Throwback Thursday – Doctor Waleed Paracha

We were delighted to hear from former student, Waleed Paracha, who is now a qualified FY1 Doctor working in Birmingham.  Doctor Paracha contacted the college to thank the college’s Medics, Dentists and Vets Coordinator, Dave Woods, for his support in getting to where he is today. He also kindly agreed to be this week’s throwback Thursday and share his journey and advice with others.

Doctor Paracha told us: I studied at Winstanley College from September 2015 to June 2017, taking A-levels in Maths, Biology and Chemistry. I decided that I wanted to pursue medicine as a career later than most people as I only decided during my time in college. I enjoyed biology and chemistry from school, and I also was keen to do a more practical job which involved having to meet and understand different people. Medicine as a career fit this perfectly and though I was unsure, I sought out some work experience with help from Winstanley which helped me realise that I would enjoy it as a career. 

I studied at University College London for 6 years including an iBSc year in Cardiovascular Medicine and I really enjoyed my time as a medical student. I got a variety of different experiences at different hospitals and this helped me a lot with preparing for not only the exams but also for working as a doctor after I qualified. I also played cricket for 6 years at UCL which helped provide a balance with the studying. I am now working in Birmingham in my FY1 year and have just finished my first rotation in Acute Medicine and I have really enjoyed it (even with the hours!).

I  am looking forward to experiencing the different branches of medicine I have chosen for my foundation training which include acute medicine, trauma and orthopaedics and cardiology. Whilst I am not set on a particular specialty as of yet, I am certain these experiences will help me decide where I aim to go in the future.

My advice for students who may be interested in a career in medicine is to attempt to get some work experience (regardless of whether it is a couple of days or longer) as this really helped me decide I wanted to do medicine. I would also say to look into it if you do enjoy similar subjects to the ones I studied regardless of whether you wanted to be a doctor from a young age because there’s so many avenues you can go down with a degree in Medicine. Of course, the academic requirements are a prerequisite however its equally important to develop your communication skills and teamwork so I would also recommend joining as many societies/clubs as possible in anything you’re interested in even if they have nothing to do with medicine!”

Thank you Doctor Paracha for sharing your story and please keep in touch!