Getting into Cambridge Medical School is hard enough and even more competitive for international students but that's exactly what Crimson student, Linda, has been able to achieve!
Not only that, Linda successfully gained admission to medical programs in Australia and her home country of New Zealand.
Linda shares her application experiences, study tips and exam techniques with Crimson Education CEO, Jamie Beaton.
**Interested in STEM? Download the Ultimate Resource Bank for Science Students with the favourite resources from young scientists featured on the Top of the Class**
Getting into Cambridge Medical School is hard enough and even more competitive for international students but that's exactly what Crimson student, Linda, has been able to achieve!
Not only that, Linda successfully gained admission to medical programs in Australia and her home country of New Zealand.
Linda shares her application experiences, study tips and exam techniques with Crimson Education CEO, Jamie Beaton.
**Interested in STEM? Download the Ultimate Resource Bank for Science Students with the favourite resources from young scientists featured on the Top of the Class**
Podcast Host 00:17
Hello and welcome to the top of the class podcast. In today's episode Crimson Education CEO Jamie Beaton chats with Linda who recently gained admission to Cambridge University's medical school, making her one of the very few international students accepted to the prestigious program. In addition, Linda successfully applied to medical schools in Australia and New Zealand. We hear about her application experiences, her study tips and how she got great scores in her a levels and medicine admission exams. Let's hear from Jamie and Linda.
Jamie Beaton 00:49
Welcome to the show, Linda.
Linda 00:50
Hi, Jamie. Thank you.
Jamie Beaton 00:52
So let's rewind back to your younger self. You know, what kind of student were you like when you were in primary school? Were you very academically inclined? Or were you still find your foot? What was it like back then?
Linda 01:03
Um, well, when I was much younger, I kind of had primary birth and New Zealand and China. So and New Zealand? I don't I only attended a year one, year two year three, I don't have much memories about them. Yeah. But then when I went back to China, I suppose at first I wasn't that academically focused. But as I graduate with three primary and into secondary, I kind of focus more in terms of academics and focus more on my grades I suppose.
Jamie Beaton 01:30
Nice. And what age did you come to New Zealand?
Linda 01:33
So I came to New Zealand when I was like two and a half and then I went back to China at seven. So we went back to year two in China. And then I came back for year nine. So the start of high school.
Jamie Beaton 01:45
Wow. And I guess what made you decide to come back for high school? Any particular kind of academic reason? Or what was the background there?
Linda 01:52
Yeah, to be honest, like when I went back to China, and yeah, um, when I was seven years old, I was mainly my parents decision, and also young to have like a felt for myself back then. Mainly, my parents wanted me to learn Chinese and build that foundation for like, with their academics later on in my life. So that was the main reason I went back. By doing I actually wanted to come to New Zealand for high school myself, because we had lots of homework back in China. And yeah, and my memory, studying anything was more chill. Yeah, so I kind of really want to come back. And my parents wanted me to come back as well, for my English.
Jamie Beaton 02:29
Yeah, that's awesome. And how did you find that condition back in year nine? Or was it pretty smooth landing? Or was it challenging? In the first couple of months? How'd you find that?
Linda 02:38
maths was pretty good. I mean, for the transition? Yeah. Um, apart from that, science, it was like, we didn't really touch on science back in China. But then, um, so we didn't separate it into biochem physics. But I was still combined science and nine. So that was all good for me. And the only thing that I had some issues with was probably English, especially in English writing. Yeah, I was quite surprised. I didn't actually go to ESL, but I'm quite good as well. I didn't go because that kind of helped me to pick up the pace more quickly. Yes, I think that's about it.
Jamie Beaton 03:14
It makes a lot of sense. Okay. That's great. And then you know, how career aspirations evolve. So like, when you say in China, before you came back to New Zealand? What kind of goals did you have your future studies? And then when did kind of medicine rise to the forefront?
