No matter what stage of the medicine application you are in, you’re probably balancing so many different aspects right now. Mocks. Interviews. UCAT preparation. Or just feeling a constant pressure of ‘I should be doing more’. If you feel like this, then this is for you.

Most aspiring medics don’t fail because they aren’t smart enough. It's because they have built the wrong habits and are costing themselves time and energy. Instead, the focus needs to be on building habits that set you up for success.

Firstly, habits aren’t about motivation; they are about removing friction. Many students work on motivation and say, ‘I’ll start when I’m motivated’ or ‘I’ll be more consistent once I feel more motivated’. But the truth is, motivation is a very fleeting emotion. Sustainable habits that carry you through UCAT, mocks, and interviews aren’t built on motivation. Successful students develop and rely on systems that are easy to follow, even on bad days.

For example, if you want to study more so you can achieve your dream grades, you need to break this goal down into clear, actionable habits that you can easily follow. Instead of just saying this as a goal and relying on motivation, create a space which you only use for studying. This could be your desk or another room. And start off by working just for 5 minutes. By crafting your environment this way for all of your goals, you can set yourself up for success and make sure you actually stick to and create good habits.

Secondly, you need to learn how to set boundaries. As an aspiring medic, it always feels like there is something more to do. You could be doing some pre-reading for your lessons. Or learning a new UCAT question type. Maybe reading a book to improve your extracurricular knowledge. But this is where you fall into a trap. You’re trying to do everything all the time.

What actually helps is learning to prioritise. Look at what is important to you, and dedicate your focus accordingly. The best way to do that is to look at how much time you have, such as your free periods or evenings. From that, create a clear boundary of what you want to be doing in each block of time. Decide and fully commit to that one thing for that time, as focusing on a specific task is so much more productive than constantly switching every 5 minutes. This reduces mental fatigue, and you know you have made sure to plan time for everything.

The application process for medicine is a long road. The right habits you build now will carry you throughout this process, or the wrong habits could exhaust you. This week, ask yourself, ‘What is a small change you can make that you can consistently stick to?’. That’s where real progress starts.

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And if you’re an aspiring medic who has medicine interviews coming up, I have something to tell you, which doesn’t get said enough. More interview prep is not always good interview prep. Some very common traps students fall into include practising for hours every day, memorising model answers or rewriting interview answers. This leads to robotic responses, loss of authenticity and extreme fatigue even before your interviews.

Instead, use the new year as an opportunity to develop a much better habit for interview preparation. A simple habit you can incorporate to learn all your medicine interview content is watching 1 video that's not even 5 minutes long on a key medicine interview topic, using my YouTube Interview Series. Pair this habit with practice. Using the Ultimate Medicine Interview Knowledge Document, aim to answer just one question a day.

Using these resources will help you to develop the RIGHT habits for your medicine interview preparation.

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If you’re trying to build habits that actually improve your grades, not just work harder, having the right support matters. If you’re studying GCSE or A-level Biology or Chemistry and feel like your current grades don’t reflect your potential, tutoring can be a way to change how you study, not just how much you study. My approach focuses on building strong academic habits through smarter learning, clear structure, and targeted support. I’ve worked with students who’ve gone from grade 4s to 8s, and others who’ve achieved A*s - not through shortcuts, but by fixing the systems holding them back. I keep classes intentionally small so students get proper attention and consistency. If this sounds like something that would support you, you’re welcome to email me at loveleenj241@gmail.com to find out more.

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As someone who received 4/4 offers and was in the first batch of offer holders at both King’s College London and the University of Birmingham, I’ve poured everything I know into creating the best possible interview resources, so you can achieve your dream of studying medicine. If you want to get your medicine offers, check out my interview resources on my website!

Additionally, you can check out my website for resources such as the A* AQA A-level psychology notes and my notes templated designed in an active recall format.

📸Here are the links to each of my social media pages, so make sure you follow! In all, I detail the advice and tips you need to help make your application to medicine so much easier! If you ever need any help, feel free to reach out to me at loveleenj241@gmail.com