In an earlier post, I discussed at length the various opportunities you can seek out if you’re thinking of studying Medicine.
However, the disruptions due to COVID-19 means that many events and programmes have been cancelled. Work experience is impossible. Almost all volunteering activities, particularly those involving face-to-face interaction, have been suspended.
As the circuit breaker period stretches on, you may become increasingly worried. Is my portfolio robust enough? I planned to go for XYZ, but they’ve all been cancelled due to COVID-19. I’ll have to focus on my academics (A Levels) after this, so even if the restrictions are lifted, I won’t have time for anything. What do I do?
In this post, I’ll start by answering your questions (conclusion: no need to worry). I’ve also compiled a list of useful resources that will enable you gain insights on Medicine, medical schools, and other relevant information—even amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Responding to your concerns during COVID-19
What if my portfolio is not strong enough?
First of all, if your portfolio is looking a little sparse, then so is everyone else’s. I’m sure the admissions offices will be highly understanding of the COVID-19 situation and the disruptions it has wrought. How they assess candidates will remain the same. But of course, they will not expect long-term volunteering or work experience stretching over the months of the circuit breaker—you should rightfully have been staying at home. (In fact, you will probably be severely interrogated if you had participated in any external activities during this time, not the other way round.)
Secondly, as I’ve mentioned in the conclusion to my earlier post, you should strive for quality over quantity. Having a litany of activities or hundreds of CIP hours on your transcript means nothing. Your experience and insights are what matter.
What if I have to focus on my exams or A Levels?
Then focus on them. Achieving good academic results is the first step to getting into medical school. Grades are not everything, of course. But that’s true only because everyone who’s applying or have been shortlisted for the interviews have near-perfect scores.
If you look at the medical school application timeline, applications typically open in late February (21 Feb this year), after the release of A Level results. Interviews commence at the start of April.
So, worry about your portfolio after the A Levels. You have about two to three months. (Up to four months, if you count December of the previous year.) You can continue engaging in past activities, or even seek out new ones.
7 things you can do right now during COVID-19 to gain exposure
1. Browse through NUS, NTU and Duke-NUS resources online
There’s truly a wealth of information on the medical schools’ websites, many of which I didn’t even know existed when I was applying! They cover every aspect imaginable. You can even download all their brochures online (you know, those they give out in abundance at career fairs, and you can never find again after that day).
Since the focus of this blog is undergraduate Medicine, I’ve included only links to NUS and NTU medical schools. However, Duke-NUS also has some amazing multimedia content for you to find out more about Medicine and what becoming a doctor looks like.
(Note: There are two undergraduate medical schools in Singapore: the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. The only graduate medical school here is the Duke-NUS Medical School.)
Click on the links below to check out the different resources:
| School information | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
| Curriculum information | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
| Admissions information | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
| Brochures | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
| News | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
| Newsletter | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
| Press releases | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
| Videos | NUS YLL | NTU LKC |
I personally feel that you do not have to concern yourself with Admissions information at this point (I only read through the site in detail when the time came to apply).
I would suggest you take a look at the Brochures, News and Newsletter pages. The Brochures simply because they’re well-designed and fun to scan through. The News and Newsletter pages contain not just recent efforts and breakthroughs by the faculty, but also articles on topics ranging from the current COVID-19 pandemic to healthcare improvement. These are great for broadening your general knowledge on pertinent issues in Medicine.
Not forgetting the Videos! I love these. Watching them not only gives you an immersive view of what your future school looks like, but can also be really awe-inspiring (even though we all know they were intentionally designed to entice prospective students, haha).
2. Participate in NHMed online
The annual NHMed Symposium has unfortunately been cancelled due to COVID-19. Despite this, they are continuing with online activities on Instagram @nhmed2020.
They’ve pushed out four different initiatives, in brief:
- NHMed Recommends: resources to learn more about the healthcare sector
- #WhyHealthcare: inspiring stories of medical school students and healthcare professionals
- Introduction to various healthcare professions
- Instagram Story quizzes on medical facts
This is the only event I’ve found thus far that is being continued online. There hasn’t been any news yet, but hopefully the NUS Healthcare Outreach Project will still go ahead in December.
3. Engage in virtual work experience
Shared by one of my followers, here’s an incredible virtual work experience package designed by the Brighton & Sussex Medical School. For those of you applying to UK medical schools this year, definitely check it out!
Even if you’re not applying to the UK, you can enrol for free and delve right in. It’s packed with multimedia (videos!), and even questions and reflections to guide you through. You may skip over the first part on the NHS (the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK) if you find it less relevant. (I’ve tried it out—you can click the “Complete & Continue” button to proceed without having actually completed that section.)
While it’s definitely more geared towards the UK, you can gain insight into different medical specialties, including how ward rounds are conducted and how hospitals are run.
4. Volunteer online or at Willing Hearts
I’ve combed through all possible opportunities on SG United and volunteer.sg.
Note that many of the volunteering opportunities on SG United suitable for JC-level students, including all those for online tutoring or student support, are no longer accepting new applications.
After extensive searching, I’ve discovered a few avenues where you can still volunteer. I’ve summarised the details below:
| Beneficiary | Activity | Location | Day & Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| MENDAKI | PSLE Maths Coaching: provide additional intensive support in Standard Maths to P6 pupils (sign up on volunteer.sg) | [temporarily online] 51 Kee Sun Avenue Wisma Mendaki Singapore 457056 | At least 1.5h/week, April to September 2020 |
| Willing Hearts | Soup kitchen: tasks include preparing ingredients, cooking, packing of meals and cleaning up (sign up on volunteer.sg or their website) | 11 Jalan Ubi, Willing Hearts Kembangan-chai Chee Community Hub Singapore 409074 | Multiple dates from May to October 2020, 5am-8.30am, 6.30am-8.30am, 8.30am to 12pm, 12pm to 4pm |
| GoodHood.SG | GoodHood.SG mobile app: Offer to help neighbours with items or services needed (download the app on Apple Devices or Android Devices) | – | – |
(Disclaimer: The online portals indicate that there are available slots and applications are still open. However, I have not tried them out myself and I cannot guarantee that you will receive a response.)
Volunteering is definitely not a must at this time. You can always look for fresh opportunities after the tide has turned against COVID-19.
5. Read up on your own
This one is my favourite. There are tons of amazing books, articles and TED talks out there waiting for you to dive into.
I will be putting together a list of my top choices for books to read before medical school soon (hopefully in my next post—so stay tuned!). I love the whole concept of TED, so I may be recommending some TED talks as well.
It will also be wise to keep up with current affairs, especially on issues related to medicine and healthcare. Right now every news outlet is covering something about COVID-19, so anywhere would be a good place to start. Subscribing to newsletters is great for keeping yourself abreast of the latest happenings.
6. Start putting together your portfolio
Once again, it’s not necessary at this point to work on your portfolio. But if you find that you do have spare time, you can start consolidating everything you’ve done or have been doing thus far. You will need to do this anyway, often even before the application starts. This will be for your school’s testimonial, requesting for teacher references, and so on.
A good idea is to write brief reflections for each activity you were involved in. These are what your teachers (who are writing your testimonial and references) and the admissions officers are looking out for. They can also serve as useful raw material for your personal statement.
7. Bonus: Follow useful Instagram accounts
This could help you learn something new on your daily (or hourly) scrolling through Instagram. I’ve compiled a list of Instagram accounts that you can follow (up on the blog tomorrow!), and will keep adding to that list as I discover new ones.
Have a question? Leave a comment below or DM me on Instagram @thelowkeymedic.