Tolani, a second year KMMS student and your MedSoc Social Secretary for 2024-25 sat with the SLG team to talk to us about how self-care sits with her as a busy medical student.

What does self-care mean for you?

Self-care is usually a form of when I’m feeling relaxed, when I’m feeling content. When you’re studying medicine, it can be difficult to prioritise self-care and what’s best for you. It’s tricky to understand, you might think it’s about getting the best marks, but sometimes you just need to relax and watch TV. I do yoga which helps me slow down, and I am interested in mindfulness. I also spend time with friends, watching films and cooking together.

When you’re not feeling so good, it’s difficult but important to let someone know about it. Speak when times are tough, say when you need support, when you need to talk to SLG, when you need to speak to a therapist. There can be stigma with asking for help and thinking you need to get down and study, but sometimes you need to know when to ask for help. Luckily at KMMS, we get to know lecturers really well, so you can say when you need more time or when you’re worried about placement.

Self-care isn’t easy and for people who work in and learn medicine, they’re busy and filled with academic pressures, and high expectations and standards, it gets pushed to the back burner. My advice for medical students is to think about it. I carve out time in my schedule, take time to do things for me, go for walks, go to acapella.

How do you do it?

It’s definitely not always been easy. I’ve had times when I’ve been burnt out, stressed, overwhelmed, been in tears. The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that rest is incredibly productive. When you take time off, you’re so much more energised and take in content when you come back. It’s much more exciting, you’re not tired or weary. The content is really interesting, and it’s easier to take it in and approach it in a different way when you have had a break.

I don’t always find the time, I have to create time, it depends on what makes you happy. Work-life balance is difficult to figure out, but you’ve got to find out what’s best for you.

I was told by a fifth-year student that they wished they built better habits to help them when they go into the workplace. Sometimes I feel guilty for not revising all the time, but I think about future me who will be grateful that she has strengthened boundaries and has a schedule.

For those who are in Year 2, you know more than you were in Year 1 and it feels easier knowing you’ve got this. Medical school is when you have more free time than you think, especially in Years 1 and 2. Use it, take time to do things, you might not have that time later.

What gets you down and how do you turn it around?

I tend to take on too much, and it means in a few weeks or months, I’ll get completely burnt out and will have a big cry. Getting out of that period is in two phases. In the short-term, I have a village around me, of friends in my year group and older medical students who have gone through it, and they give me advice and lift me up. My friends and family also check in on me and see how I’m doing. In the long-term, I find out my priorities. I have stepped down from some society work and I’ve negotiated some MedSoc responsibilities to make sure things work for me. The SSC I chose was around mindfulness and art, because that was something I wanted to prioritise this term. Turning it around is what you want and what you need to get that outcome.

Medicine can burn you out and be exhausting. Life can also be tricky. I experienced grief for the first time in my close family, and I managed by talking to doctors on placement and being honest. It was really helpful and you would be surprised how many people turn around and say, ‘Thank you for letting me know, how can I help you?’. Be honest and take time off.

What things did you find didn’t work…?

I like being quite busy, as a lot of medical students do. We find it hard to sit still and do nothing, and, at first, meditation didn’t work. But then I flipped it over, yoga was helpful and could slow me down. MedSoc keeps me interested, with crafting activities, films, it helps me keep up with my duties and still take care of myself. I find running really hard, it doesn’t work for me because I can be a procrastinator. I find going for a walk easier.

Some societies have a huge commitment, so I lean into ones that cater to medical students, and I ask if they’re okay with me not turning up to some things. With flatmates, sometimes we want to go out for dinner but self-care can look like cooking dinner together and watching a film because everyone’s tired.

What’s some advice you have for current and future KMMS students?

Know your limits. It’s not an easy feed and I feel like I can do anything and everything, but it’s about realising when I need to relax. Committing to self-care on top of studying medicine is difficult, but this makes it more important to carve out time, as if it was a lecture.

Personally, I like to bake with family sometimes and make meals with friends. I like going to the cinemas, just because you have to sit and watch the film. When you are on holiday from medicine, try your best. There are no exams after holidays, so we get to have a restful break; really enjoy that time.

Self-care isn’t something I learnt overnight, it’s something I am still learning. I didn’t come to medicine being perfect at this. It looks different to different people, so like running a marathon, watching a film, having a nap. Ultimately, it’s possible to do self-care and succeed in medicine.

Part of self-care last term, for me, was speaking to SLG. It’s a really helpful service, a great starting point at wondering what self-care means for you. I do therapy, and that’s really helpful. I did this with the University of Kent and I really rate it. I opted for counselling over CBT because there’s no ‘homework’, which suited me better.