BSMS fourth-year student and MedSoc President, Ollie Pentz, provides an insight into extra-curricular activities at medical school, including MedSoc sports and societies, as well as discussing how to balance these activities with academic study.
I remember when I was applying to medical school all I could think about was how the course was taught. Or how much clinical exposure there was. Or whether the exams were modular or not. I didn’t give any thought to what extra-curricular opportunities were available. But the longer I’m in medical school, the more I understand that activities outside of medicine are incredibly important. They act as way for you to relax, an outlet for creativity, and are the best ways to make friends in older and younger years. All these things can really help you get through the more stressful times in your 5/6 years at medical school. In this article I’m going to be talking about the different societies and sports I’ve been involved in and how to balance them with your medicine studies.
MedSoc
The BSMS Medical Society underpins all socialising at BSMS. It is essentially our mini-students union and oversees the running of 50+ MedSoc societies, as well as 6 sports teams. It’s made up of a committee of 33 students from all years that meet weekly to discuss policy and organise events directly. Highlights of the year include the BSMS Freshers Week and the Graduation Ball.
I’ve been on the MedSoc committee for the last 4 years, as Freshers rep, Vice-President, and then President for the last 2 years. It’s a real privilege to be a part of the committee as if you have an idea of something cool to organise, then you can just do it! MedSoc has a lot of resources, and if you’re passionate enough about something, you can make real change in the medical school. There are lots of different roles with varying time requirements, so you can pick whatever you’re comfortable with. As per my usual, I picked the most time-intensive role probably in the whole of BSMS, and I have to work quite hard on managing my time effectively. I think my best piece of advice is to reply to emails and messages as soon as you can, and not let everything build-up, which probably applies to studying too. Being meticulous with your timetable can also be a big help. I use Google Calendar and fill it with all the clinical activities and various meetings I have during the week to make sure there aren’t any clashes.
Medic Revue and societies
There are around 50 societies under the umbrella of MedSoc that range from cultural societies like the African and Caribbean society, to medical specialty societies like the Paediatric Society, to creative ones like our MedArt society.
The society I’ve been most active in is the Medic Revue. The Medic Revue is essentially a medical comedy-sketch-show-musical, written, directed, and performed by BSMS students, accompanied by a 9-piece band. The show historically runs for 3 nights in May (although this year is only 2) and involves 6 weeks of rehearsals for the cast, ending with the show. Back in 2018, we were the second biggest show at the Brighton Fringe! This year is my fourth show in the cast, and my third as director. My role is to write the script, and to co-run rehearsals and everything else Revue related with the committee. It’s such an amazing society to be a part of and is not something you’ll find anywhere else at medical school.
As you can imagine, I devote a great deal of time to the Revue. I have to be really careful about making sure I’m caught up on revision before the Revue period begins, and get right back into it once I’ve recovered from the show. I actually found in first and second year that I did better in exams during the terms Revue was on, because as soon as the show finished I went right into revision mode, when normally I’m a lot lazier! The students involved in Revue also run practice OSCE sessions for younger years which really helps.
Football and sports
The sports teams at BSMS include Men’s football, Women’s football, Men’s Rugby, Netball, Basketball, and Hockey. A lot of people play for several teams at once. All teams train once a week, and have matches against local or University teams. Every year we have a Varsity against Southampton medical school where we take turns hosting and have matches between each of sports teams.
For the last five years I’ve played for the BSMS Men’s football team. During this period, we’ve won the University of Sussex Parklife league several times, as well as the Southern England Medical Schools tournament at Southampton. Last weekend we went up to London to compete in the National Association of Medic Sports tournament against most of the UK medical schools. There are loads of great opportunities to represent BSMS through sports and each team has a great social aspect to them.
I’ve found sport the easiest to balance with studying as training times are often later in the evening, and matches are on weekends. The standard is also quite variable across the teams so you can have a relaxed training session for fun if you prefer, or take it very seriously in one of the weekend games.
And finally...
One final point about extra-curriculars (if I haven’t convinced you already) is that you actually develop skills that will be useful as a doctor. Primarily leadership, teamwork, and communication – all those good medicine interview buzzwords. They also look good on your CV for future jobs! Although managing my time between extra-curriculars and studying can be difficult, it is 100% worth the effort. The experiences and people I’ve met in the various societies and sports make it all worth it, and provide a much-needed outlet for creativity and escape from medicine. If you want to find out more about BSMS MedSoc check out the website here or have a watch of the Medic Revue videos below.
Watch medsoc videos here >