Hello! My name is Kathy, and I am a sixth year medical student at Flinders University. I’m sure that the idea of spending six years at university is just about the last thing you could imagine at the moment, but let me tell you why they have been the best years of my life!
Starting uni was a daunting experience for me, as I felt that I was leaving the safety of high school and being thrown into a strange new world that I had absolutely no idea about. It didn’t take long for things to start feeling familiar though, and my course allowed me to hold on to some of the things that I loved most about school, including moving through my whole degree and attending classes with the same group of close-knit people. What I have also found is that my course, like all courses at Flinders, has also provided me with many incredible opportunities that high school never could.
From assisting with open heart surgery to delivering a baby into the world; from flying with the Royal Flying Doctor Service to providing medical care in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, studying medicine has allowed me and my fellow students to broaden our horizons in ways that many of us had never considered possible when we were at school.
Right now I am sitting in a trendy little café in Glasgow Scotland, on a coffee break during my six week uni placement here. As a final year medical student at Flinders, I get given two six-week electives to experience medicine anywhere in the world, in any field I like. For one of these I chose to gain experience in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Scotland, and was able to come with three friends whom I started Uni with in 2010 (way way back!). Now we are coming to the end of our degree together on the other side of the world! Elective placements are just one of the ways that I have been able to follow my passions through Flinders University, and having the opportunity to travel the world with close friends is one of the many reasons that being a uni student is such a unique and unforgettable experience.
Over the past six years, I have learned that uni is about much more than sitting in lecture theatres and passing exams. It is about making lasting friendships, trying things you otherwise never could, developing a thirst for knowledge, and discovering where your true passions lie in life. These things don’t happen overnight of course, but if you open yourself up to all the possibilities that studying at Flinders University has to offer, the world is your oyster!