Linda 03:27
Yeah, I suppose medicine had its impact. Like when I was quite young, you were considering all these different job options in there. Like, at the beginning of primary kind of thought, well, medicine is the job as quite a lot. So I mean, yeah. But later, as you gradually go through, like, going to the future, your levels, you kind of see how medicine has an impact in the society, and how it actually can help all these patients and might change your life in the future. So like medicine, really, it basically, I'm satisfied at some point in my life. And I started to realize, like, there might be a career that I really want to go into. And then when I came back to New Zealand for high school, I got to choose all these different subjects. And that was where I realized that I am actually really interested in science compared to all of the other subjects. And yes, I my interest in science, and perhaps like pi wants to know how the human body functions. That was basically something that drew me to medicine as well. And also along the side before paying for medicine. I also work shadowed some doctors and a clinical trial as well. So like that really go t my passion. Yeah, so yeah, medicine.
Jamie Beaton 04:40
That's wonderful. And then of many families comes in, students don't want to go into practicing medicine and others want to go into kind of academic research within medicine. They go do things like MD PhD. So do you feel your career track evolving? More than that kind of medical research track or more of the practicing a director working with patients track you know, where do you see the future?
Linda 04:58
Right now, I see my future. As more in the clinical side, because I feel like that doctor patient relationship is something that I want to have in my career. And like diagnosing patients and being able to treat them with your abilities. Yeah. And so that's like what I'm thinking right now. But like after, I did mention that I went on a clinical trial experience. Yeah, so I observed one. And after that experience, I kind of saw the importance of research as well, how it pushes medicine further. So I was thinking, perhaps focusing more on the clinical side, but at the same time, maybe like having some research on on the side as well. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking right now.
Jamie Beaton 05:35
Beautiful. And I guess I'm on this track of medicine, how did you decide kind of what countries to apply for for medicine? You know, I've seen students that run quite a focused approach, they just apply to say, like Australia, or the students go more global, and some students will do, you know, even applied to the US and, you know, think about pre med and you know, there's a bit of a mixture. So ultimately, kind of which countries that you apply for, and why'd you apply for those countries.
Linda 05:59
So basically, I'm right now in New Zealand, so I applied for local University, the University of Auckland. Apart from that, I thought that I did apply to Australia and the UK. So my reason for Australia is that my parents quite wanted me to go to Australia, especially it's quite close to New Zealand. And some of the Australian universities are quite good as well. So that was like one of the reasons as well. And the UK is basically the place that I always wanted to go to. So UK universities, they were definitely on my list. Yeah, and UK has some really well known universities that you hear about, since you're really small. So you always kind of have that interest, I won't go into that you need to some extent, and then in there.
Jamie Beaton 06:44
For those listening, the UK is very interesting to medicine, because you can actually go directly in undergrad and begin your medical degree. When you go to the US you have to do you know, undergrad degree, and then an MD post grad. So it's kind of a longer journey with the UK is that direct entry. So you know, very attractive for sure. And now tell us a little bit about kind of your journey in terms of the actual interview process some of the schools so what kinds of interviews did you experience and and in particular, how was your Cambridge interview if you want to recount any of those fun stories for us.
Linda 07:13
So for my interviews, at first, I was actually quite nervous, I did get quite a lot of help from my school teachers and from my teachers from Crimson as well. And basically, for interviews, like there were two different types of families, there's a panel interview and our multiple mini interview. So I think both of them, so I had quite a few. And each of the categories.
Jamie Beaton 07:33
Any particular interviews that were quite stressful, or I guess in any kind of tips, you'd give a younger version of yourself, you're about to go through things that caught you off guard, things like that.
