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Graduate Medicine FAQ

We always get people asking the same things about graduate medicine, so I have written a short FAQ to help them out.

1.What is Graduate Entry Medicine(GEM) ?

Graduate Entry Medicine is an alternate route into medicine. It consists of 4-year courses or 5-year courses and is offered by a limited number of universities, making it very competitive.

2.What do I have to do to be able to apply for a GEM course?

To be able to apply for a GEM course, you need to have already finished, or be on your final year of an undergraduate degree. Master's degrees and PhD's are also accepted by some universities, offering the candidate equal chances as one with an undergraduate degree.

3.What kind of degrees are accepted for GEM?

This varies according to each university. Some require the degree to be in a life science discipline (this includes biochemistry, biomedical science, bioengineering and so on), and others accept degrees from any field.

Will I need a 1st in my degree to be considered?

No. Most universities that offer a GEM course ask for a 2.1 minimum in your degree. However, there are universities that consider candidates with a 2.2 in their degree: King’s College, Nottingham, St Georges.

5.Will they look at my A-levels or GCSE’s?

Again, this depends on which universities you apply to. There are those that look at you’re A-levels, there are those that look at you’re A-levels and GCSE’s and there are those that don’t look at them at all.

6.Will I be required to take additional admission tests?

Yes. This, however, is not true for all universities.

UKCAT: Barts, Imperial, Kings, Leicester, Newcastle, Oxford and Warwick
GAMSAT: Keele, Nottingham, St Georges, Swansea
BMAT: Cambridge
None: Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Southampton

7.What is the UKCAT?

The UK Clinical Aptitude Test is one admission test some universities use. It consists of 5 sections: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, Decision Analysis and Non-cognitive Analysis. For a strong applicant, a score of 700+ is recommended. More information on the UKCAT can be found here.

8.What is the GAMSAT?

The Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test is another test used by universities for GEM admissions. It consists of 3 sections: Reasoning in Humanities and Social Sciences, Written Communication and Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences. More information can be found here.

9.What is the BMAT?

The Biomedical Admissions Test Home is a test used by Cambridge for its GEM course. It consists of 3 sections: Aptitude and Skills, Scientific Knowledge and Application and Writing Task. More information can be found here.

10.How is the financial support for such a course?

For the 5-year course, if you have previously taken a publicly funded higher education course lasting two years or more, you will not be entitled to receive funding from your local authorities for tuition fees and universities may charge you the full cost of their tuition. Which means that if you did an undergraduate degree and took a loan for it, you will get nothing.
However, there are several banks and associations that can give you a loan to cover your degree expenses.
(I will research into this and provide a few names as soon as I can).

For the 4-year course, you are eligible to apply for NHS bursaries from the Department of Health in the second, third and fourth years of the course, if you are a resident in England or Wales. In the first year, you can apply for a student loan from The Student Loan Company.

You can still obtain maintenance loans for both the 4-year and the 5-year course.

Useful Links:

http://www.medschoolsonline.co.uk/index.php?pageid=77
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Where_to_Study_Medicine#Graduate_Entry_Programmes
http://www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx

WARNING!!: All things posted in this FAQ are subject to change. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. Before you make a decision, I strongly suggest to contact the universities that you are interested in for the latest up to date entry standards.

Reply 1

Wolfy^

Please feel free to suggest other questions that can be added here.
I apologise for any mispelled words and grammar mistakes.
I hope this helps a few people. :smile:

Reply 2

cd.thomson

Just a couple of things wolfy^:

you make it sound like its trickier to enter GEM courses with postgraduate qualifications when really it makes no difference (this is probably just dodgy wording?)

On the subject of funding: you do still get the maintenance loan from the student loans company which is £3k+ per year I think? you just can't get the tuition fee loan. There are also options for graduate professional development loans from high street banks which have similar repayment terms to normal student loans except with slightly higher rates of interest.

Reply 3

persian2845

Which ones accept international students?

Reply 4

cd.thomson

All of them if they can afford the £30k a year fees plus living costs :O

Reply 5

fortysixandtwo

Wolfy^

Please feel free to suggest other questions that can be added here.
I apologise for any mispelled words and grammar mistakes.
I hope this helps a few people. :smile:

Hey, great post.

