[Penguinsaysquack]

Blimey, you youngsters are a bit keen

I think this is a good thing though, can't be too prepared really and it's nice to see a new community of people pop-up in the medicine forum

You aren't half making me feel old now though

(Original post by aquacapella)
Yay! I'm happy this thread exists. Just wanna verify: does doing 5 AS and 4 A2 hold any advantage for medicine applications (esp to Oxbridge) as opposed to the traditional 4 AS and 3 A2??

Oxbridge, not really. The only med school atm that it can prove beneficial for that I know of is Barts and the London. We currently use A2 predictions to rank who gets interviewed, so more A levels=more UCAS points=higher chance of interview.

This could change when 2014 entry eventually gets here though

[Penguinsaysquack]

Hello everyone!

Would really appreciate it if you could take a couple of minutes to see this thread and respond to it http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show....php?t=2057790

We (TSR Medicine Mods) would love to get your opinions/thoughts on the page in question so we can try and improve it to make it more useful to you

Thanks,
PSQ

[woodpecker]

Hi, I'm going to apply to medicine for 2014 entry, but I'm not sure which medical schools to go for. Does anyone have any suggestions about pros and cons of med schools in general (or more specific ones)?
Thanks

[mynameisntbobk]

Been looking for this thread basically, like all you guys, I wanna do medicine in two years. I've done a lot of research , but a few w.e, although I've done lots of medical training outside of school. When I start sixth form in spetember, I'm studying maths, biology, chemistry & psychology, so yeah, looking forward to that. In terms of university, I'm still looking into which ones I'd like.
Although, I'm looking to apply to Cambridge, imperial college, and maybe 3 other unis that aren't as prestige. In terms of the experience, I've done and am doing;

-Work experience at a primary school working with children closely
-Clinical skills at kings college including stitching, collecting blood, CPR and much more
-Lectures at SOAS on different biological aspects
-G&T trip to Cambridge university to learn more about university and courses
-Visit to an oxleas office where possibility of mental healthcare was a good decision
-Work experience at a hospital in pathology department
-Work experiencea at a local GP

[CocaineSquirrel]

(Original post by mynameisntbobk)
Been looking for this thread basically, like all you guys, I wanna do medicine in two years. I've done a lot of research , but a few w.e, although I've done lots of medical training outside of school. When I start sixth form in spetember, I'm studying maths, biology, chemistry & psychology, so yeah, looking forward to that. In terms of university, I'm still looking into which ones I'd like.
Although, I'm looking to apply to Cambridge, imperial college, and maybe 3 other unis that aren't as prestige. In terms of the experience, I've done and am doing;

-Work experience at a primary school working with children closely
-Clinical skills at kings college including stitching, collecting blood, CPR and much more
-Lectures at SOAS on different biological aspects
-G&T trip to Cambridge university to learn more about university and courses
-Visit to an oxleas office where possibility of mental healthcare was a good decision
-Work experience at a hospital in pathology department
-Work experiencea at a local GP

Remember that you can only apply to four medical schools, your fifth choice must be used as a back-up or left empty if you wish. Unless you knew that already, in which case, ignore this.

That thing at King's sounds really cool. What is it exactly, if you don't mind me asking?

[mynameisntbobk]

(Original post by CocaineSquirrel)
Remember that you can only apply to four medical schools, your fifth choice must be used as a back-up or left empty if you wish. Unless you knew that already, in which case, ignore this.

That thing at King's sounds really cool. What is it exactly, if you don't mind me asking?

Yeah, I knew that, but I forgot about that, so yeah. & basically, some time last year I believe, I was chosen by my school to attend this clinical skills day at kings because they knew I was interested in medicine. It was a great day, and you learn about loads of skills, it definitely made me sure that I wanna study medicine.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC One S

[HopefullyMedic]

[QUOTE=SmileAway;38020508]
Anyway, I am 16, and I am hoping to get into medicine in any of my uni choices, if they
would take me but my favoured would be Cambridge. I am gonna apply to Nottingham,
Cambridge, King's and UCL...still not 100% yet, since I have yet to visit two of these:L
[QUOTE]

How do you know where you'll apply before you even get your GCSEs, let alone sit the UKCAT?

[t()m]

(Original post by mynameisntbobk)
Yeah, I knew that, but I forgot about that, so yeah. & basically, some time last year I believe, I was chosen by my school to attend this clinical skills day at kings because they knew I was interested in medicine. It was a great day, and you learn about loads of skills, it definitely made me sure that I wanna study medicine.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC One S

I think i did this, was there a quiz thing at the end and everyone was given a remote, to answer ABC or D?

