Intercalation is an additional year of study offered by some medical schools, which allows you to explore an area of study in greater depth, allowing you to learn something completely new or medicine related. Many medical students, myself included, have started to consider what they could intercalate in. There are mixed opinions regarding whether you should do a lab-based project or something completely unrelated to medicine like law, sociology or even engineering. So, I wanted to know what things people have intercalated in or are thinking of intercalating in. Also, what advice do you have for anyone deciding what intercalation option they would like to choose?
I intercalated in a Global Health BSc after my second year of medicine. I really enjoyed looking at health from a wider perspective. I gained lots of new skills... like essay writing and public speaking skills with the many presentations. I was able to present a poster and give a group oral presentation at a national research symposium. Although I didn't know anything about Public Health as a specialty at the time and thought I would become a GP, in hindsight it gave me my first taste of the specialty I would eventually pick and useful experiences to talk about in the specialty interview.
It was also really nice to do a course with less contact hours and less intense assessments for a year. I had more time for part-time work which helped me to manage my finances. I also had more time to get involved in clubs, societies and other volunteering opportunities which all helped with work-life balance.
Overall I really enjoyed my intercalation experience and would recommend it if there is a course that you are interested in. Don't feel that you have to intercalate to tick a box if you don't particularly want to - there are lots of other ways of gaining these skills at lots of different stages of your medical journey.
Always happy to answer questions if anyone else is interested in Global Health or Public Health.