The questions that guided me - and the answers I found

Before I started this work experience placement, over the course of the week I did my DofE expedition, I looked inward and asked myself a few questions. Where could I see myself in 10 years? What do I love? And am I happy with where I am going? At the time, I didn’t have a clear picture as to where I would be finding myself, whether I would be in a lab working away at life-changing research, or working a corporate job behind a desk, analysing data and slaving away at a 9 to 5. I knew that I loved chemistry, that was certain, yet at the core of my heart my prospects in chemistry were still uncertain, I had no idea what research I wanted to pursue – of course, at this point this was fine, but even applications to university, were not rooted in determinism and comfort in certainty. Would I have been happy with where I was heading? I think there was no way of telling, I was simply riding the waves of time, letting it take me in any direction so long as it was forward. I’ll return to the topic of these questions once I have detailed the experiences during this work experience that I have thoroughly enjoyed and found fascinating.

Arriving at the John Radcliffe Hospital in preparation to meet everyone was possibly the most nerve-wrecking experience I had ever undertaken. With no prior knowledge and no seeded ideas of what to expect I was anxious right down to my very core. Ready to meet some very serious and potentially terrifying people I think I’ve found myself very fortunate that for the duration of this work experience I have been in the company of wonderful people. Witnessing the liquid nitrogen, having come from a heavily chemistry background, it was quite literally one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Watching YouTube videos of Bill Nye and Nile Red playing around with liquid nitrogen really resonated with me when I got to see it firsthand. Seeing HIFU – I think – is an incredible piece of kit, heavily reliant on physics with the use of ultrasound. The fact you can fire a beam of high frequency sound that is able to pass through tissue and target a specific area is an impressive feat of engineering and showed me how medicine isn’t just chemistry and biology. Talking about Global Surgery really put into perspective the work that many doctors who might not be able to afford a formal education, put in to keep their communities in impoverished regions thriving. Day 1, for me, was an eye opener to the rest of the work experience and filled me with a sense of joy and excitement for what to expect.

Day 2, I believe, truly opened my eyes up to the endless possibilities of medicine. Beginning with talks from both a senior surgeon and junior doctor – the senior surgeon also partaking and running research when he wasn’t performing surgeries. This combination of both clinical and lab work spoke to me – partly because I love the technicalities of research and the nuances that follow that but also helping people on a day-to-day basis and being able to firsthand have a critical role in saving someone’s life. Not only this, using the ultrasound scanner, a brilliant piece of kit, gave me an insight into life as a junior doctor, especially talking with Karl, learning the hardships that come with obtaining a medical degree, but also the rewarding light at the end of the tunnel.

Personally, the work Letizia showed us was one of my favourite experiences, being able to witness what real lab work looks like at one of the most prestigious labs in the world. Once I had got the experience of working with the pipettes and seeing the results that followed from our brief experiment, I was certain this is what I wanted to do with my life.

Following on from the work we did with Letizia, we jumped straight into more lab work, exploring techniques to control the spread of bacteria using specially designed hoods, chemically separating cells and suspending them in buffer solution, and then centrifuging them and counting them to create rough estimates for cell count. Doing this, I felt stuck and resonated with me, at heart I knew this was the sort of work I could see myself doing for the rest of my life – exploring the hospital and seeing the wards and different departments confirmed this, knowing that research I will do in the future may have the potential to positively impact thousands of lives and improve quality of life, or potentially save those lives. The talk on AI and machine learning also brought about a new perspective – one which I hadn’t necessarily considered beforehand. Exploring medicine through the lens of different disciplines – of which I mean pursuing medical research through a computer science degree, implementing AI to support our doctors and radiologists in identifying issues deep within the body, saving time and money so we can put doctors where we need them most. This final talk was truly an eye opener into the vast scope of ways that medicine is approached from.

For me, Day 4 was the perfect summation to a week of discovery. Learning about the history of neurosurgery to its applications in modern day medicine and surgery was fascinating to learn about – a discipline so nuanced and specialised it’s easy to see why people want to learn it – strangely enough there’s only 1000 neurosurgeons across the UK. Following from that talk was clinical trials – something I found wildly interesting. Just the range of grants and applications that had been given in Oxford alone – the diverse network of questions being researched, all having the potential to save lives. Of which included skin grafting to detect rejection within the body, and perfusion machines which can aid in the survival of certain organs past their normal expected lifetime between harvesting and transplanting. Knowing now that I want to do research in the future, learning about clinical trials was so important to me – understanding the technicalities behind running one and the biases created when people know certain information. To close the day was diversity and equality, something I think everyone knows has been a problem in the NHS, research and healthcare for as long as people can remember, and addressing these issues and discussing them with us, the younger generation and future doctors is a vital part in ensuring a healthy workplace amongst doctors and other members of staff. Taking part in the discussion, especially the political aspect was a real enjoyment and closed the last full day nicely.

Having finished this work experience, I now think I have a far better grasp of these questions. Before they were filled with uncertainty and maybes, now I believe I’ll be able to see myself in a lab for definite in 10 years’ time, perhaps working towards a medical degree after having finished a master’s in chemistry. What do I love? That’s easy to answer now. I love helping people, whether that’s helping thousands of people by working in a lab, creating lifesaving drugs or doing research that will benefit the masses, or even the day-to-day helping one patient at a time. Am I happy? Certainly. Exploring the John Radcliffe has been an adventure and has opened a lot of doors for me, knowing what I know now I don’t think I could enter a different profession without feeling a strong pang of guilt for not helping people in the best way that I can. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience.