Student Spotlight: Priya Padmanaban
Student Spotlights pass the mic to our student doctors, to hear their take on their School experience and shine the light on a particular role, team or pathway through the School of Medicine.
Every year, the School of Medicine welcomes students from the Oral and MaxilloFacial Surgery (OMFS) course and the International Medical University (IMU) Malaysia into Year 3 of our MBChB programme.
Students complete a two-week Summer School in August before stepping into their signature grey scrubs and meeting the rest of their year group for the start of term.
Year Director Dr Rachel Holliday says, “It’s been a pleasure to welcome the students from IMU and OMFS to the School. We are delighted to have you with us and hope that your journey here is enjoyable and exceeds all of your expectations.”
Priya Padmanaban is a part of this group for this academic year. She shares what brought her to Liverpool and how she’s found acclimatising (particularly to the North West temperatures!) so far.
“Hi! My name's Priya, and I’ve just transferred in to Year 3 Medicine from Malaysia. I've lived in Singapore all my life, and this is the first time I've left Asia. As you can guess, everything is very new to me.
I've been in Liverpool since mid-August, and one of the things I still have a problem getting used to is the weather here.Back home, 30 degrees Celsius is a good day, so naturally I've been shivering and wearing multiple layers throughout the part of summer I’ve spent here. Crazy, huh?
I've never really witnessed different seasons.
Since Singapore is an equatorial country, we get lots of sunshine and rain throughout the year and I'm really looking forward to possibly seeing snow at the end of the year!
When I made the decision to do the Partner Medical School course back in Malaysia, I looked into all my possible options, the University of Liverpool being one of them.
A simple Google search told me that Liverpool had lots to offer to students, and that it was a safe and welcoming city. The University of Liverpool also checked all the other boxes that I was looking for, and I decided to go for it!
I’ve only been here a few weeks, but I can definitely say that the best thing about Liverpool would be the people.
The locals here are really nice, and chatty and so, so lovely!
I like to think of myself as an extrovert. I love making small talk and learning new things about new people. There's so much to learn from meeting different people!
Summer School, August 2022
I came in two weeks before Year 3 officially started for summer school, and it was nice to start my journey here with people from a similar background. The two weeks really helped reassure me that I won’t be the only one new and lost around campus!
Something I'd like to achieve by the end of the year would definitely be managing my time efficiently.
This year I’m really looking forward to clinical placements and with that I know I will need to work on my time management. It’s an important skill for the future and I know I will get it right sooner than later.
Though I've already spent a few years on my course, I still haven’t decided on which specialty I'd like to go into. I'm interested in more than three at this point, and hopefully my placements over the years will help me with narrow my interest down to one.
You'll probably be seeing me around campus, and don't be afraid to stop and say hi! Everyone can use a new friend and I'd really appreciate it too!”
Get in touch with mednews@liverpool.ac.uk if you are interested in stepping into the Student Spotlight or would like to nominate a student or group to do so.