Shiwei Ooi

Email Shiwei: shiwei-link@leeds.ac.uk

Hi there! My name is Shiwei. I am from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I am an undergraduate in Medicine. Before coming to Leeds, I studied at Methodist College Kuala Lumpur and completed my O-levels in Singapore. 

I first heard about Leeds through researching the top universities to study Medicine and found Leeds to be one of the best in the world. Upon further research, I discovered that Leeds is a Russell Group university, renowned for the quality of the research I am interested in specialising in! 

My time at Leeds has been truly amazing so far! The Leeds University Union (LUU) has honestly been a life saver for me. From events, such as pet therapy, where you get to play with cute dogs, vintage kilo sales that make a great study-break activity and the legendary night club, Fruity, at the Union where you get to see all your friends have fun and boogie!

I am also very proud to say that it is through Joblink that I was able to obtain my first job ever. I found the staff very welcoming and helpful in helping a nervous fresher like me find their first job. The application process was simple and Joblink’s Facebook group is always a great platform for me to look for part-time jobs that would fit around my busy schedule.

I also spend the large majority of my time, especially towards exams season, in the Health Sciences library. I think studying in the library provides me with a conducive environment to support my learning and the wide-array of books on display has definitely helped me saved a lot of money from buying pricey medical books. 

One of my favourite things about Leeds is the number of societies – that it is over 300 of them! In first and second year, I was part of LUU’s Women’s Basketball team and had the best time of my life! From training and attending competitions around the region to having the best memories at the weekly sport socials on Wednesdays, I have had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world simply through the love of basketball. I would definitely recommend any student to join a society as the experience is like no other.

I was also part of a society called Sexpression where we went into schools to teach sexual education to students and I recently started a LUU society called the Leeds Healthcare Students for Climate Action where we advocate for climate action and sustainable teaching in the healthcare curricula. There is always something for everyone! 

One of the best things about my course is the amount of patient contact you get as soon as you start Medicine. In first year, we started off attending placements once a week where it gave us an opportunity to observe and even practise doctor-patient communication on real-life patients. Through interacting with patients, I am trained to pick up social cues, the tone of language the patient is speaking in and to decipher the content patients present to me, which are essential communication skills needed to interact, not just patients but with anyone. 

Outside of my studies, you will often find me going on mini-weekend-adventures across little towns in Yorkshire and sometimes internationally to European countries like Poland and France. Leeds has a well interconnected transport system with buses, trains and its own airport to help make travelling more accessible and you can often find good deals if you know where to look!

Also being a huge music geek and Leeds being infamous for its music scene was all that I needed. I have admittedly been to over 30 concerts whilst studying here at Leeds and have seen acts from The Weekend to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the historical Leeds Town Hall. My favourite place for live music would definitely be HiFi Sunday Joint. They host live acts every Sunday evening, with free entry and I think a chilled jazz night with your friends is arguably the perfect way to start your week! 

I think Leeds is such a vibrant city with so many different cultures. You can find all kinds of food from your local British Sunday roast at The Brunswick, delicious curry with naans larger than life at Akhbars to authentic mouth-watering pad thai at Thai Aroy Dee.

Putting my food loving nature aside, I also love creating and exploring art. As you venture around Leeds, you may be able to spot the UK’s tallest mural ‘Athena Rising’ near the train station to the vibrant and iconic ‘Cornucopia’ next to the Corn Exchange. There are also so many art galleries like the Leeds Art Gallery and The Tetley, which I often frequent to do edgy photoshoots with my friends. 

I lived in Charles Morris Halls (CM) in my first year and later moved to a private accommodation just off Clarendon Road. Living at CM was great! When I first arrived, I was immediately greeted by a friendly student helper who showed me where to get my keys and was kind enough to show me to my room.

CM was right on campus so it was super convenient to get to my building and the catered option allowed me to have one less thing to think about, which allowed me to focus my time on studying. It was also great to go to the Refectory with my flat mates for dinner and catch up with them after a long day. 

Get in touch!