Learner Profile
Aqsa Iqbal
School
Central Park Medical College, Pakistan
HMX Course
After her second year as a student in the MBBS program at Central Park Medical College of Pakistan, Aqsa Iqbal recognized a need to better understand foundational topics. She took HMX Physiology to build on her studies and prepare for her career in neurology.
Why did you want to take the physiology course?
In second year we study anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. So after second year I had a break and I decided to take a deeper dive and to learn more about physiology. I wanted to learn more because physiology is the root of medicine. And without knowing physiology, you can’t learn medicine and you can’t go ahead in it.
Did you find it prepared you well for clinical work?
I did not have much doctor-patient experience prior to taking this course. And when I took this course, there were many videos about doctors interacting with patients in it, which really motivated me, and taught me how to [work with patients] in the future. I am in my final year now, and I interact with patients every day. My knowledge from this course is also helping me in interacting with the patient. When I take history, I take care and I remind myself about all those ethics and how to deal with patients; the patient tells you a lot of information, but it’s your duty to take the [right] information which you need from the patient to make a diagnosis.
How has the course helped you in your medical study?
When COVID came and everything went online, there were no in-person classes [at my college]. So that was the perfect time for me to take this course, because otherwise it is quite difficult to take these courses and medical studies together. So that was a perfect time. And when the COVID lockdown was over and I went to my college again, medical school again, I was a completely different person. My way of thinking, my knowledge was different and I started feeling a quite significant and positive change in me.
Do you have any advice for other students considering these courses?
The only point here is that you should always try to come out of your comfort zone. It is a bit challenging to manage time, because you have to take out some hours of your day and your week to do this course. It’s my advice to all the students that you should invest in education. It is not spending money, it is investing. This is what my mentors told me, and I feel that this is the right time to share it with other students.