A determined new University of Central Lancashire* graduate has realised his lifelong dream of becoming a medical doctor after a decade of study.
Resilient Talha Sufi has completed three undergraduate and postgraduate courses to achieve his goal.
The 29-year-old began his University of Central Lancashire journey by enrolling on the three-year BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science programme. Following this, he signed up for a two-year physician associate postgraduate course. He kept pushing forward and finally landed a hard-earned place on the competitive five-year Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) course.
He said: “From the very start, my goal was clear - I wanted to become a doctor. Instead of taking the traditional route, I built my path in stages and that has meant spending 10 years at university and completing an undergraduate degree, a postgraduate diploma and now finally medical school.
“I feel excited that I’ve finally got to this moment as working as a doctor to serve my community is something I’ve wanting to do from an early age.”
It has been a balancing act for the former Darul Uloom Al Arabiya Al Islamiya School and Bury College pupil.
Instead of taking the traditional route, I built my path in stages and that has meant spending 10 years at university and completing an undergraduate degree, a postgraduate diploma and now finally medical school– Talha Sufi, new University of Central Lancashire graduate
“Juggling the demands of work, family and study was hard while being a mature student,” commented Talha, from Bolton. “I had to find the balance so I could study, work part-time as a physician associate at a GP surgery in Deepdale, undertake placements at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and find time for my family. However, with my family support my whole journey was made possible.”
Talha, who wants to specialise in general practice, has now moved to Dewsbury and is completing his mandatory two-year junior doctor programme at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
He said: “The University provided useful links and exposure to a variety of health sectors such as GP placements, surgical and medical rotations and first-hand teaching from hospital consultants and I’m looking forward to taking all this knowledge into my career.
“In the coming years I want to build my own surgery to serve my local community and really improve the health of those who are in need of health services. I want to have a wider impact on health improvement and the provision of social services for those who are struggling. Access to healthcare is a huge challenge for the elderly and those from ethnic minority backgrounds. I aim to bridge this gap and provide health services with care and compassion.”
*University of Central Lancashire is proudly changing to University of Lancashire