Boroumand - medicine undergraduate

I’m studying MBBS medicine here at Imperial College London. Initially, I wanted to do pure maths or engineering, but medicine was always in the back of my mind. I then did work experience in medicine, which made me decide to apply.

I started looking for work experience at the start of my first year in sixth form. I spent time at a hospital in Manchester, working in a number of different wards including radiology and respiratory. It opened my eyes as I saw the whole spectrum of jobs in the medical sector.

Choosing a university

When I was looking at universities, I only applied to Imperial and one other university. From looking in detail of the courses, I didn’t want to go anywhere else.

Imperial has a completely different course, it’s more clinical from year one and you get to actually speak to patients.

I did some research into the Imperial lecturers before I came to university and realised how distinguished they are and how much they’ve achieved. So that was a big factor in my decision to apply to Imperial as well.

The research standard was also a key reason I chose to apply to Imperial. In the second year of sixth form, I did an essay competition looking at the bias in research, and how a lot of the information given to the public is made to make a profit for big companies. It was something I’m really interested in, and so I wanted to progress on that with research in medicine.

Studying medicine

The facilities at Imperial are amazing and we get proper hands-on experience while learning. You do placements throughout your course, increasing in length as you progress through the course. Now I’m in my third year, I’ll do three lots of eight-week placements.

The teaching is incredible, the lecturers are all at the top of their field. But even just being around smart, like-minded people in general helps you grow – you observe, learn and you pick things up as you go.

The mentorship in medicine in general is really valuable. This year I’m partnered up with a vascular surgeon. His role is to mentor and support me, but then I also mentor younger years on exams and making the most of opportunities. It’s a really good system and you don’t have to do it but I knew I got a lot from my mentor during first year so I wanted to participate.

The Imperial Bursary

I was given the Imperial Bursary, which is one of the most generous schemes of its kind in the UK. It’s been great for help with the cost of living, but it’s also so useful as it’s allowed me to invest in myself and my learning, and go to conferences which can be expensive.

Football and sport

I’ve played for the Imperial football team since first year. We do three sessions a week, one training session and two games. Sport is huge at Imperial! I don’t know many people who don’t do a sport or are in a club. I think it’s so important, and it’s great that Imperial promote it as well.

It’s great being part of the society as you get really close to the other members. There’s a nice mentorship aspect to it, where the older years help out the younger years. That’s probably the best part of it, other than the actual physical activity.

It can be hard to balance activities around your studies, but once you get used to it, it turns into a habit. Sport is so important not just for your physical health but for your mental wellbeing too, even to help with studying.

Horizons course

I really like art, so for my compulsory Horizons module in second year (called I-Explore) I picked an art module. It was really valuable in the lessons I learned, but I also had a bit of fun.

A lot of people choose a language or a business-related module, but I chose one called Global Visual Arts Challenge, where you explore international development through a real-world case study. We looked at the Aboriginal people in Australasia and how they lost their identity in their home because of slavery, creating an art piece to raise awareness of the issue.

The biggest part of the module for me wasn’t the art, it was the reflection on issue. It was the valuable to me because it’s actually helped me in my medical career, as well as in my personal life.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP)

I did a UROP in the summer of second year; I wanted to get involved in research to build up my medical portfolio. I also just wanted to make the most the opportunities here!

My UROP was an eight-week project where I collected data in the lab and analysed it using coding. I managed to get a bursary for my UROP, so I was paid to do it. Programmes like UROP are so powerful for your portfolio, as it shows your different skills.