Linda 07:44
Yeah. So basically, the first interview that I had was from Australia, and it was an MMI. Yeah, that was a bit stressful, since it was my first ever interview. But then you were nervous at the start. But then it got better along the way, because you actually see people like on the other side of the laptop, and sometimes you say this firing back at you. And that makes you feel better as well. Then basically, after that, I had some of my UK interviews, Cambridge, I was two panel interviews for those. Well, my first one, I was a bit nervous, I suppose I didn't do that well. I probably missed out on some of the questions. But then for my second one, I suppose I did much better. And I feel like it's with your mood at that time as well. So like if you kind of don't do that well in your first like reorganize yourself, and prepare for the second one, and just start all over again. Yeah. And then there were some other interviews from the UK that were in mind as well. So the main thing for me, is basically when you go from one session to the next start fresh every time because they're marked separately as well.
Jamie Beaton 08:47
That's a really good piece of advice that I think for many high achieving students around the world, the college process is the first time they experience any kind of remote degree of failure, right. So like, usually, you know, your top student flying through, you might apply to say us schools, and you might get rejected from our school and it you know, it feels horrible, because it's very rare that for example, you'd like failed here so that that kind of experience we are really challenged is a unique one. So I think it's a really good piece of advice for those who, you know, interview for these UK universities. Not to let one jargon question kind of influence your headspace for the next. I remember when I was doing my own in digital payments for economics, I was very nervous and flustered for the first question. And you know, I could definitely imagine kind of a point where that panic would kind of go to the following questions. But I think that training, which helps you to stay calm and kind of recollect your thoughts is is very useful. Awesome. And then how do you find the BMAT in particular, any tips you'd give for studying and also for the audience, maybe describe what the BMAT is?
Linda 09:42
Yep. So for BMAT, it's the sections and the first one first section, it's 60 minutes. Basically problem solving and critical thinking skills, I'm pretty sure. And for the second section, it's scientific and maths. And for the third one, it's basically writing the And you choose a question out of the three that you're given. And for payments, I started preparing, I think in 10th grade, I had a tutor as well from Crimson and that really helped. I feel like will be my one piece of advice, perhaps be doing lots of practice questions. And on the BMAT website, you can find all these past papers, which really help and just check your answers afterwards. Well, the writing I suppose that's more like practicing your content and how you write it out within the time restrictions. I've also been that the time is quite limited, I feel like and for me, like personally, when I did it, I actually, initially I ran out of time for section one, but I actually had him as extra for 61 minutes with the actual exam. So that was quite surprising. But then I ran out of time for tech center, which was really unusual for me. But basically, after section two, you kind of have you go straight onto sixth day, and I was, uh, I was in a bit of a panic back then, because I actually had to get some of the questions for Section two, because I run out of time. Yeah, so basically starting fresh again, like, going back to that same fish, it really helps. And then the overall takeaway will pass just be practicing.
Jamie Beaton 11:13
Yeah, and I guess, moving to the UCAT, probably quite similar. But any particular suggestions for that? You get being the general medical aptitude test, you know, many candidates for entry to say, Australian universities in particular, and some UK universities to medicine. But yeah, any tips for UCAT you'd give our listeners?
Linda 11:30
You can again, practice, because you can't you have a lot of questions. It's much more than a payment, and you only have a certain amount of time. Well, for me, I really struggled with section one because I'm not really a fast reader. And apart from that I pretty short section for the abstract reasoning, that one you really do need to practice. So you need to learn how to find the patterns. And sometimes they're so hard to notice. But when you know the answer, they're actually so obvious. But like, yeah, so you really do need to practice abstract reasoning. For the others. Like for Section three, it's like math. So it's like calculations, but then you don't have an actual calculator. So you basically need to, you need to find yourself like goes back keyboards with a number pads in led practice using that number pairs, because that's what you'll get in the actual exam. And for situational judgment, I feel like that, again, comes down to factors. I never quite got back off that I suppose. Yeah, I suppose that's about it.
Jamie Beaton 12:29
And I guess one of the kind of really incredible things about your profile when you applied was the consistency of your a level results? You know, I guess, if you run through the biology and correct me if I'm wrong, but biology 95% A-Star, physics 98% A-Star, math 97% A-Star, chemistry 96% A-Star and you even got an A-Star on the Cambridge International project. So I guess many of our listeners, having strong high school grades means you've got so many doors open for university naturally, how did you go about I guess, setting these a level exams, any particular general approaches that you would recommend a student plus thing as they say certain, you know, IG or something and think about A-levels in the future?
