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So, my name is Maile Grace Wedgwood and I completed a degree in medicine in 2025.
I think it’s easy to say that I wanted to help people, but also I like learning new things, something that’s evolving, also to be practical with my hands, and medicine seems to include all those things. I like, I think in the future if I were to choose a speciality, it would be orthopaedics. I really like orthopaedics maybe perhaps a bit too much. Being able to see a problem and fix a problem and I’ve had great mentors and great supervisors in orthopaedics and that’s what’s inspired me to pursue this.
A medical degree is definitely challenging, but I think on a personal level it was probably one of the most difficult times of my life. My mother unfortunately passed away in my second year of medical school. So juggling that and completing my degree was definitely a challenge, but I have to say it’s been probably one of the most rewarding things I did and I don’t regret finishing the course here.
So when I first joined Warwick, I went and got a dyslexia test. Before I’d always really struggled with English a little bit, spelling here, organising and when I got a dyslexia test, It came back to saying I was very dyslexic. So that was definitely challenging in terms of learning medication names, making sure I was spelling them correctly. I’m in the Warwick Enterprise program with a startup business called Medictionary, which is a Dualingo style app for medical exams. Was partly inspired by the gamification element, but also to make studying a little bit easier. I found it really hard reading lots of long texts. It was easy for me to disengage, harder with my dyslexia. So I’ve tried to develop something that’s more accessible for all.
So I’m a resident doctor, also known as a foundation year one doctor. I’m part of the specialised foundation program which means I’m technically an academic. My current post is in transplant surgery. So this involves me looking after patients who are receiving kidney transplants or donating kidneys. From a personal point of view, it’s a great experience as I love surgery. So I get to have hands-on experience in surgeries. But on a holistic view, it’s amazing for patients, to see patients who are struggling on dialysis essentially get a new life from a kidney transplant.
I think in 5 years time, I hope that my business is running very well and that it’s helping students and healthcare professionals excel in their exam. But also on a personal point of view, I hope I’m in core surgical training or in orthopaedic training by then.
I think advice I would give myself is trust yourself. You know you the best. You know how much you can work and what the limits are. But also not to be afraid. Whether that’s the negative self talk you have within yourself, saying oh I don’t belong here, which is quite common in medical students with imposter syndrome. You do belong here. You’ve worked hard to get onto the course. At the end it’s very rewarding.
I remember thinking in second year of medical school, how am I going to proceed further? How am I meant to carry on? Essentially, my life felt like it fell apart. But I knew I needed to carry on and it will be worth it. And now I’m quite glad I carried on. And I’m very proud and happy to be working as a doctor.
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