The M4M Blog

Our so-called Freedom Day arrived on the 19th of July. Alongside feelings of euphoria, freedom and exhilaration was concern, fear and anxiety, coming in the midst of a drastic uptick in cases. These concerns are far-ranging – the…

It isn’t hyperbole to say that the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown has had a profound impact on mental health. For students, being isolated and stuck at home while also being expected to carry on learning and preparing for exams…

The arrival of a new year alongside a pandemic coming back to life in full force was a sharp new beginning for first years and a complete change in scene for those in older years. Medics4Medics was introduced to the…

In the time of a pandemic, focusing on the present can seem like the absolute last option anyone can take. In a situation where we literally can’t leave our own houses except for essential reasons, it can be painful to…

Self-care is one of those things we can see on a daily basis and completely overlook when it comes to applying it to our own lives. It can often be relatable not to take care of ourselves, or seem like…

We’ve all been there – lockdown can be dreary and isolating. With classes all online, common spaces closing their doors and social events getting postponed for the umpteenth time, it’s easy to feel lonely. As an international this is…

As medical students, we’re placed in a unique position – viewed as some form of proto-doctor. The not-so-subtle idea that we will eventually be looking after hundreds, if not thousands of patients and their health in a near future is…

Competition can feel like an intrinsic part of life at UCLMS. From the beginning, and throughout, ideas that you must get certain grades, and be better than your peers are all around. They may not be prominent all the time…

While you are at medical school, you are training to be a doctor. However, you are also learning how to balance who you want to be as a doctor with who you want to be as a person.Medical school is…

Cast your mind back to medical school interview prep. It is likely that you rehearsed or at least knew the answer to this question:What do you consider to be your greatest weakness?Perhaps you said that you were a perfectionist. Perhaps…

With November being a month focussed on raising awareness of men’s health and so much wonderful work being done by the RUMS community to raise money for Movember, we invited UCL’s very own Kenny Aruwa to discuss men’s mental health.…

Happy New Year! We hope that you had a restful and well deserved break. Even if you feel like you did nothing, that’s something to be celebrated – you did your part. If you don’t believe me, take…

My name is Shambhavi, and I'm a first year medical student. I signed up to Medics4Medics- in the first couple of weeks of joining university. Medics4Medics is a small student-run society focused on peer support and mental wellbeing that…

Hi everyone, my name is Kerry Wales and in 2017 I founded the modern UCL Medics4Medics Peer Support Group!I was motivated to take a lead in medical student welfare following my 2016 iBSc research dissertation on UCL Medical Student Mental…

In 2014-15 I was in third year (BSc) and also voted in as RUMS Welfare VP. I was incredibly passionate about improving the support provided by the university for medical students as I saw far too often that we were…

Hellooooo incoming freshers! We are your Medics4Medics committee for 2020/21: Srishti, Niraj, Kabir and Lorcan (more info on our Insta page: @uclmedics4medics). We are delighted to welcome you to the medical school community and are sure…

Thank you Medics4Medics for running the Meditation, Spirituality and Mental Health Event! The first half, by Marco Schlosser, was useful as it focused on research and I learnt about the methodology and drawbacks for meditation studies. I…

Talking about mental health is difficult, particularly in BAME communities. On the 28th of July, Medics4Medics provided a space for people to share their mental health experiences both from their perspective of being from an ethnic and as…

Medical students have two main options in seeking student support. These are UCL psychological support services​ and ​medical student support​. You may know about these options in theory, but wonder about the reality of seeking We to…

Over 1.6 million people in the UK are estimated to be suffering from an eating disorder. Chances are, there is someone close to you who has one. Whilst you can’t force someone with an eating disorder to change their habits…

University is a hectic and often highly stressful place; everyone goes through difficult times, and seeing a friend who is struggling can be hard. This session helped me to reflect on how I have been as a friend when others…

On 26th November, Dr Asta Medisauskaite, a Research Fellow at UCL and an organisational psychologist, came to speak to us about burnout in doctors. She gave a very informative talk with shocking statistics about the prevalence of burnout…

This year, Medics4Medics started off the term with a discussion-based session on ‘Perfectionism’, led by Ahmed, a 5th year peer navigator. Perfectionism is complicated and multidimensional; researchers have categorized perfectionism…

Greetings. If you haven’t seen our Facebook post, Medics4Medics (M4M) has decided to create a blog. This post is an extension of that Facebook post, and focuses on thoughts around sharing experiences. Skip to the end for the tl;dr.…