04/08/2026
🍀 Best of luck to all of our graduates as they take up their foundation posts in hospitals up and down the country this week. Dr Archisha Marya SFP FY1 was in your shoes last August and has kindly shared a few reflections (and plenty of words of encouragement!) as she looks back on the first year of her medical career.
💬 “Liverpool has built a great curriculum and has provided me with a strong foundation for starting FY1, particularly through the PFA block. The variety of placements gave valuable exposure across specialties and built a level of confidence I probably did not fully appreciate at the time.
👩⚕️ As the year has progressed, the workload and responsibility have naturally increased. Medical on-calls in particular can be demanding, both in terms of variable intensity and rota patterns. As a bit of a type A planner, one of the biggest mindset shifts for me (still shifting slowly) was learning to take each day as it comes and accepting that plans and timetables will constantly change.
💡 Verbalise your thought process and ask for your colleagues’ opinions when you are unsure - this is often the quickest and most effective way to learn in a busy environment. Even brief discussions can help guide your decision making. Where possible, make use of small pockets of time - whether that is quickly looking something up or thinking things through whilst moving between tasks. Efficiency goes a long way during FY1 and knowing when to ask for help (and who to ask) makes a big difference.
💭 Try not to be put off by other people’s experiences either - everyone’s FY1 journey is different. You are here to learn whilst contributing to patient care. At the same time, don’t be too hard on yourself - mistakes can happen, and being reflective matters far more, and we are undoubtedly excellent at that!
🥰 Overall, FY1 has been a steep learning curve, where much of your growth comes from real clinical experiences rather than spamming PassMed/GeekyMedics. I’m extremely grateful for the five years at Liverpool and look forward to building on this as I progress through my training.”
