdU and resources to help with Maths or Further Maths A Levels. Food for Thought: an example interview question Why is it important for medical professionals to be empathetic toward their patients? Pooja, one of our outreach officers, guides us through how to answer this question. In this case, empathy is how the medical professionals demonstrate that they understand their patients’ feelings, by identifying and experiencing them themselves. This means the medical professionals better understand what their patient’s priorities and needs are, and can therefore care for them in a personal way, ensuring they treat not only the disease but any underlying causes for these and any broader impacts of a condition. For patients, seeing this empathy through forms such as visual and verbal cues creates a feeling of trust between them and the medical professional, as they also feel better understood, which can ultimately lead to better outcomes through things such as better adherence to medication and treatments, and overall better patient experiences. Myth-buster Myth: You should only pick your college based on the Tompkins table Pravinija our secretary explains why this is not the case. The Tompkins table ranks colleges based on the number of first-class grades received by students. Many students feel that they should pick a college higher up in The Tompkins table perhaps due to advice from certain student forums however this myth is incredibly damaging. Firstly, there are some colleges which not everybody can attend such as those which are ‘female-only’ such as Newnham and Murray Edwards or for mature students. Furthermore, you might be someone who prefers not to have to travel far to get to the centre of town or to where your lectures happen and so may prefer to find a college which Is closer to certain places. You might also be someone who absolutely will not share a bathroom and so may look into colleges which provide many ensuites such as Selwyn College. Colleges also differ in the scholarships available whether that is sport, art or academic and if that is something which important for you, you may want to look at colleges which offer these scholarships. Finally, as well as having uni-wide societies, there is a wealth of college-wide societies such as ‘Ultimate Frisbee Club’ at Churchill College and so you may want to consider whether there is any society which you will be extremely interested in which is unique to one or few colleges. Each college also has different facilities one such example being a theatre in Robinson College hosted by the ‘Brickhouse Theatre Company’. As you can see, there is a lot more to consider about colleges that where they stand in The Tompkins Table to find the college in which you feel you will be able to thrive within. Behind the Headlines Matilda, one of our co-presidents, provides us with a fantastic summary of an article she read about the anti-cancer properties of EdU. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220823143836.htm The development of evermore effective and specific cancer treatments has been at the forefront of much scientific research over the past decades. Although many therapies have proved successful, some target healthy cells, as well as cancer cells, leading to the common renowned side effects. As cancer cells are human cells which have mutated, one of the main difficulties in cancer research has been developing drugs which specifically target these mutated cells, whilst sparing healthy cells. Using the qualities of these cells, such as uncontrollable mitotic division, many drugs have focused on inhibiting this process.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina have made the exciting discovery that a commonly used molecule in the lab - EdU - could have anti-cancer properties. EdU is an analogue of the DNA base thymidine, which is used in the lab in place of thymidine. When incorporated into DNA, EdU alters the DNA and causes DNA damage. This triggers a futile DNA response, eventually ending in cell death. Targeting rapidly dividing cells, this molecule is especially promising in brain cancers, as tumour cells are actively dividing whereas most healthy cells in the brain are non-dividing. It will be interesting to see the development of this discovery and what it means for future cancer treatments! Link of the Month Hermione, our webmaster, shares resources which will be very useful to people doing Maths or Further Maths A-levels. TLMaths TLMaths (google.com) Examsolutions Homepage - ExamSolutions Dr Frost maths DrFrostMaths.com A Level Maths Revision A Level Maths Revision | Revision Courses | Tutoring | Free Resources
A Level maths and further maths can be tough, so I asked current students to share the resources they have found the most helpful in their studies. These sites provide a variety of tools with topic PowerPoints, notes, tutorial videos, past paper walkthroughs and exam questions covering many exam boards. If you are finding maths challenging or want a way to boost your grade, then I would definitely check these out! That's the end of the newsletter this month and if you have any questions, then as ever, please just email us at questions@camwams.co.uk! We hope you have had a great start to the new acadmeic year! Love, CamWAMS 2022 Committee
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