May I suggest adding a little to the follow:

10.How is the financial support for such a course?

For the 5-year course, if you have previously taken a publicly funded higher education course lasting two years or more, you will not be entitled to receive funding from your local authorities for tuition fees and universities may charge you the full cost of their tuition. Which means that if you did an undergraduate degree and took a loan for it, you will get nothing.
For the 4-year course, you re eligible to apply for NHS bursaries from the Department of Health in the second, third and fourth years of the course. In the first year, you can apply for a student loan from The Student Loan Company.

Something about the fact that graduate applitcants can still apply for a maintenance loan from the loans company for both the 4 and 5 year courses.

And the NHS funding for the 4 year GEP is only applicable to residents of England and Whales.

Apart from those little things it's an excellent start for any wannabe graduate entrants!

Reply 6

Single Malt

If you do not apply for a loan or grant during your first degree, can you claim for one during the graduate entry medical degree?

Reply 7

Wolfy^

Updated:

-fixed dodgy wording (hopefully :p:

)
-added loans info

Single Malt

If you do not apply for a loan or grant during your first degree, can you claim for one during the graduate entry medical degree?

You will not get a loan if you already took one for a course that lasted 2-years or longer. So yes, you can.

fortysixandtwo

And the NHS funding for the 4 year GEP is only applicable to residents of England and Whales.

Can you throw me a link where it states so? I was not aware of this and could not find it anywhere. Thanks. :smile:

Reply 8

Single Malt

Wolfy^

You will not get a loan if you already took one for a course that lasted 2-years or longer. So yes, you can.

Thanks (rep on the way :wink:

)...
One more question, assuming I only get the loan and no grant, which makes more financial sense, taking the loan during the three year course (biomed) or the four year grad course (or possible five year course)? I think somebody said you got an nhs bursary for three years of a four year grad-entry course, but that sounds ridiculous. I (think I) know the presence of a bursary stops you getting a loan that year?

Reply 9

fortysixandtwo

Wolfy^

Can you throw me a link where it states so? I was not aware of this and could not find it anywhere. Thanks. :smile:

No prob:

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students/1982.aspx

To be eligible for NHS Bursary support ALL students regardless of nationality must be able to satisfy the following requirements on the first day of the first academic year of the course (the ‘prescribed date’) * On that day, all applicants must:

•

be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years preceding the prescribed date, apart from occasional or temporary absences;

AND

•

be ordinarily resident in England, Scotland , Wales or Northen Ireland on the prescribed date (other than medical and dental students who must be ordinarily resident in England.);

AND

•

have ‘settled status’ in the UK - within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971. This means that there must be no restrictions on your length of stay in the UK.

Reply 10

fortysixandtwo

Single Malt

I think somebody said you got an nhs bursary for three years of a four year grad-entry course, but that sounds ridiculous. I (think I) know the presence of a bursary stops you getting a loan that year?

Yeah, you are correct, sir:

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=557

Graduates on accelerated (four year) courses are eligible to apply for means-tested NHS bursaries from the Department of Health in the second, third and fourth years of the course. Tuition fees are also paid during that period of the course. In their first year, graduate students on accelerated courses will be eligible to apply for student loans from the Student Loans Company for their maintenance.

Reply 11

Single Malt

fortysixandtwo

Yeah, you are correct, sir:

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=557

ah, so its worth getting a loan for the first degree...

Reply 12

petzneo

Nice idea...thanks for putting it up!

Reply 13

Wolfy^

Updated:

-loans info

Reply 14

dances_with_lamposts

Can I just clarify something about the loans.... for both the 5 year and GEP courses you won't be able to get a tuition fee loan (whether you had them in your first degree or not), but you will be able to apply for the means tested maintenance loan of up to £4950 (i think - you would need to check that figure) in the 1st year of the GEP and 1-4th years of the 5 year course.

For years 2-4 of GEP and year 5 onwards of the 5 year then the NHS bursary will cover your tuition fees and you can apply for a means tested bursary (I don't know how much that is), as well as being able to apply to the student loans people for a reduced maintenance loan.

:smile: