[bagelbe]

I couldn't find a thread on this so thought I'd ask

I'm hoping to do medicine at Durham, just wondering about the application process and how they decide whether or not to offer you a place; amount of volunteering etc.

I got 1A* 7a's and 3b's in GCSE's and hoping to get 3 a's and A* at A level if I really push myself. The A* in German and the 3 a's in Biology, Chemistry and Psychology.

Also any general information on location and colleges would be useful! Thanks

[a moist feeling]

High UKCAT (above cut-off) = interview....the rest is up to you

[bagelbe]

Ah thanks very much so basically just revise loads for UKCAT?

[ilickbatteries]

(Original post by bagelbe)
I couldn't find a thread on this so thought I'd ask

I'm hoping to do medicine at Durham, just wondering about the application process and how they decide whether or not to offer you a place; amount of volunteering etc.

I got 1A* 7a's and 3b's in GCSE's and hoping to get 3 a's and A* at A level if I really push myself. The A* in German and the 3 a's in Biology, Chemistry and Psychology.

Also any general information on location and colleges would be useful! Thanks

Can't help you with the course, but I can help you with information about the local area if you have any questions.

[bagelbe]

(Original post by ilickbatteries)
Can't help you with the course, but I can help you with information about the local area if you have any questions.

Do you know anything about the colleges? And I know that Queen's Campus is in Stockton-on-Tees but is it far from Durham City? And is it a lot different?

[ilickbatteries]

(Original post by bagelbe)
Do you know anything about the colleges? And I know that Queen's Campus is in Stockton-on-Tees but is it far from Durham City? And is it a lot different?

I know the vague locations of the colleges but not a lot about them, sorry pal.

Queen's Campus is fairly new, a modern build fairly far away from Durham. There's a bus runs all year round (though the times are slightly reduced out of term time) between Middlesbrough and Durham that goes through Queen's Campus (X2).

Stockton isn't the nicest place in the world tbh, though it's very close to Middlesbrough for nights out and the like, and about an hour or so on the bus away from Durham City.

Are Durham medics split between James Cook Hospital and University Hospital Durham now? I've seen medics in Durham City I swear.

Just checked, James Cook University Hospital. Must be.

[bagelbe]

Ah thanks so much! Yeah, I read on the website that after the first or second year you go to James Cook Hospital Thanks!

[Beska]

Medicine at Durham is taught in partnership with Newcastle. You graduate with a Newcastle degree.

For the first two years you are based at Queen's Campus Stockton. In the third year you come together with medics who have done their first two years at Newcastle and you are allocated into one of four different clinical base units which cover the north-east of England:



In fourth year, all medics study at Newcastle.

In fifth year, you are again allocated into one of the four clinical base units. You cannot be placed in the same base unit that you had in third year.

Basically you need to choose if you'd rather spend your first two pre-clinical years in Newcastle or Stockton.

[bagelbe]

Ah thanks very much! So if you get into Durham you can choose to study in Newcastle then?

[Beska]

(Original post by bagelbe)
Ah thanks very much! So if you get into Durham you can choose to study in Newcastle then?

No. If you get into Durham you study your first two years in Stockton, you then go to Newcastle in your fourth year and study there.

If you choose to apply to Newcastle, you will study only there.

[slew]

(Original post by Beska)
No. If you get into Durham you study your first two years in Stockton, you then go to Newcastle in your fourth year and study there.

If you choose to apply to Newcastle, you will study only there.

Just out of interest, I know you can apply to both Durham and Newcastle (obviously) but why would anyone do this? Surely you'd just get either 2 offers or two rejections as their admissions criteria is the same and they run the same course?

[Beska]

(Original post by slew)
Just out of interest, I know you can apply to both Durham and Newcastle (obviously) but why would anyone do this? Surely you'd just get either 2 offers or two rejections as their admissions criteria is the same and they run the same course?

If you end up with two interviews, your performance may be different between them (or applicants in the respective cohort may have a lower performance) thus may result in an offer from one and a rejection from the other. As both have the same admissions criteria (high UKCAT = interview), if you have a high enough UKCAT then you could practically bag two interviews. Two shots, as it were.

[Oh It's The Sunxx]

(Original post by bagelbe)
Do you know anything about the colleges? And I know that Queen's Campus is in Stockton-on-Tees but is it far from Durham City? And is it a lot different?

