“I turned my life around to study medicine – I want others to have that chance”

Fadi Al-Shoaibi explains how he fought against the odds to pursue a career in medicine, and is now supporting others in their training.

Medical student Fadi Al-Shoaibi teaching

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13 October 2025

Fadi Al-Shoaibi is a medical student and the educational lead of the Surgical Society at the University of Plymouth, regularly supporting students both at the Peninsula Medical School and in others around the UK with their learning. He has also presented to doctors and NHS staff members.

So it may be surprising to hear that his academic career started in a very rocky path – as his behaviour and academic achievement spiralling in his teens meant he faced rejection from schools, time away from studies, had to re-sit GCSEs and was not able to take A levels.

My dad didn't know what to do with me and how to best guide me. I didn’t listen to anyone, and I was constantly fighting in school to seek attention and validations from other students.

My only goal was to feel good by impressing others as I had nothing else that made me feel good about myself. However, I was going further down the wrong path so I was forced to leave school at a critical point in my education and live abroad with my uncles.

Physically and mentally, I was low, and I would describe that as the worst period of my life. I had nothing to show for but failure.

When I finally came back home to the UK, I was faced with big decisions but I was determined to turn my life around despite my peers being far ahead of me.

I look back and the troubled teenager is a very different person from the one I am now. The experiences, both the good and the bad, have shaped me. I learned that we should never shy away from adversity and that we can always come back stronger.

All that I've been through has shaped my perspective on life and the way I see the world around me, thus allowing me to connect to the people and patients I’ve met so far better with greater sensitivity.

The moment I realised

Fadi managed to secure a place on an applied science BTEC – and it was then he discovered a textbook on anatomy, which started him on the road that changed everything.

Fadi Al-Shoaibi as a teen, learning with textbooks

During the BTEC, lockdown hit, and I was studying at home when I came across one of my dad's textbooks – it happened to be about anatomy. It was the first time in my life I felt fully invested in a topic, and I couldn’t put it down.

Intrigued by anatomy, Fadi secured a shadowing experience in a hospital near to his home in Kingston, London, and met a consultant who showed him a huge variety of settings. He was also introduced to lots of different teams and ended up volunteering at the hospital for 50 hours a week.

Honestly, it didn’t feel like work. Nobody forced me to be there. I learned so much from the consultant.

I was thrilled by the science coming to life and the surgeries being done to change people’s lives.

I was in my element exploring all these aspects of medicine and learning about how to become a good surgeon. However, I was taken aback by one consultation that the orthopaedic consultant had with an elderly patient.

This consultant shifted my perspective on what medicine is truly about and the most crucial component: the human touch.

He held an elderly woman's hand as he delivered difficult news to her and explained everything with clarity and compassion.

Despite his busy schedule he didn’t rush. His position and status did not matter. He was simply being there for her as a human. I realised then that the core of medicine is humanity, and I knew I wanted to be a doctor.

Biomedical brilliance

Fadi’s college results improved and, while he was applying to medical schools, he was faced with many rejections and knew he needed more scientific grounding to meet the medical academic demands and help him stand out from the thousands of others embarking on the career.

Medicine is highly competitive, and I applied more in hope than anticipation. I knew I had to keep trying – and I saw biomedical sciences would further my scientific knowledge and give me the grounding I needed to take the next steps.

Plymouth's biomed course had a great reputation, and I loved the city when I came to visit.

After an entrance interview, Fadi was accepted onto BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences and embraced the lifestyle that came with living in Britain’s Ocean City.

Medical student Fadi Al-Shaibi diving into the sea

Medical student Fadi Al-Shoaibi on Dartmoor

As well as having an amazing time and being well supported to settle in, I went sea swimming most days and enjoyed hikes on the moors to relax between lectures.

I also joined the Students’ Union Surgical Society and discovered a passion for teaching.

After my experience in the hospital, I managed to gain a lot of experience and learned my anatomy hands on. I realised that in order for us to learn well we must imagine and picture things. And so, I returned to the hospital to give a teach to the orthopaedic department, which started my teaching vocation.

My approach to teaching is to give people ownership of their learning and let them explore – I’m simply a guide. That way they can think for themselves and imagine how the anatomy works and why it works the way it does.

Some of the topics on the medical and biomed curricula are tricky to grasp so I was keen to support other students as they were learning about them.

I found that if I could break it down and understand things myself, it made it easier to help others do the same.

It was also wonderful to meet other students and help them learn – from medicine and biomedicine – who had each had varied ways of getting into university.

You really are treated as an individual here at Plymouth and it’s something I wanted to carry with me.

I also maintained links my mentor in London, and he offered to write me references as I looked towards my next step.

Another hurdle to overcome

Fadi applied to Plymouth’s Peninsula Medical School in his second year of study, and his application once again wasn’t successful. He achieved a 2:1 in Biomedical Sciences, which meant he wasn’t automatically eligible for a medical degree interview (something that Plymouth is able to offer to those biomed students who achieve a first).

He chose to continue his volunteering at hospitals; advancing and expanding his knowledge however he could. Then he chose to do the Graduate Medical School Admission Test (GAMSAT) – a difficult, lengthy exam that some medical schools accept.

Fadi Al-Shoaibi on computer doing research

The GAMSAT is the hardest thing I've done as it measures critical thinking, problem-solving, and written communication skills, rather than just knowledge recall.

It requires you to become not simply a smarter individual but also wiser with greater knowledge of the world and how other humans operate.

When I first took it, I arguably wasn't ready, but I was determined and drew on the life experiences I’d had, as well as the academic development to pass third time.

Arguably this was my greatest achievement.

Many people advised me to avoid the GAMSAT due to its intensity, and others did not believe in me.

However, the GAMSAT was the most influential test I've taken as it completely improved the way I think and therefore made me a better person.

This combined with the biomedical science degree, the teaching and extra-curricular work I’d done, I was accepted into Plymouth’s Peninsula Medical School.

It really wasn’t easy, and I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life.

Helping others to achieve

Since starting medical school, Fadi has become the Education Lead of the SU’s Surgical Society, joined the Anatomy Society and taught medical students at Plymouth and Taunton. He has also taught medical students at Kings College London and on a national scale with the Surgical Undergraduate Peer Teaching Alliance (SUPTA).

In addition, Fadi has maintained strong links with the mentor who inspired him years before, and he's now looking to teach practising professionals as well as medical students, before embarking on a career in trauma and orthopaedics.

It’s the human element of medicine that continues to spur me on. As doctors, you’re with patients at their darkest moments, and it’s important to help them through. When you know why you want to do something, you can bear the how, whatever form it takes.

It's been an interesting journey, and a difficult one at times, but I know I’m doing what I’m meant to do. I would not have wanted a different route into medicine.

The adversity has moulded me to who I am and prepared me the best way possible. As well as helping patients and learning about medicine on my programme, I'm now devoting my spare time to ensuring others are supported on their journey through university – as well as continuing my sea swims.

I turned my life around to study medicine – I want others to have that chance too.

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