Undergraduate
I graduated in 2019 with a 1st class degree with Honours in Physiological Science from the University of Bristol.
Year 1
In my first year I was able to learn about the fundamentals of body function (69%, 51%) and human anatomy (59%, 55%). We perfomed various experiments to test basic principles and designed a basic experiment to investigate how the ECG pattern under a type II lead changes due to the diving reflex, acheiving results supported by research.
Year 2
Second year allowed more of a focus on how body systems integrate with each other under normal and stressed conditions, this module involved a research project focused on psychosomatic stimulation of salivary glands, testing how saliva production changes under different mental stimulation techniques. I also wrote a literature review discussing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, long term techniques and potential improvements to cardiopulmonary restoration (71%).
I was introduced to how mechanisms of drug interactions with receptors to provoke a response (69%), as well as how cells differentiate and specialise to promote a specific function (64%).
As well as these, we also had a module on research and employability skills where a foundation was established to prepare for a career in research, included in this was a grant proposal project in which I researched and designed a professional 3-year experiment for research into the consolidation of memory into the prefrontal cortex of mice with induced Alzheimers disease (71%) which expanded on my knowledge gained from my neurophysiology module (69%).
Year 3
My third year allowed for more development on professional research concepts and skills as well as an exploration into developing medical techniques in the module 'New Horizons in Medicine'. I have also chose two more optional modules in preparation for cardiovascular research: 'The Heart in Health and Disease' and 'The Cardiovascular System in Health and Disease'.
As well as the taught modules as part of third year, I also be underwent my third year project for my dissertation. My title was 'Atrial-ventricular Differences in Cardiac Myocyte Na Channel Current and the Blocking Properties of Eleclazine in Rats', a project which involved analysis of whole cell patch clamp currents to discover voltage-dependent differences in both activation and inactivation of Na channels, and discovering a use-dependent block with the novel drug Eleclazine, to provide anti-arrhythmic benefits in an atrial selective manner.
My work during this project helped contribute to a paper from the lab which I am a co-author on, this can be found in my publications section. The paper was also presented at the Physiology Conference 2019 in Aberdeen, which I was lucky enough to attend. This gave me an exciting opportunity to network, as well as the opportunity to see current research at the poster sessions.