Hey,

I'm not sure if you have looked but there are two colleges at Queen's. They are Stephenson (clearly the best) and John Snow. Stephenson is one of DU's more informal colleges, which means that when it comes to things like college formals and Matriculation (signing a book at the start of term in Durham Cathedral) we don't wear the black gown. John Snow on the other hand do wear gowns, some of the local school kids yelled rather hilarious Harry Potter insults at Snow in our first week when they were gowned up. It was awesome

Stockton isn't too far from Durham its about 17 miles, and you can get the X1 for free if you show them your campus card. And yeah Queen's is a lot different, the City kids get all the historic buildings, and some of them get to live in the castle which I am really jealous about. It depends what you prefer, but Queen's is like a big family, there is always a familiar face. The course is great too, especially anatomy. I won't name names but the lecturer is brilliant, you'll never have a dull moment, except before exams

Good Luck hope to see you here
xxx

[bagelbe]

(Original post by Oh It's The Sunxx)
John Snow on the other hand do wear gowns, some of the local school kids yelled rather hilarious Harry Potter insults at Snow in our first week when they were gowned up. It was awesome

Made me chuckle :L I love Harry Potter! :L

(Original post by Oh It's The Sunxx)
It depends what you prefer, but Queen's is like a big family, there is always a familiar face. The course is great too, especially anatomy. I won't name names but the lecturer is brilliant, you'll never have a dull moment, except before exams

That sounds brilliant! It is quite a "close knit community" as it were? Is it problem based learning or non-problem based learning? And I'm not sure if any medical schools do this, might sound like a bit of a ridiculous question, but is dissection involved in learning anatomy? Because that's what one of my teachers said but they may not be very well informed...

Thanks so much

[bagelbe]

(Original post by Beska)
No. If you get into Durham you study your first two years in Stockton, you then go to Newcastle in your fourth year and study there.

If you choose to apply to Newcastle, you will study only there.

Ah ok! Thank you!

[Oh It's The Sunxx]

(Original post by bagelbe)
Made me chuckle :L I love Harry Potter! :L

That sounds brilliant! It is quite a "close knit community" as it were? Is it problem based learning or non-problem based learning? And I'm not sure if any medical schools do this, might sound like a bit of a ridiculous question, but is dissection involved in learning anatomy? Because that's what one of my teachers said but they may not be very well informed...

Thanks so much

Hey,

Yeah it has a PBL, which is actually really good. It gets your mind working thats for sure. And yeah dissection is a HUGE part of anatomy, we have cadavers at Durham and it's a bit of a shock the first time but you do get used to it, so your teacher was on the ball.

Durham is really a great place to be and it is almost certainly close knit, all of our lecturers knew our names within the week, which may or may not be daunting to you. Especially when they always seem to catch me when I'm being an idiot The medics are all really close because there are about 100 of us compared to nearly 300 in other unis.

I really hope to see you there, best of luck

xx

[Oh It's The Sunxx]

http://www.dur.ac.uk/school.health/p...arningmethods/

This may be very helpful to you, there are also some student comments and a video on there somewhere.

[bagelbe]

Ah ok thanks so much! I've heard it can be a bit shocking at first, but they say it's really useful for learning anatomy, I guess you could then apply it to yourself or something? Do you dissect yourself or is it just demonstrations? Because I'm not squeamish as it were, just a bit, cautious...

Also, quick question, how would you recommend preparing for UKCAT? And also how much volunteering, work experience etc. did you have pre-application?

Thanks again so much!

[Oh It's The Sunxx]

(Original post by bagelbe)
Ah ok thanks so much! I've heard it can be a bit shocking at first, but they say it's really useful for learning anatomy, I guess you could then apply it to yourself or something? Do you dissect yourself or is it just demonstrations? Because I'm not squeamish as it were, just a bit, cautious...

Also, quick question, how would you recommend preparing for UKCAT? And also how much volunteering, work experience etc. did you have pre-application?

Thanks again so much!

It is really useful, I'm not sure if I would have been able to get through anatomy without it we look at the cadavers first off, because it is diffcult to get your head around We do a little dissection yeah, squeamishness is perfectly fine, all the lecturers understand completely, they were in your position once. There is a virtual dissector for the more squeamish that is a really good tool. You can strip the body down to a certain system and try adding the components in order, it is frustrating at first when you just can't seem to get it right, but after that its awesome. We do paint regional anatomy on our faces as well, which is great for shocking the other students when we are walking around campus. I have a overwhelming worry whenever something is dissected after a girl in my Secondary school enjoyed flicking blood clots around the room. That was a little disturbing.

I do recommend preparation for UKCAT, just don't burn yourself out over it, some practice questions are availableon the website and they got me through it ok. There is a questionnaire at the end which makes you feel so mch better.

As for work experience and volunteering, I had quite a bit because I volunteered at a Kurling club for people with disabilities and that was very rewarding. Some people in my year worked for Butterwick Hospice and charities like Asthma UK. I did a little work experience at Glaxo Smith Kline, a global pharmaceutical company. So kind of medicine related. If you can get some at a local hospital or GP practice it is well worth it, because then Medicine staff know that you will understand what medicine is like. Which they really grilled me on in the interview.

Hope this helps you

[cute_wish]

Wil there b any difference between the standard of studying at newcastle n durham ?