Holly Barter graduated in 2006 with a degree in Physiological Science . She is now studying to be an Osteopath…

Having done a Physiology degree, what careers were you considering while you were at university?

I had entirely planned to take time out after finals to work out what direction I was going to go in, but out of nowhere my friends started racking up interview after interview. Slightly panicked that I would be left part-timing in my local supermarket while everyone else was busy in business lunches, I went about finding my ‘perfect job’ with a sense of urgency. Most of my peers were going down the consultancy/banking/law routes but I was pretty sure none of these were for me… frankly I didn’t think I was up to the challenge! As it was important to me to keep an element of my subject in my work, I began looking for jobs that mixed business with science – specifically in the Healthcare industry.

What was your job when you left? What did you do from day to day?

I started as a Graduate Trainee with GfK Healthcare in September 2006. GfK is a global Market Research agency that handles research into a range of sectors – Business, Financial and Media to name but a few. My day-to-day work consisted of account handling and project management. Fortunately, project life cycles were generally between 6 and 10 weeks long, which meant that my work never seemed to stagnate. GfK also outsources very little, so I was given the chance to get stuck into all the different parts of a project – be that writing interview guidelines, attending focus groups, or analysing results. Still, it’s fair to say I spent quite a lot of time on PowerPoint!

How did you end up wanting to be an osteopath? What sort of career-path is involved?

Though I speak relatively positively about my company, I realised the job wasn’t for me very quickly. The corporate environment really did nothing for me at all, which meant that my motivation deteriorated rapidly. As alternatives I began looking at science-related careers with more of a hands-on basis. Complementary medicine seemed to tick all the boxes; my family have always been keen believers in natural remedies and Osteopathy held very positive associations in particular. I did my research and it seemed like the ideal option. As well as having a grounding in physiology, it would also allow me to be self-employed in the future - a very appealing prospect. Above all, though, I had a really good gut feeling about it.

What did you have to do to get onto your course? How did you feel about doing a whole new degree?

I applied through UCAS and then had an interview. It was quite a nerve-wracking day of assessments, the most stressful being a practical test of patient care and handling - obviously quite a contrast from the formal interviews I was used to! The prospect of doing a new degree was really exciting. Most people seem to think it was a brave decision to go back to uni, but on the contrary, I felt like I was going back into familiar surroundings!

What do you do on a normal day? Do you enjoy it?

An average day involves about 5 hours of timetabled lectures / practical classes, plus some additional independent study. Exams are much more frequent than in Oxford, which I don’t like at all! It’s actually far more work than I thought it would be, but it continually holds my interest and the variation within the course keeps me on my toes.

As a student, what do you do for money (without prying too much)?

I am extremely fortunate in that my family covers my rent – a godsend in London – and I earn the rest of my money in the evenings and during holiday periods. During term-time I work in a wine bar a few nights a week to tide me over, but now summer is here I’ve returned back to GfK as a temp. It’s not the most fun I’ve ever had but fortunately temps in London seem to get paid very generously!

Finally, where in London do you live? Do you like it?

I’ve lived in the same flat in Clapham North since I arrived in London 2 years ago. I would strongly recommend Clapham to anyone who is new to the big smoke; it’s not the most trendy or arty area of London (by a long way) but it’s full to the brim with recent graduates and it’s a very bustling little community. A huge plus is having the Common right on your doorstep – a bit of greenery is a necessary oasis from the increasingly hectic zone 1!