Ana
recommended
University College Dublin
Medicine
Graduate
5
1
6About Me
Hello! My name is Ana Vaz, I am a final year medical student at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland.
I have been in university for 7 years now, I did an undergraduate degree in Medical Sciences at University of South Wales, UK for 3 years, and then applied to the Graduate Entry Medicine program which have been 4 long but fast-paced and exciting years! Therefore, I understand how student life is challenging at times, draining even and that extra help may make a big difference! I received tutoring for almost every my big exams, for A-Levels, IELTS, CAE (another english exam), GAMSAT and USMLE Step 1 (a very hard exam to apply to residency in the USA).
To tell you a bit more about myself, It was not always my dream to be a doctor, I only fell in love with Medicine when I was in secondary school, when I realised that being a doctor is a life-long contract of acts of service, where I am constantly being challenged academically, professionally, and emotionally. Every day is different. I never quit, I just try different approaches when something does not work, and I always do my best in everything I get involved with.
I am an aspiring Paediatric Surgeon, having done sub-internships in Paediatric Surgery at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff, UK and also at Yale Children’s New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, USA. I am part of UCD Paediatric Society, having been appointed Teddy Bear Hospital Coordinator for the year 22/23 and I am also a Surgery Skills Tutor and Conference Officer at UCD Surgical Society.
I have worked as a Residential Assistant at UCD Residences, having to manage 56 apartments and I worked as a Carer in Cardiff with Helping Hands.
On my free time I love to watch Netflix (who doesn’t?), read, go to the beach and hike. I am also a cat-mom.
My teaching style
I like to make the student at ease and calm, therefore I tend to start my tutoring sessions with a friendly talk to try and get to know the student a bit better. I want the student to feel no shame or embarrassment when answering questions or discussing topics. I think asking questions, doing exercises about relevant topics awaken the strengths and weaknesses of a student and that they’re very helpful in that way.
My past experience
For the academic year 22/23, I have an active role in the UCD Surgical Society committee as a surgical skills tutor. I have launched the society’s first event of the year, ‘Surgical skills afternoon with Dr. Maxime Collard’, where I taught students’ theatre etiquette, how to generally consent for a surgical procedure and demonstrated how to scrub and give hand-tie and instrument-tie. Moreover, I managed the suturing station at the ‘Freshers Surgical Skills night’, further improving my teaching and public-speaking skills. Interacting with students and answering their questions is a symbiotic relationship, where I benefit from being forced to apply fast-thinking and leadership skills, pivotal in a surgical career, and I practice how to relay information in a clear and concise manner, crucial for patient-doctor communication. As per Einstein, “If you can’t explain it simply then you don’t understand it well enough”.
My Proudest Achievements
I am very proud I was accepted in Medical School and that I am in the final stretch of my journey and that I did three electives, two as a sub-intern in Paediatric Surgery in Cardiff and Yale, and one in St.Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin with a Professor I admire very much.
I feel joy in being part of UCD Paediatric Society and UCD Surgical Society and being regarded by my colleagues as a trustworthy, reliable and valuable element of the team.
Passing GAMSAT and USMLE Step 1 were very important milestones in my life.
My final year project from my Medical Sciences degree, which aided my supervisor, Dr. Jeroen Nieuwland, in the development of the fastest COVID-19 test with the LAMP technology. Furthermore, I was awarded 1st class honors for my dissertation and poster presentation, achieving the highest score amongst my supervisor students. I also presented my poster at Dublin’s 2020 Student Medical Summit, an event that gathers more than 100 medical student researchers and many GPs and consultants, and my work was shortlisted for a prize.
I teach
- GAMSAT
- IELTS
- Portugese
- Medicine
- GAMSAT ANZ
- USMLE
My Results and Achievements
- In GAMSAT
- I achieved an overall grade of 59
- one of top score in my cohort
- Section 1 - 56
- Section 2 - 64
- Section 3 - 59
- In IELTS I obtained a score of 7.5
- my best sections Listening 8.5 and Reading 8.0
- I am not only Portuguese
- therefore I speak and write fluently
- but also got an Overall grade of 17/20 in A-Level
- national Portuguese exam sat in Portugal - 18
- Final-year Medical Student
- at University College Dublin
- (Top 1 in Ireland for 2022)
- with an overall GPA of 3.2/4.2
- which is a 2:1