▲ Carmen Giménez, first on the left.
Hi reader! My name is Carmen Giménez, and I am a fifth year medical student at the University of Navarra School of Medicine. Even though I like to think I am almost about to finish my studies, I can't help but going back to the beginning, six years ago when I was still studying 2nd of high school diploma.
By then I already knew I was going to study Medicine, or at least try my best to do so. And then a friend of mine told me about this Clinical Case Competition organized by University of Navarra, in which we could get to play doctors trying to solve clinical cases. So I gathered other friends interested in studying Medicine and we started working on it. It was so much fun! We were clueless about Medicine, but we spent our breaks in school in the IT room googling the symptoms we were given and trying to interpret test results. Our tutor was of great help and she oriented us along the way. I am from Cádiz (Spain), so we couldn't do the first part of the presentation in Pamplona (where the UNAV's Campus is located) and we did it via Skype. We though that would be a handicap and that there was no way we would be getting into the final, but we were wrong and very happy about it. So after more break hours invested and some meetings to practice the oral presentation itself, off we went to the final in Madrid. We were really nervous and all 8 groups did great, but we managed to end up being second!
After that, we carried on with our studies and focused on university entrance exambut when the time came I was really doubting between studying in Madrid or in Pamplona. As a price for the Clinical Case Competition, I won a 3 days shadowing at Universidad de Navarra, and so my dad told me: "Hey, how about we go on a trip to both Pamplona and Madrid, you'll see both campuses and then you'll decide". That is what we did, and after seeing the University of Navarra and meeting everyone here (including the one who is my current clinical tutor) all my doubts were cleared.
As I mentioned before, I am in fifth year, but since the beginning I loved the city of Pamplona (even though getting used to the weather was a little hard), the University, and obviously Medicine. It doesn't matter where in the world I end up after finishing my degree, I will always take with me the knowledge (theoretical and practical about Medicine and life in general) I acquired over the six years, and the amazing friends and contacts I've made during the way at the University of Navarra School of Medicine.
