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Friday 30 May 2014

Change

I have decided to change things-more specifically with regards to my blog posts. As I have just completed my final year exams, submitted my dissertation and handed in all my coursework I have much more time and can give this blog a much needed TLC.

I will be editing some of the previous posts; I plan on adding more detail. I also want to give all biomedical science students a breakdown of each individual course. This way you all will have access to books, links and information that has been tried and tested.

I have also interviewed some lecturers and will be writing up the interviews for you all. This way you have access to more in depth and specific answers to questions regarding courses.

The student life aspect will also be looked at. I want to also write up about what I plan on doing next and how I go about the graduate recruitment process. Again, this information will be as extensive and detailed as possible. I will be adding other student’s information as well, therefore aiming to cater for more of you.

I will be going on Holiday too-YAY! I have been looking forward to going away for quite some time now. My sister (she is currently sitting her AS exams) and I are completely exhausted. So the pair of us thought it best to book a holiday, just to recharge and relax. We shall be heading to Tuscany on the 7th of June for a week long break in the SUN! To say I am excited would be an understatement.

Pictures will posted J


Friday 2 May 2014

Energy Drinks

As exam season has started, the energy drink pandemic has also commenced. Everywhere you turn you see students with red bulls, relentless, monsters, emerge, etc…the list could go on.

I have also got a fair share of experience with energy drinks especially with caffeine, the key ingredient in all these drinks.

Caffeine is one of the most frequently used drugs in the world, granted low to moderate consumption of the drug is considered safe, however, there is an increasing number of clinical studies that show; individuals who become dependent on the drug find it difficult to decrease their consumption of the drug even though they are aware of the health risks if they continue having a high intake of the drug at regular frequencies. It is for this reason that certain health care professionals and the World Health Organization identify individual’s dependent on caffeine as having a clinical disorder (Meredith et al, 2013).

I feel the need to write about this because there are other alternatives to caffeine that most students do not consider. Increasing intake of healthy foods especially oily fish, snacking on fruits and vegetables, helps increase our energy levels. Oily fish provide us with our Omega 3, 6 and 9 while Red meats increase our B12 levels. B12 is another ingredient that is found in most energy drinks. To all the vegetarians and vegans, there are many supplements available that can help bring your Omegas and B12 up, without you having to eat meat. 

Taking supplements like the effervescent vitamin C tablets or adding liquid Ginkgo Leaf extract to your water. These are simple methods that can be incorporated into our everyday diet and in the long run have much better effects on the body.


I wish you all the very best in your exams, Take care and Good Luck. Stay positive and healthy J

Thursday 1 May 2014

Exams

As you may already be aware, our exams started on Monday the 28th of April! I honestly cannot believe how quickly this academic year has gone by. These are my final year 3 exams, it feels quite strange writing that as these could quite possibly be the last exams I ever have to take.

Revision has been quite rushed. Once the final year project had been submitted we had to submit our posters and then it was possible to concentrate solely on exam revision. 

The 3rd year Biomedical Science students have 3 exams; Advanced and Clinical Immunology, Haematology and Blood Transfusion and Cellular and Molecular Pathobiology. The exams will also take place in that order as well. Our first exam was on the 28th of April and the last on the 13th of May. After which we have our poster presentation on the 23rd of May.

Those of you who are in your second year, you should come down and check our posters out on the 23rd, it might help give you an idea of what you might like to do. I have spoken to quite a few second year Biomedical Science students and I am glad to hear that you have been advised to already start thinking about your final year projects and some have even started talking to supervisors. That is excellent as the sooner you get to grips with what you are doing the better.

Each supervisor has a different way of guiding his/her students. Some supervisors want you to give them ideas/input while others have topics already lined up. Talk to them and clarify how they expect you to go about doing your project. If it helps, spend the summer reading books about ‘final year projects’ our library has quite a selection. It would also be a good idea to read books on how to read research papers. This is because you will be reading a lot of primary papers and you can’t afford to waste time, because your final year will fly by, trust me, I blinked in September 2013 and bam it’s April 2014.  

As for my fellow 3rd years. Good Luck! I hope we all get the grades we want!