This Valentine’s Day, we celebrated growth, success, and the power of self-investment! We encouraged our followers to share their journey's on social media with #LoveYourFutureSelf to inspire others and reflect on how far they have come. Read Lasith's Inspiring story below to see how he invested in his success with Pastest!
My decision to study medicine became apparent when I was around 13 or 14 years old. My parents are both doctors and I loved hearing about the cases that they saw and the impact that they had on the lives of others. Though I may be at risk of sounding cliché, the thought of applying my interest in science to help people excited me unlike any other career prospect could.
I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to study medicine at Imperial College School of Medicine starting in 2014. Like most Freshers, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing for the first few months of medical school. I sat in a huge lecture theatre with 300 others whilst various lecturers talked at us about their area of interest. Despite the occasional reference to ‘learning objectives’, I struggled to decipher what we did and didn’t need to know. In the end, thanks to a relatively fast typing speed forged by hours spent on MSN Messenger (a piece of history for all the Gen Z out there), I started making notes on my laptop based on pretty much anything the lecturer said. I then distilled these chaotic PowerPoint notes into a large OneNote library which I shared with my peers. Though I didn’t realise it at the time, this became a seminal moment in my life. The notes were widely used and I became known as ‘Laz from Laz’s Notes’.
This recognition gave me the confidence to explore other avenues in medical education. Clinical placements in my third year were a new challenge—suddenly, I was expected to apply theory in practice, yet much of the teaching felt fragmented. That’s when I discovered SBAs. Working through question banks like Pastest transformed my learning. Each question was an opportunity to visualise a patient, interpret investigations, and make decisions. I coupled this with creating flashcards on Brainscape to solidify my knowledge, a strategy that has stayed with me throughout medical school and the MRCP exams. This appreciation of the value of SBAs also led me to writing three internationally published SBA books (RevMED) and a Clinical Reasoning textbook (Clinical Reasoning for Medical Student: Bridge the Gap).
Having done F1 and F2 in West London, and spent a wonderful F3 travelling the world, I am now an ACCS Anaesthetics trainee in East London. I feel as enthusiastic about my job now as I thought I would at the age of 14. Every single day I get to work with amazing people, apply my knowledge of the human body and make someone’s life a little bit better. Though it has its faults, working for an organisation like the NHS that provides help to people at their time of need is something that I’m incredibly proud of. I plan to continue training in anaesthetics and intensive care with the view of, one day, becoming a consultant in both specialties. Alongside this, I hope to continue my work with Make a Medic - a charity that I founded which produces educational resources for medical students and uses the funds raised to support education and public health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries.
If I had to give one piece of advice to medical students and resident doctors, it’s to make sure you don’t underestimate the effect that you can have on the morale of the people around you. The job can be stressful, difficult and emotionally taxing. There are, of course, systematic issues that need to be addressed by the powers that be, and we should continue to advocate for positive change in the NHS. That being said, we should also do what we can to foster as positive an environment as possible for each other. Complaining about rotas, pay and inefficiencies has become the norm for NHS workers and does nothing to help morale. Every now and then, try and focus on the fact that you have the wonderful opportunity to improve the lives of people in need alongside a diverse array of vibrant colleagues. Embodying this enthusiasm will have a powerful impact on the department you work in. You will start improving lives from the moment you step through the door in the morning.