When I became a medical student at JSC South Kazakhstan Medical Academy, I was a mature student whereas most of my course mates were 16 or 17 years old.
Waiting to go to university has had its benefits for me. Here’s why I love being a mature student:
I have more life experience
Going to university is a big step in life. Moving cities, maybe even country, living independently for the first time and studying at a higher level of education can be a lot to adapt to. As medical students, we train for around seven to 10 years which means it’s a longer commitment than many other degree programmes.
As a mature student, the life experience you gain after high school can help with that transition and gives you additional time to make a decision about the long-term commitment, too. For me, I’d already had some experience of living independently after school, was more comfortable making new friends, had more work experience and found that I was more prepared for managing my time as a medical student.
I gained valuable experience in medical topics
Before starting medical school, I worked as a medical assistant where I was able to get acquainted with many aspects of the field before I studied it in depth. Thanks to this experience, I already understood some aspects of my course material at university and had first-hand experience of dealing with patients in a medical setting.
For example, I already understood how bronchitis works in the body, how it is diagnosed and treated, and I was able to study this subject in more detail at university and gained high performance indicators from my assessments.
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