Celebrating Success: Ariff Castronovo

We were thrilled to announce earlier this week that many of our third-year medicine students have achieved a First in their intercalated degrees! Professor Fredrik Karpe, Pembroke College Tutor and Head of the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, congratulated all our Medics on their superb outcomes.

Ariff Castronovo (2019, Medicine), who achieved a First this year, spoke to us about his experience in the pre-clinical part of his degree so far, and what it was like doing an 8-week lab project at the John Radcliffe Hospital:

"The pre-clinical years of Medicine at Oxford are challenging—more so than I could ever have expected—but it has culminated in the most incredible and inspiring programme of study in 3rd year. You have complete freedom to pick up to 8 options across 88 different possibilities; I dabbled across neuroscience, psychiatry, cardiovascular science, and pharmacology themes. 

An 8-week research project granted me hands-on experience in a lab, working on a mouse model of a rare genetic condition which results in degeneration of peripheral sensory nerve fibres. I enjoyed the fact that the research project was examined both by a written report but also an oral presentation, allowing you to really convey the depth of your involvement and understanding in your project. Lastly, there is also the opportunity to go even deeper into a topic with an extended essay; I wrote about consciousness in split-brain patients, receiving guidance from a college tutor who practises as a forensic psychiatrist.

This past year, I really felt like I was able to take full advantage of being at Oxford: for the lab project, I worked in world-class lab facilities at the John Radcliffe Hospital, alongside researchers at the cutting edge of the nerve injury field. The lecturers were so passionate as they weren’t just regurgitating information from a textbook: they were often talking about their own discoveries! They acknowledged where there was disagreement in the field, leaving it up to us to appraise the different scientific positions and present our own conclusions in tutorials. 

The freedom and independence that I’ve had in third-year has permitted me a deep-dive into areas of Medicine I find fascinating, and it has re-invigorated my passion for my subject. I have received phenomenal support from the tutors at Pembroke, not least Prof. Fredrik Karpe to whom I owe a great deal of gratitude for his persistent encouragement throughout the undergraduate degree. As a result, I really look forward to the next three years at Pembroke as I move on to the clinical school."

We had also asked fellow student Hakan Ozoran (2019, Medicine) to share his experience earlier this week. Read about it here.