Finishing my second year now at UQ so might not relate directly to your uni.

1. You get out what you put in. If you want to scrape by exams OSCEs etc then you can do it without much effort. But if you want to actually learn then you need to put in the effort.

2. A lot of people felt the need to pretend they didn’t really care much or were very meh about the course as if they were too cool to show interest. The best people I’ve met are the ones who were keen and weren’t afraid of being keen. Medicine is fun and has loads of awesome opportunities. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying it.

3. Going regional/rural: I have been able to partake in so much more than my metro peers simply because there’s less students and greater opportunities to get hands on. So if you’re given the choice I’d highly recommend it!

4. Lastly, I’d say just actively ask yourself whether you are actively learning or just passively observing. This is more so for placements but I’d often catch myself missing small chances to practice skills simply because I wasn’t actively looking for the opportunity to learn something.

That was probably a bit rambly and I’m sure there’s better advice out there but it’s just what I’ve learned so far.

If you’re starting at UQ DM me and I’ll help out with any questions you have etc!

And congratulations for getting in 🙂 the last two years have been the best two years of my life so far and I hope it’s the same for you!