Graduating Student Voice: Sweden to Dulwich to Medical School

Nov 8, 2022

Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Where are you from? How long you've been at the school?

I'm Isabel. This is my fifth year at Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi. I started here when I was in Year 9 and I'm now in Year 13. I'm from the UK but I also grew up in Sweden.

Q: Why are you passionate about studying medicine and which university are you applying to?

There are many things that support my passion for medicine, but one of the main reasons are that I want a career where I can learn all the time and I can continue to learn and to teach. I think that medicine is a superb option for that because medicine is constantly changing and developing. I want to learn for as long as I can and medicine is a field of work where you must both learn and teach to be successful. Furthermore, all of it is applied to something tangibly good, which is important for me. I have applied to the 4 Russell Group universities: Birmingham, Southampton, Liverpool and Bristol. I have no preference for which one to get into. They are all excellent and they all fulfil the kind of course that I'm looking at.

Q: How has your time at the school helped you and prepared you for when you go to university? How do you think the school has helped you to become of who you are today?

One of the things that the school adds a lot of emphasis on is continuous learning through a plethora of pathways and something that the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) has really specified is the importance of scientific writing. The benefit of the internal assessment (IA) and the geography coursework is that it teaches us to write university level papers. This includes the style, the referencing, how text is formatted and how to write an outline. That’s certainly a very visible impact. I think the breadth of the IBDP course and the breadth of the experiences I have had at the school such as the Duke of Edinburgh award, the different theatre productions I've been part of, and the orchestra has allowed me to understand different styles of education in different subjects and using all of them in a way that is productive and in a way that is sensible. The benefit of a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to education encourages the acceptance of other perspectives which I believe is super important in any university course, but especially in medicine.

Q: What particular pathway in medicine do you want to go down?

I don't have my heart set on anything specific, but I don't believe I'll go into a career similar to General Practice. I would prefer something like emergency medicine because of the rapid pace and diversity of cases you see on an individual basis. I think that kind of shift work would suit me better than the more consistent hours of general practitioners.

Q: Can we take a look back at your time in the College and discuss some of your more memorable experiences?

When you joined in Year 9, back in 2018, what were your first impressions of the College?

The school has been great for me. I've really enjoyed it. I came here from a different school system, and I was able to integrate really well. Teachers here are unmatched by anything I've experienced before. I really appreciate the excellence of the teachers here and how challenging, fun and exciting the lessons here are.

The residential trip of that year, where we went to Yangshuo was certainly an interesting experience. The production that year was also very memorable. We did ‘A Christmas Carol.’ But what stood out the most was the diversity of lessons and the amazing teaching. The lessons were extremely detailed and engaging.

Residential Trip to Thailand

So, the Year 10 residential trip to Thailand, which was quite early that year, was brilliant. We did five-to-six-hour hikes, one after the other on two different days. That was certainly an experience. All the residential trips have been great.

First COVID-19 Lockdowns in 2020

The whole situation was handled well. During the beginning of the pandemic, I was in Sweden, and studying across time zones was handled very well with how lessons were delivered and how we weren't expected to wake up at 2-3am in the morning. Lessons were provided offline, and we were allowed to do meetings with teachers in a way that facilitated our learning as much as possible; making sure that our GCSE year was as uninterrupted as it could be in that situation. I did not dislike online learning as much as I've heard that other people at other schools did, although e-learning is something you cannot actively enjoy, it was handled so well, and the lessons were still delivered in such a good way.

Year 11 Geography Field Trip

In Year 11, we had the geography field trip. The geography coursework was some of the best preparation I got for the IBDP in terms of the dedication you must put into one piece of work over a long period of time.

Head Student

In Year 11 I was the Head Student. It was an experience I certainly enjoyed. It taught me valuable lessons about leadership, the importance of communication and listening to others as parts of leadership.

Q: Transition from IGCSE to IBDP

It was certainly a change. I think the school handled it quite well, but there's certainly an adjustment period between IGCSE and IB as you get used to, not necessarily a new volume of work, but a new style of learning.

Q: Duke of Edinburgh Award

I have the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver awards. They have allowed me to adjust to the different projects of IBDP, like Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS). This is because of the similarities between them as they require you to do service work, physical activity and creativity. Whilst the Duke of Edinburgh is based on long term projects, CAS encourages you to undertake a more diverse set of creativity, activity and service.

Conclusion: Isabel has been at our college for a very long time, and it has been fascinating to hear about her memories from her time at school and her future aspirations at medical school. I hope to hear more about the different experiences that our other Year 13s have had at Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi as they prepare to enter the next chapter of their educational journey.