Well the thing i did sounds the exact same and was really interesting.

[mynameisntbobk]

(Original post by t()m)
I think i did this, was there a quiz thing at the end and everyone was given a remote, to answer ABC or D?

Well the thing i did sounds the exact same and was really interesting.

Yeah yeah, that's the one I went to
And it was really interesting I think


This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC One S

[AngeHiiiPower']

I did that kings college thing as well ^.^ atm I can only manage to get voluntary work at a charity shop and work experience at pharmacy....it's not looking too good right now..


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[TheMan17]

Im hoping to apply to study medicine, nottingham has really caught my eye, my sister goes to licester medical school and says the course is great, she also said than gcse's do matter even though they put on their website lower gcse's.

[laurie:)]

(Original post by AngeHiiiPower')
I did that kings college thing as well ^.^ atm I can only manage to get voluntary work at a charity shop and work experience at pharmacy....it's not looking too good right now..


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

don't worry about the timing, just make sure you get it in the end.

when i left secondary school, i had 2 weeks work experience in an office not remotely related to medicine, where all i did was photocopy and organise bits of paper.

when i left sixth form, i had 1 weeks WE in an intensive care unit, 2 weeks WE in a paediatric cardiology ward, 6 weeks WE in a university biomedical research lab, 1 year volunteering with children with learning disabilities and 1 year volunteering with blind elderly people.

its amazing what you can get done in the two years, if you're committed and open to lots of opportunities, and if you don't mind giving up a lot of your holidays for experience.

if you're looking to apply to a traditional, oxbridge type course, then look into the Nuffield Science Bursary - this would actually be a really good time to start thinking about it. basically, you spend 4 to 6 weeks in a professional research lab in science, maths or engineering fields, and you carry out your own research by yourself. its really good because the research topic has to be new - its one of the requirements, so you're not stuck for 6 weeks doing basic things that have already been done. plus, you get paid about £80 a week to cover food, travel and clothing costs, and at the end of it you write a report and give a presentation, and i got to meet Robert Winston!

alternatively, Imperial college offers summer schools and workshops, often for free, which are quite good - i went to one at the end of year 11 where we got to investigate haemophilia and design experiments and stuff.

see, its not as bad as you thought it would be

[SchoolKid.]

Hi guys,

First off just wanted to thank the person who started the thread...you can never be too prepared. I am the oldest of my siblings and I want to study medicine but i don't have a clue about the procedure. I have a few questions and if someone could be kind enough to answer them I would be most grateful. Just wanted to say I will be studying Bio, Chemistry, English Lit and law or Business studies (havent decided yet )

Is the A levels significantly harder than GCSE as everyone makes out and does anyone have any tips on how to do well?

When should we start planning / write up our ps?

For volunteering / WE i have got once a week charity shop and working in a care home. I am planning to do the charity shop for 1-2 years and the carehome for 6 months - 1 year. Also, i will try to get a couple of weeks in a pharmacy and hospital. I don't think the pharmacy will be a problem but the hospital will certainly be difficult. Can someone give me tips on how to get WE in a hospital (shadowing a doctor or something)? Also, I am planning to do all this...should i do slightly more or will this be fine.

Almost all universities (well i think all) require three A's at A2. However, what happens if you don't get the AAA but get AAB / ABB / BBB. What is the reapplication process and what other courses can you do beside medicine?

Finally, not to sound negative but i tried hard with my GCSE's but I think im going to get 4-5 A, 3-4 B, 1 - D, 1 - F (I.T Dont ask!) Will these be good enough for any uni. I do know that i may get better or worse results but I am just trying to get an answer.

I know there's a lot to read and answer but i would be extremely grateful if someone could provide me with concise and accurate information. Thanks

[izzaha]

Hi guys i just wanted to ask about how much work experience and voluntary work is needed. I've volunteered at a local residential home and we have agreed to 2 hours once a week, its not a lot but it would fit in with college. So far i have got 3 weeks of work experience in hospitals. How many weeks of hospital work experience do you recommend. Also I don't really do any sports, well nothing on a competitive level, is that bad? What kind of extra curricular activities are admired and expected in a medicine applicant?

[lsaul95]

(Original post by izzaha)
Hi guys i just wanted to ask about how much work experience and voluntary work is needed. I've volunteered at a local residential home and we have agreed to 2 hours once a week, its not a lot but it would fit in with college. So far i have got 3 weeks of work experience in hospitals. How many weeks of hospital work experience do you recommend. Also I don't really do any sports, well nothing on a competitive level, is that bad? What kind of extra curricular activities are admired and expected in a medicine applicant?