Linda 13:07
Basically, some situps that I will say will perhaps be listening in class, because continually reading the textbook listening class, it's more effective, I suppose, at least for me, it was because it's like a two way communication where you can actually ask questions when you don't understand. And then one thing that I do that I think really helped me was that going over all my notes at the end of that day, and that kind of helped me to link everything together. As well as just like going over the notes, it helps me to memorize it more as well. Yeah. And also, perhaps another thing will be start revising early for your interview exams. So like, if you start revising early, you you won't panic that much when the actual exam actually comes. And apart from those, like preparing for exams, practice pass papers, that's something that I do a lot. You learn from your mistakes, I feel like that's a way that I learned as well. Well, apart from that, like, when you actually do see your exam, like about half an hour before you actually go into the exam room, like perhaps take yourself away from your notes, and just clear your mind a bit. I did that when I was in year 13. I think and I didn't do that for you at all. I feel like doing that actually helps you to like settle down more and just calm yourself before the exam. So I stopped panicking that much. And also deep breathing before the exam, something I always say. And for me, I always have this habit of reading four times. I don't know why. And something else is like eating something sweet before the exam because I feel like that helps you to focus.
Jamie Beaton 14:41
I love it. This is amazing. I like to think that I'm usually not very superstitious, but when I was sitting my a level exams, I would follow many of these recurring rituals like you described. So I always would buy for example, a Turkish to like a blue Powerade and some keto barbecue chips before every exam, and you know, kind of speaking to a sugar point, you know, having just enough Sugar hits, you can get through your hour and a half or two hour, two and a half hour exam and be really sharp i think is great. And me, you know, I just found kind of always eating the same thing, it was a bit of a ritual, you know, that would get me in, you know, I knew as an exam state ready to go. So I think you know, for you, you're for breathing technique, or taking that 30 minute get many high performing students and even athletes use similar techniques to kind of get into like a bit of a flow state. And really, you know, focus, I think that is very good advice. Because I think if you study your notes, and then you just run into the exam straightaway, it's very stressful, and you can be very panicked for the first little while. So um, yeah, I think I think it's very wise. And I guess, if you compare your younger self to that, you know, year 13 model, where you take those breaks before the exam, did you see any kind of performance change or mindset change? Or how does it impact your performance?
Linda 15:49
Um, less stressful. So like, for that 30 minute break, you kind of start linking that information together in some way. And when you actually go into the exam, it's like, the flow is better, I suppose. But then if you go straight into the exam, after looking at your notes, then it's kind of like, when you answer the questions, you're still trying to remember those last points of the notes. And then that kind of makes you more panic. And yeah, you don't perform that well I suppose, yeah.
Jamie Beaton 16:17
Very well said. That makes a lot of sense. And then I guess, generally, how do you think about your kids face during studying, I speak to many Crimson students who are thinking about, you know, three or six months ahead, all the things they have to do, and it can become quite overwhelming. So when you know, you've got exams on the horizon? How do you kind of manage your mental state throughout that preparation period? To avoid getting too cold, like overstressed? How do you think about that.
