"One thing I have learned in recent years is that you can get anywhere if you put your mind to it"

08/09/2017

Brais is from A Coruña, Galicia, and says that even if he will miss his family and friends very much, coming to the UAB and completing a degree in Medicine is a challenge and a dream come true.

He wants to live in Barcelona, close to the hospitals, because he would like to work as a nurse during the holidays and on weekends.

Your entrance mark is near perfection at 13.65 over 14. How did you prepare for the exams? Is there a magical formula?

The magical formula is always the same: a lot of effort and sacrifice. I think another important aspect is to know what you want and give up other things to achieve it.

What do you do when you are not studying?

I like exercising and football, although I am not a great fan. Now I have a dog and the little free time I have, I use to take the dog out for a walk with my girlfriend.  
Maybe my top hobby in these past few years has been to work hard in order to get here and enrol in Medicine.

You already have a degree in Nursing and now are about to start studying Medicine. Did you always know what you wanted to study?

I always knew what I wanted to study. Since I was small I knew I wanted to be a doctor. When I got to upper secondary education, however, my mark wasn't high enough to start Medicine and I enrolled in Nursing with the hope that the degree would be similar. When I was half-way through the degree, I realised that it wasn't for me, that I still wanted to study medicine.
I began to gather information on what I needed to do to enrol as a graduate, but my marks still weren't enough. So I decided to enrol in an advanced professional training course (CFGS) and spent my 4th year in Nursing also enrolled in my 1st year of the CGFS course. I graduated from Nursing and did another year of the CFGS courses, took all the extra university entrance exam tests and here I am (laughs)!

Is there any medical specialisation you are particularly interested in?

I'll wait to start lectures and then I'll decide. However, what I most like is surgery and especially heart or neurosurgery. These two types of surgery are what have interested me most until now.

Isn't it difficult to come and study something as demanding as Medicine and so far away from home?

Medicine isn't difficult. What I have learned in recent years is that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. Being far away from home does worry me a bit, but I wanted to study Medicine at a good university and online forums I checked said this was a good university.
Plus, I have family here so I will not be alone. I wanted to start a new chapter in my life, in a different place, where I could find work as a nurse during the holidays or weekends.

How is your Catalan coming along?

It's coming along (laughs). I think anyone who goes to a new place must keep an open mind and here people speak another language. Just like we speak Galician in Galicia, people here speak Catalan and I really want to learn and speak it.

Why did you choose the UAB, being from A Coruña?

I chose the UAB because I saw it was a very good university in the field of Medicine. I also discovered that, although there is a lot of competitiveness, there is also a lot of comradeship and I believe that must be one of the fundamental pillars of health science professionals.
Finally, I also opted for the UAB because I have family here in Barcelona and because I wanted to enrol in this degree somewhere new.

What do you think about studying in such a big campus?

I was surprised when I saw it at first. I came yesterday afternoon to see what the campus looked like and the moment I stepped out of the train, I was in awe. I assure you that even A Coruña isn't as big (laughs)!
Truth is, I was very surprised because I have never seen anything like this campus.

What do you hope to do in this new chapter you are beginning at the UAB?

I hope to study something I like, and to do well, to learn a lot and prepare myself to become a good doctor and, before completing my career, I hope to have acquired good skills to take my national medical residency exam.

In addition to studying, is there anything else you would like to do?

Since I already have a degree in Nursing, I would like work as a nurse during the holidays or on the weekends. I also aim to improve my English because I would like to go and work in another country for a few years.

Where will you live during the academic year?

I was looking at flats in Cerdanyola Vallès, but I also want to check Barcelona so I can be closer to the hospitals and more job offers. I would like to find a place between the university and my job. It is very common for a hospital to call a nurse in the afternoon asking you to be there in an hour. I want to be able to do that.

Would you like to participate in an exchange programme and study abroad?

I would like to study abroad, because I didn't while I was studying Nursing and now I regret it. Now I have a new chance and I will definitely do it. I really like North and South America, but am also interested in Australia, and northern and eastern Europe.

Do you have any dreams you would like to see come true?

(Laughs) Until now, it was getting into Medicine and now that this dream has come true, I will have to look for new ones. Of course, one of my dreams is to work doing what I like and going abroad and working for a few years as a doctor.