preparing for oxford...

It's been a while since I made a post so I thought I'd fill you in on what I've been up to so far during the holidays, especially in terms of the transition to clinical school.

I went up to Oxford last week just to have a look around the hospital (John Radcliffe), and also my college (Balliol) and it's graduate accommodation. I was thinking of taking a car up with me, but I soon realised that it's near impossible to park anywhere in central Oxford!

So how does Oxford compare to Cambridge? Well there are the obvious similarities, in terms of College set up and architecture. However, the first thing that hits you about Oxford (especially to someone who's been in Cambridge for the last 3 years) is that it's a much bigger place (much more of a 'city' feel to it), and there seems to be a lot more going on. The colleges are also a bit more spaced apart (whilst in Cam most Colleges are within a 10 min walk from the centre of town, that's not exactly the case with Oxford).

In all I was pretty impressed with it all, it definitely feels like a nice change to Cam, and I'd definitely say a major advantage of the Cam medical course is that it does allow you to do your clinicals elsewhere, not just in Oxford, but also in London (where in fact 100+ Cam students go every year).

That's about it for the time being, but I'll keep you updated from time to time!

Kief

enf of an era...

Well today I'm off home from cambridge, for the last time!... just to bring you up to speed with what I've been doing:

This saturday (1st) was our graduation ceremony, which turned out to be a baking hot day, and I was dressed up like a penguin in a full tux with good and hood, so not the most comfortable of attires! It was a really memorable day though - we started off in our College, where they took a photo of all the graduands (students about to graduate), and then we walked in a sort of procession towards Senate House (in the centre of town). It was a really lovely walk, but also a bit weird as people were applauding us as we walked past them - not that I minded that!

When we got to Senate House we were arranged in fours, and went up in our fours to receive our degrees. It was all very traditional, with some very 'cambridgey' traditions. We each had to hold one of the four fingers of the praelector, who presents us in front of the Warden (of our College, who admits us into our degree). The praelector would then announce who we were and what degree we were receiving, in Latin, and then we would go up one-by-one, and clasp the hands of the Warden, whilst he uttered some words in Latin, admitting us to our degrees! We would then walk off and receive our degree certificate, and then walk outside to shake hands with senior fellows and tutors of College.

All in all it was a pretty fun day, though quite hot and a tad stressful, but with plenty of photos taken I'm sure it'll be a day I won't forget for a while!

Now I'm off home for the summer, and will be starting clinicals at Oxford in September... I will definitely miss Cambridge and the people I've met and made friends with here, but on the other hand I have no regrets leaving, as I'm really keen to see a new place (albeit all too similar to Cambridge) and meet new people.

That's all I've really got to say for the time being!

Kief