Linda 16:39
So especially, I'll say, for year 13, especially if you're applying for med you have to do, you can be met. And then along with writing your personal statement, if you want to go to the UK, and also prepare your a levels. So that's a lot of exams just there. So basically, knowing after knowing where each exam as you can see the rough plan on when abouts Are you going to start preparing for that examination. So I know for myself, I'm UK, I basically saw, I think enough time one Indian, I gave myself like a term and a bit more during the holidays to prepare for UK. And especially if I had my exam in term, two holidays. So I had one and a half weeks before my exam to actually prepare for UK. And basically during term 2, I had school mid-year exams. So basically, I spent term 2, mainly preparing for my mid-year exams. But then after that, I started to go into UCAT until the end of term 2. And after that, during the holidays, basically once you know you have that exam, you you prepare quite intense. So I remember I did one practice paper every day, like leading up to that exam, yeah, because I usually run out of time for UCAT. So I did need that preparation for myself. And to gain that confidence in me. And after that, it's about time three. And that leads up to your Cambridge exams and BMAT is along with your Cambridge exams, as well. So the timeframe is roughly the same. So basically, starting from term 2 you start preparing for your BMAT as well as along with your Cambridge exams. But to be honest, I feel like BMAT, especially section two, it a kind of links into your school knowledge. So that's kind of being prepared alongside your actual A-Levels. So for section three, the writing, um, you can practice that alongside like when I have study periods during school as well. And section one that kind of flows from the UCAT as well. So it's basically trying to link those to the other examinations you did. And basically gaining that confidence that you think you can do well, alongside that I had to write my personal statement and my personal statement, I actually edited it so many times. And that sounds a bit frustrating at the end. But anyways, um, you start preparing that quite early as well. And it's actually really important to start preparing early, because when the time comes, you'll know you have to hit it so many times, and you have to show it to so many people and everyone gives you different opinions. So basically start preparing early for your personal statement. And for the exams just like prepare about two months or three months earlier. I feel like it should be fine.
Jamie Beaton 19:13
And I guess just hearing what you thought about that year, it's clear you're just very structured in your in your preparation and that final year, and you kind of have to be because that is pretty intense. But then I often say to my students the year 13 in high school is much more intense. My studies overseas or boarding Crimson are working on Wall Street. So if year 13 was like a 10 out of 10 for intensity, how would you say your name 10 11, 12 was like give students sort of an idea of the ramp up in terms of the kind of intensity pressure you know, that kind of thing.
Linda 19:43
For year nine and my school we just Cambridge checkpoints and everyone was saying like how checkpoints were really important. And when you actually go into year 13 you will see how year 9 wasn't that important at all so for like for year nine then intensity was was quite low, but at that time, I'll say like, if it's out of ten, I'll give it perhaps a four or five. Because although the examinations weren't that one, but use like all the different subjects, and because for year nine, the subject was set by the school so we didn't get to choose. So we took the whole range of subjects, and I suppose that contributed to the intensity. Year 10, it's basically you start the journey of a IGCSE, which we do as a two year course, for year 10, I'll rank at a six or seven, because you have like 10 subjects. Well, I had 10 subjects along the way. And basically, I feel like for year 10, you start to, it's more academically focused in school as well. And you start to get more homework as well. And you need to learn to organize your time, every day and structure your year, I suppose for your lip, and you actually start to have the Cambridge International exams. And for your living, it's like leading up to those exams, you start to feel the pressure as well, since it's the first time you have external exams that are actually important for university. And for IGCSE, especially, you took so many subjects as well. So on your exam timetable, you have so many exams piled up, so that kind of contributes to the pressure as well. I'll say like, when, as you go through the process, and if you have breached year living, I'll say, it's about like a seven or eight, because at that time, you'll think that it's quite a lot of pressure for year 12, then get off the pressures quite hard to be honest, because everyone tells you the grades you get in year 12. They're the ones that the universities look at. So yeah, 12 also gets rough grades are used when you apply for scholarships in New Zealand as well. So I feel like Yes, well, is the pressures really high, to be honest. And especially when you come up from your nine, I'll say, when you get going to get off, that's probably like a nine or 10. But then once you reach Yeah, that team, you will think that it's not as difficult because you see for yourself a really high bar kinda. And when you actually do go into your 13, you'll find that you have so many University applications to fill out. And you have to write all your personal statements and everything else, like the university entrance exams, alongside your other exams as well. So when you get to year 13, your pet's thinking test is like a nine to 10 as well. But then, once you've finished year 13, and when you look back, you will see like, how year nine year 10, you should focus more on like extracurricular activities, for example, where the academic pressure isn't that high. And basically, sign from year 11, I feel like he really should focus starting to focus on academics, because that's when your case actually do become important, especially with external exams. Yeah, and if you again, nine in year 10, I feel like perhaps you could spend more time on extracurricular activities that you won't have time for. And the higher year levels.
