Joe Gebbie

Intercalation studies

I joined the MSc SEM course as an intercalating medical student - completing this year-long Masters after completion of 3 years of the undergraduate medical degree. The university itself has a great campus and student union, and is ideally located between Headingley and the city centre.

The course offered a great combination of applied anatomy, sporting rehabilitation and pitch-side placement. Teaching days were succinct and followed progressively from regional anatomy, to mechanisms of sporting injury, physio-led rehabilitation and finally surgical options. Modules in second semester looking at sports nutrition and exercise prescription offered applied uses of SEM in both performance and public health settings.

Networking opportunities

The opportunity to complete pitch-side placements at local premier league football clubs, rugby league clubs and BUCS competitions gave great chances to network with professionals in the sector and learn about the planning, and dissemination of medical services. The university teaching days offered chances to hear from experts in their field, ranging from experienced surgeons, to specialist phyios and podiatrists. The different perspectives on the assessment and management of athletes and patients was valuable and will contribute to future practice.

Learn new skills

Elements of the academic and scientific processes for written assignments took some time to get to grips with. Understanding how to use statistical software and process and interpret the outputs and integrate this into written text was a novel skill I had to learn, however informative workshops and approachable module leads helped me to embed these skills.

Opportunities provided by intercalation

I was awarded the Wolfson Scholarship for intercalating students with an interest and talent in medical research. The MSc SEM has a strong research-based dissertation component, in which I conducted a study comparing electrocardiographic remodelling between different groups of athletes. The scholarship contributed extensively to living expenses over the course of year and removed the need to seek paid employment. This enabled to shift all my attention to my studies, allowing me to produce academic work to the best of my ability and engage fully in placement opportunities.

Experiences to build upon

I am returning to 4th year of my undergraduate medicine degree at the University of Leeds. I am extending my interesting in electrocardiography and cardiac screening in sport by pursuing a research project in barriers to cardiac screening amongst junior basketball players that will span the final two years of the course.

The opportunities and experiences from this MSc have provided me a great foundation with which I can pursue a career in SEM in the future.

Being lectured by, and networking with, several field-leading experts has provided an introduction into many avenues of SEM that can be explored in the future. Exposure to pitch-side medical cover at a range of levels and in a range of sport gave a taste of the challenges and necessary facilities required to deliver effective and safe sporting care. Finally, completing my dissertation in an area of my own interest and being supervised by field-leading experts has opened up the medical research environment, which I will be able to progress further into following this Masters.

Prepare for the future

Make the most of the teaching days delivered by highly experienced and knowledgeable medical professionals by engaging fully in the teaching. In particular, the physio-led assessment and examination sessions are particularly interactive and engagement in these will help massively towards examinations. Also take up as many placement opportunities as possible, as these prepare you for future match cover or job posts you may wish to apply for.