Learning About the Circulatory System at Sidney Sussex – by Lucien – Medicine

Friday, 6 August 

Deciding to get up nice and early, I got out of bed at 7:00 am and spent some time tidying my room and preparing for the day. After being greeted with a knock on my door by one of my new friends and neighbours, I headed down to the cafeteria in a small group for yet another delicious warm meal.

Following breakfast and meeting with my mentor group, I walked to the morning lesson, where my tutor Dr Keith began the class by introducing the body’s different systems, starting with the circulatory system. After more details about the heart and its blood vessels, we looked into some electrocardiograms (A.K.A. ECG/EKG) to listen and watch the electrical signals coming from our heart (just like those squiggly lines you see in the TV shows).

Shortly after, I went out with a group of friends to grab lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Wasabi, and then decided to grab a quick box of doughnuts and sit in the sun outside of King’s College as we spoiled ourselves. Returning to the classroom for our afternoon academic session, we started looking at blood pressure and began to measure each other’s blood pressure using stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers (those things that the doctor pumps), giving us a real hands-on opportunity that we would rarely get in our regular high schools.

For our afternoon activity, we were brought to The Grafton, a large shopping centre that included several stores dedicated to raising money for charities and those in need. Here I found a great hat that I simply had to gift to my great mentor, Oyin.

After returning and eating dinner, all students were brought together for a quiz night, in which our knowledge in different subjects was tested, ranging from English history to popular music. A relaxing and fun way to end an amazing day.

Lucien, Sidney Sussex, Session 5 – Medicine