BSc Pharmacology
Why did you choose this Pathway of the MBBS?
I chose the Pharmacology BSc because I had always found pharmacology interesting, and I had heard consistently positive things about the BSc from older years. I also knew the teaching on the course was excellent, and I wanted a BSc that would both challenge me academically and help me develop research skills I could carry forward into the rest of medical school. In the end, it more than lived up to that reputation.
What was your favourite part of the course?
My favourite part of the course was definitely the final research project. I really enjoyed working with my supervisor, Sohag, and it was probably the part of the BSc where I developed the most. It was very rewarding to be involved in a project where I could take ownership of the work, from design, to data collection, and through to analysis and write-up, and I found the whole process very enjoyable.
What was the topic of your research project?
My research project was titled Kinematic Analysis and Cardiovascular Patterns of Veterans’ Football Players during Competitive Match-play. It explored how lower limb movement patterns and heart-rate responses changed during competitive veterans’ football, looking at actions such as running, passing and jumping, and whether match progression, fatigue and player position influenced movement mechanics and cardiovascular load in players aged over 35. For the data collection, I went to actual football matches to hook the players up to the heart rate monitors and record them for later kinematic analysis, which was awesome.
How do you feel the programme will impact the following years of your MBBS?
The biggest impact of the Pharmacology BSc for me was that it made research feel much more accessible. Before the BSc, research felt intimidating, but every ICA gave me confidence in how to read papers critically, analyse data and approach a research question properly. That meant I was much more willing to take on further research opportunities afterwards, which has been really valuable. It has also been particularly helpful now that I am thinking ahead to training applications, such as considering an academic clinical fellow pathway.
Do you have any words of advice to students trying to decide which BSc pathway to join?
My advice would be to choose a BSc that gives you strong transferable skills as well as something you genuinely enjoy. For me, Pharmacology was excellent for that. It gave me a really solid grounding in research methods, critical appraisal and scientific thinking, which are central to the purpose of the BSc and useful well beyond that single year. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a pathway that is both interesting and practically useful.
Congratulations on your publication - how was the experience of presenting the work at BASEM 2025 with your team?
Presenting the work at BASEM 2025 was a really enjoyable and valuable experience. It was rewarding to take a project from data collection and analysis through to presentation and publication, and it made the research feel much more real and impactful. It was also a great opportunity to discuss the work with others interested in sports medicine and to see how academic research is shared beyond university.