Sima Kowo

I enjoy being a listening ear and a problem solver. In school I was always very passionate about helping people, making sure their problems were heard through my various student leadership roles. I wanted to make a meaningful impact in my local community, and my dad was a paramedic, so that inspired me to study this degree.

I study in the St James’ facility in Manchester City Centre, surrounded by many bookstores, music venues and coffee shops. I commute into uni. I take the tram – about a 50-minute journey. Manchester’s a very accessible place with public transport. I live at home rather than in student accommodation – I just find it easier to commute in. I did consider moving into a student house with friends from school who go to the uni in Manchester. I decided against it purely because I knew the house wouldn’t be quiet when I’m on placement. My friend, who’s doing midwifery, moves back home during her placement blocks so she can sleep!

St James has a simulated operating theatre, a clinical simulation room and an immersive simulation room. But the common room is one of my favourite places. You can have lunch with your friends or work in a more relaxed space. The uni also provides us with tea bags, coffee and sugar, which is always a bonus when you drink hot drinks in the common room as well as hot drink cups and lids, if you do not have your own.

Spoke placements have been my favourite part of the degree. Spoke placements are focused, non-assessed opportunities to learn about other roles and services. We get to see what happens after we drop the patient off at hospital. We also build interpersonal skills and work with other professionals to see how they solve patients’ issues. It’s nice to see this in person – you get to learn about conditions from the people who regularly treat them. During second year, you enter settings like A&E, paediatric wards and operating theatres.

Juggling placement and social life is one of the hardest things about this degree…but that’s just the uni experience. I wasn’t able to go to as many concerts as I used to with my friends as the majority of them seemed to fall during placement weeks – our free time didn’t align as much. Shared calendar apps help manage this. It really helped us as most of my friends are either studying medicine, midwifery or nursing.

I chose Edge Hill due to the smaller cohort sizes, and the lecturers are the biggest support system you’ll have at uni. They’re all so passionate about the degree and will be there to support you with any issues you have during your time at Edge Hill. They’re there for you all the time whether you need help with an assignment, help with placement or you simply want to have a chat. None of them want you to fail.

Through the modules I’ve found little niches within the profession that I didn’t know before starting, and learnt a lot about myself as a person. I’ve also found the wider reading that comes with written assignments enriching.

During first year, all placements take place within the ambulance service. But you’ll be working alongside other services when delivering patient care, such as Mountain Rescue.

We worked with Mountain Rescue to get a patient down a hill in a first year placement. She’d been practising for the Three Peaks Challenge. Due to the weather conditions and her injuries, Mountain Rescue called the coastguard to pick the patient up in the helicopter and bring her down to the ambulance. It was interesting to hear their thought process behind bringing the patient down, and to see what medication Mountain Rescue carried.

One of my favourite spoke placements from this year was my mental health placement. I spent time on a ward with schizophrenic patients who were sectioned under the Mental Health Act. It was interesting to learn from the mental health nurses what all the different sections meant and to understand the different types of schizophrenia that can occur as well as the different category of medications they give to the patients.

Sitting with these patients and talking to them was beneficial. I learnt how to de-escalate situations, as well as tactics that reduce the possibilities of triggering the patients by ensuring that I was mindful of how I interacted and spoke with them.

There’s an abundance of live music venues in Manchester, including Band On The Wall which has a lot of free nights. Another upside is the cafes that you can go and study in when you don’t feel like being in the library. And there are local sports teams to join, and groups that run activities within the city centre for students

I’m secretary of the up-and-coming ParaSoc at St James. We started the society as a way for students to develop themselves as working professionals. We organise events and sessions based on what our members want. During high school and sixth form I was heavily involved in extracurricular activities. Being so far from the Ormskirk campus, I feel ParaSoc is a step in the right direction, bringing societies to the Manchester Campus.

I attend dance classes taught by an Edge Hill dance alumna. I started playing hockey this year as I wanted to try out a new sport. I used to play lacrosse. People always said to try hockey, and I thought, why not.

There’s a group called Girls on the Go Manchester and Girlhood UK. They run loads of events in Manchester where you get to know others, and do activities you wouldn’t usually do such as yoga in the park or speed-friending.

At the moment I’m reading A Little History of Music by Robert Phillips as well as Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors. I’m also watching The Summer I Turned Pretty. I read the books a few years ago (Team Conrad all the way!). And A Matter of Time by Laufey; Bewitched: The Goddess Edition by Laufey; Under Rug Swept by Alanis Morissette, and I Am Digital, I am Divine by Erin LeCount have been on repeat in my headphones recently. I’d also recommend Hetta Falzon. I had the opportunity to see her during her residencies at Fuel Cafe Bar in Withington, Manchester. She writes music that fans of Norah Jones will love.

I’m still undecided on what I want to do when I graduate. I definitely want to do a Masters, but I’m still deciding on whether I want to do my NQP (Newly Qualified Paramedic) period first.

My advice is do your research and go to as many open days as you can. If you’re not familiar with Manchester, have a walk around to gain a feel for the city, maybe go to a few popular student spots to see what the environment is like. Ask a lot of questions during open days, and talk to current students. Most importantly, believe in yourself. It’s not an easy degree and there’ll be times when you question yourself, but just remember your passion behind your choice and why you wanted to become a paramedic.