Phase I overview
The first year of your medical career!
There are five Blocks, being five weeks each. Earlier ones are heavier, as the workload lightens as you establish the basics and build on them through the year. Everyone has a favourite - and least favourite! - Block or Theme, but Phase 1 covers the foundations of the human body and its physiology, from top to toe.
Each week ends with a mini formative-exam to check your own progress - they're good continuous revision, so revisit them! - and every Block has a mandatory, but self-assessed, online formative, to do in the 'Consolidation week' or break.
First year is the foundation for clinical placements, and eventual medical career - so your hard work now will help you in the long run.
Welcome Week
Block 0
Leads: Emily Reid & Dr Greg Moorlock
Contact: g.moorlock@warwick.ac.uk; Link opens in a new windowE.Reid.1@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window
Dates: Monday 23rd - Friday 27th September 2024
The 'hidden' Block... But, it's just 1 week.
But, it's essential you cover these intros to all the concepts, cellular mechanisms, and basics of medicine - the later content will be harder to grasp without these foundations.
If it's not sticking, please review the basics with the pre-work, Science for Medicine series, and Crash Course!Link opens in a new window
Welcome Week is also your intro to WMS, staff and students. So plan your time to cover the content, but be social too: meet your groups, and future colleagues, with this week's WMS-student-ran Fresher's WeekLink opens in a new window and WMS's Welcome Ball.
Here's an example timetable for a typical Phase 1 week.Link opens in a new window They look more complicated than they need to - WMS don't make individualised Tabula timetables - so once you get your group allocations, we advise you highlight sessions relevant to you and add them to your Outlook calendar.
Health, Metabolism, & Homeostasis
Block 1
Lead: Dr Clare Garcin
Contact: C.Garcin@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window
Dates: Monday 30th September - Friday 1st November 2024
Here you'll learn what's normal, before the abnormal, concerning basic cell processes, the gastrointestinal tract, and abdominal viscera.
It's lecture-heavy, especially CTB, with many Theme-intro lectures! Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information isn't uncommon, so remember - if you find a lecture/topic/organ particularly hard, ask your lecturers (and peers!) for help with it. Plus, flag it, so you know to come back to it in consolidation week.
Keep asking questions, and speak to the other students. Everyone has strengths - maybe it's an area like CAI, or creative conceptual thinking. But it's easier to learn from, and with, others, than to go it all alone!
Consolidation week
Monday 4th November - Friday 8th November 2024
Falling behind in Block 1 is very normal, so don't panic - you have this week to catch up. Also, you'll revisit many of these topics in other Blocks anyway!
Blood, Lungs, & Heart
Block 2
Lead: Dr Helen Strachan-Jones
Contact: H.Jones.6@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window
Dates: Monday 11th November - Friday 13th December 2024
Now it's the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, plus haematology, immunity, and ear, nose, and throat anatomy.
Many early CTB lectures are a bit 'physics-y', as there's a focus on gas exchange and pressures and flow... but hang in there. It clicks into place with commitment, though please do check these resources that we wish we'd used first!
You'll learn many of the 'big' conditions you'll see in your medical career; Heart Failure, Pulmonary Embolisms, Asthma, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Engage with the workshops, and ask questions to work on your comprehension.
Maybe you're still trying to work through Block 1, and rethinking your study methods. That's fine! Remember you have a mock OSCE in the last week; take the time to prepare for it, but remember it's just for your own knowledge of how you've progressed.
Winter Break
Monday 16th December 2024 - Friday 3rd January 2025
...and breathe! You made it: well done on slogging your way through the first term. There are many views on how you should spend your time now. And it is entirely up to you! But, most importantly - take time to have a break. This year is a marathon, not a sprint, so take care of yourself!
You can review what you need to, and remember to complete the formative exam and the feedback questions beforehand.
It's important to return in January feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the brain-bending anatomy of Block 3, which has pre-work, so give yourself time to complete it...
Brain & Behaviour
Block 3
Lead: Dr Mark Richards
Contact: Mark.Richards.1@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window
Dates: Monday 6th January - Friday 7th February 2025
Formally introducing on the central and peripheral nervous system, plus all things eyes and a variety of neurological conditions.
It's unsurprisingly also a very content-heavy and complex block, with more sessions on CAI than CTB. Balancing lectures, SDL, and Community Learning, you'll also start half-days in local hospitals to practise your consultations and examinations with real patients!
Staff are aware it's a challenging Block and are very helpful - you just need to ask! And try not to get too overwhelmed by the volume of CAI: things will start to fall into place, and you'll be building on your developing knowledge to handle the more complex concepts.
Consolidation Week
Monday 10th February - Friday 14th February 2025
Between B3 and B4, many students seem to love one and dislike the other! Either way, cover anything you missed, recap the content, then take the break (and note your physio's and gym-goers - they're pretty good at Block 4!)
Locomotion
Block 4
Lead: Dr Erin Fillmore
Contact: Erin.Fillmore@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window
Dates: Monday 17th February - Friday 21 March 2025
Here the focus is the musculoskeletal system. You'll cover skeletal structure, bone formation, muscle physiology, healing, muscle attachment sites and how these indicate movements, and muscle neurovasculature and how damage presents clinically.
There's a week per half-limb, with a recap, and numerous new names. But, they start to make sense if you step back and think conceptually - and each week will feel smoother as you get used to the terms. You'll cover them in too, as there's quite a few sessions on the many movement examinations.
It's actually a great Block for daily practice - think about which movement and muscle you're using when you type, sit down, raise your shoulder? Where does it attach, and which nerve supplies it? Now your body is a revision tool: use it to help you!
Easter Break
Monday 24th March - Friday 11th April 2025
Don't forget the formative exam, and to take some time to catch your breath before you start your revision for the summative exams. You could plan via Blocks, Themes, specialities, or however you understand the links. Whatever your approach, try to organise your notes or materials, and make a realistic timetable or set of goals.
Be flexible - adjust your expectations of what is possible as you work, and remember to set limits on your workload as well. Prioritise key areas, and if you're still stuck on a topic, revisit it with a new approach - and you can always contact staff.
But be kind to yourself: eat well, take breaks, speak to other students, and your friends and family - and as always, do not be afraid to ask for help! It's normal to take a break to avoid burn out: you'll be powering through from Block 5 until exams, so take the time now to get yourself in the right frame of mind.
Reproduction & Child Health
Block 5
Leads: Dr Helen Poulton
Contact: Helen.Watkin@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window
Dates: Monday 14th April - Friday 16 May 2025
Finally, you'll cover human reproduction, growth, and development, from the physiology to congenital abnormalities to labour, plus child health, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases.
You'll be balancing this alongside revision, and organising yourself can be a challenge. But, the Block is front-loaded, with fewer lectures in later weeks. Our advice is to begin the Block keeping on top of new material, and prioritise the concepts and complex areas that need time to sink in. Then the reduced lecture-time closer to exams can be for revision.
There's also a CAI spot-test - exam conditions, but it's purely for your own insight into which areas you need to focus on. Top tip - write down your instinctual answer, as well as your 'thinking' one, and compare!
Exam revision
Monday 19th May onwards - usually 2 weeks
You still have a final formative! Revision sessions are held throughout the first week - you should definitely attend these, as they'll give you essential info on what to expect come exams.
It's an intense few weeks, with emotions running high and lots of rumours - read our student-perspective revision tips for WMS Phase I exams.