Jamie Beaton 22:59
One of the pieces of advice, I often gives students that, you know, because the real kind of pressure cooking in the last phase of high school, if you can take some of the things that you have to do then and smooth them out over the four or five years of high school, it's really useful. So for example, if you're applying to the US during the SAT quite early, as great, or, you know, if you're doing A-Levels, you know, taking some A Levels early, so you don't have as many and the final years is is very useful for sure as well. So I think um, that that was really good rundown. Now, we've talked a lot about a levels but, you know, when you came to this, you only had a choice, you could do you know, in theory A Levels IB, you know, theoretically, you could do the APAS. If you are really kind of push it. So how did you settle on the A Levels and kind of what's your perspective on A levels versus other qualifications, you know, you've heard about?
Linda 23:45
So when I just came to New Zealand, I didn't really think that much about the courses. I basically like, chose my school instead, I like looking at the courses. And once I went to my school, I kind of just focused on the course that they gave us. But alongside that, I suppose doing Cambridge, it's like a more internationally recognised course. So to some extent, that really helped me I suppose, applying for overseas universities. Yeah, um, well for Cambridge compared to other qualifications. From what I've heard, Cambridge is like more challenging than NCAA. Well, that I haven't done the NCAA myself, but that's what I've had. So I feel like doing Cambridge myself, like from one year before going to the next so like, from IGA Yes. And from a A-level. There was like a bit of a jump, but then I feel like it could be handled, and also with IGA how I took like 10 courses in the A-Levels was five, and the five AAS levels and four a levels. Yeah, so I feel like along the way, during the Cambridge curriculum, you kind of have a lot of courses on all subjects. And that kind of prepares you really well in terms of time management and organization. Yes, I feel like it feels you quite well for uni. And also Cambridge is quite content heavy, I suppose. And from what I've heard Cambridge with your students quite well from going to university, and I suppose that will be an advantage for doing the Cambridge curriculum. Yeah.
Jamie Beaton 25:16
Definitely. I found, for example, having done A-Level further maths, and also A-Level English literature and AS English language because they didn't have A2 back then for language. When I got to Harvard, I was able to basically skip a lot of the first year math content and go to quite advanced economics math courses, because the foundation that I had from the A Levels was pretty useful. And it stacked up pretty well against you know, for example, kids from the American curriculums, and other countries. So I do think that we need to take the most challenging subjects within the A levels, you know, you have plenty of options, which is good. The question I wanted to ask you is about tutoring. So in many cultures, let's say for example, in China or Korea, tutoring is generally viewed as something that every student is basically going to do to boost their academic performance. But in other countries like New Zealand, or Australia, tutoring, at least by many Kiwis is perceived as something you do if you're kind of like behind kind of catch up to, you know, average, but I think that trend is changing in recent years, when I was in high school, I had tutors and like Steven different subjects, even though I was, you know, highly ranked in all of these subjects to kind of go faster, because I felt maybe more efficient. So what was your philosophy on tutoring? You know, to what extent did it play a role in your journey? And generally speaking, where do you still in that debate? Do you see it as something you do when you need to catch up? Or is it something you do to kind of get more efficiency and more confidence? What's your take on that?
Linda 26:33
My view will be cheering is more for efficiency, as well as like catching up. So basically, I feel like even when you have like quite good scores yourself, I feel like cheering really helps as well, in terms of like, confirm, not confirming those knowledge, but like, basically learning how to use and apply this knowledge. Yes, I feel like cheering for myself plays quite a big role, especially coming from China. We're cheering as quite often. Yeah. So when I came to New Zealand, I didn't have cheering for English, because I have neither as far as policy submitted, and after that I was mainly met and the scientists that I had treatise for. And when I went into a divorce, there were subjects I basically took. So I feel like for cheaters, I feel like they help you to like, grasp the knowledge that you kind of know, but you don't know at the same time. So like, they actually help you to like check that you actually know everything that you're supposed to know. And if you have questions that you can always go to them, I feel like they're really helped in preparing for exams as well. So for myself, I feel like cheering is quite important for me. And I know for some of my friends, cheering is kind of quite often advice and some way but like, I know, for many Asians, I suppose that we do have like tutors for quite a few subjects. But like for so like Kiwis, I suppose that that seems to become like more often as we did have children in school as well during the years of my high school. So basically, you could get help from higher levels. And I thought that was quite useful. Yeah. And I did help to teach some of the students there as well. And yeah, and I suppose more people took that opportunity over the years. So I think it could be getting more common. Yeah.
Jamie Beaton 28:20
Yeah, I've definitely seen like a change in the culture around this, you know, from starting Crimson 2013 to today. And it's just, you know, it's a lot more mainstream students get a lot of support and in different areas. And I think kind of as things get more competitive around the world, it seems like a natural response, as you have a bit less time, it does make a lot of sense. Now moving along to kind of your career ambitions for the future. Do you know kind of what medical track you want to specialize in? And also, how long is this journey? You know, it's definitely a long one. So what does the future look like for you on a medical track through Cambridge?
Linda 28:51
Firstly, you know, it's like six years, and then after that, it's found that the foundation program, and that's two years, so that's eight years already, in the after that you can basically choose your specialty, and something I'm quite looking forward to? Well, currently, I'm thinking perhaps like pediatric surgery, or like emergency, but I haven't really decided yet. I'm so open to suggestions. And I feel like after I've been through, like the university six years, and after the foundation training, I might have like, some new ideas as well. Yeah. And then after that, the specialty training will take quite a few years as well. And after that, I'm not quite too sure yet, but perhaps I might come back to New Zealand 1415 years later, I suppose. But we'll see as the time comes, I suppose because it's definitely a long way away.
Jamie Beaton 29:43
You know, I think I think one of the interesting things about the medical pathway is you have like a, we discussed it before, but we have like the you know, career path, it's quite a mapped for almost like 1015 years. So if you think about somebody who say going into like, I don't know, software engineering, there's a lot more variance in the past. Going down. So to some degree, you know, medicines quite nice. And there's quite a natural trajectory you can choose and, you know, you're on quite a secure pathway through to quite a fantastic, you know, future in the field. So I think that's definitely pretty interesting. And then what do you notice about Cambridge? You know, obviously one of the best medical schools in the entire world, you know, university hear about when you're watching the movies. So do you feel nervous at all? What are you thinking about when it comes to landing there? Come September?
Linda 30:28
Yeah. First of all, I really hope that I can actually go there in person when the time comes. Yeah, about going there. Well, I'm bit nervous since you made all these different people from different cultures, and I'll be living independently by myself as well. So being away from home, that's something for like six years. That's something I never experienced before. I mean, apart from that, also, like Cambridge being one of the top universities in the world, you also have made all these like minded people and all these top students as well from all across the world. I'm really excited to start the journey and go out there in October. Yeah, really looking forward to your new life.
Jamie Beaton 31:07
Yeah, it should be super fun. I think. It definitely is intense. But you know, you'll be in such a great community of people all going through it together. So I feel like it always ends well. And we have a lot of fun, build some deep friendships. I know many of my best friendships or college were built during the most intense classes, the 2am nights, you know, working on homework, things like this. So I think you've got a really exciting road ahead. Well, yeah, thanks so much. I mean, very inspiring story for our listeners. Any final words of advice before we sign off for today?
Linda 31:37
start preparing and yeah, living if you can, if you really want to go into medicine, and apart from academics sleep well, and your health is important as well. Yeah.
Jamie Beaton 31:47
Nice. Amazing. Thanks very much. Brilliant.
Outro 31:51
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