It's not about the quantity of the work experience, it's about what you can take from it. One week shadowing where you learnt a lot is better than 6 months of ward work where you learnt nothing. They do want to see dedication though, so just keep up that 2 hours once a week at the residential home.
With extra curricular activities, they just want to see that you're a well rounded individual, and that you have other things other than medicine. They understand that not everyone is the sports type, so something like art hobbies, playing an instrument in a band, etc, would go down well.

[lsaul95]

(Original post by SchoolKid.)

I will be studying Bio, Chemistry, English Lit and law or Business studies You have Bio + Chem that most uni's require so that's good, I'd stay away from softer subjects like business studies, however, AAA in subjects you enjoy is better than AAB in subjects that may necessarily be 'better' for medicine.

Is the A levels significantly harder than GCSE as everyone makes out and does anyone have any tips on how to do well?
A-Levels are a HUGE step up from GCSE. The workload is massive and you have to be working constantly. None of this, revising a month before the exam nonsense. You have to be revising and self studying all the time. My A-level tips -

Put the work in every single night. There is a simple 4 step process for A-levels which I am going to follow.
Pre-read, Attend, Post-read, Revise.
Meaning I will read up on the topic we're going to study before the lesson to familiarize myself with the terms and ALWAYS keep the syllabus with me to make sure I'm learning everything I need to know. Attending the lesson is the most important part for most, as this is where most of the learning will be done. Post-reading will be done after college, going over what we done in lesson to make sure I understand it fully. Then revising at least a month or two before exams so that I can go over everything I need to.

For revision (especially for maths), past papers are absolutely crucial, do them all and do them multiple times to familiarize yourself with the exam layout, etc.

I have been told by my future tutors that you should be doing at least 5 hours of self study per week, PER SUBJECT. This time counts as the post-reading stage in the process, however the time differs between individual. Some may only need to spend 3-4 to understand everything if they pick things up easily and others may need to put more work in if they're not understand the concepts as easily.

If you don't do so well in an exam then it's not the end of the world, you can always resit. Re-sits are really the safety net for A-levels, you can go from low grades to high grades very easily if you do well in a re-sit.

Don't waste your free periods. I'm not sure how your college works, but most colleges or further education time-tables have set free-periods for self study or whatever. This is when most people go out for a tab or go to the pub, but don't get caught in a crowd when you could be doing work. I know how easy it is to get distracted from doing something important because a bunch of mates are going to the pub. But come on, it's 2 years of knuckling down and putting the work in. There'll be time for the pub when you've bagged all those A's. Don't succumb to peer pressure.

Either way, work hard from the very start of the year. When exams come around you don't want to be thinking 'Ah, I could've done some more on x'.
Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail, as they say.

When should we start planning / write up our ps?
Start thinking about this once your AS level exams are done. The summer after the exams you should be preparing for UKCAT and drafting your PS.

Can someone give me tips on how to get WE in a hospital (shadowing a doctor or something)? Also, I am planning to do all this...should i do slightly more or will this be fine.
Email your local hospital and ask if they have any work experience placements. Similarly, talk to a careers adviser at your school/college and see if they can sort something out for you. Hospitals usually have access days for students wishing to study medicine and learn a little bit more about it.
It's not about quantity of work experience, but quality. As long as you're learning something from it and can talk about these things in the interview, if you're lucky enough to get one. I spoke to my future Bio teacher who is a master on medical applications and he said you should only do about 1-2 hours of volunteering a week because you will be so busy with all the A-level work, you just won't have time to do anything else. Especially if you plan on doing extra-curricular activities as well, which are necessary. What extra-curricular activities do you do/going to do?

Almost all universities (well i think all) require three A's at A2. However, what happens if you don't get the AAA but get AAB / ABB / BBB. What is the reapplication process and what other courses can you do beside medicine?
If you do not achieve AAA, most universities will not take you on, however I am not sure about this. My advice would be to work as hard as you can and REALLY put the work in so you don't have to worry about this situation. However, I do realize it happens sometimes. So if you were to not achieve the grades, then you would have to re-sit, and re-apply to universities that accept re-sits outside the regular 2 years of A-levels. There are also foundation courses for medicine, but they are mostly designed for people who didn't take science A-levels, etc.

I tried hard with my GCSE's but I think im going to get 4-5 A, 3-4 B, 1 - D, 1 - F (I.T Dont ask!) Will these be good enough for any uni. I do know that i may get better or worse results but I am just trying to get an answer.
It's definitely not the end of your medical journal, however it WILL damage your application a lot. Apply to universities which do not necessarily take GCSEs into account and kick ass on the rest of your application. (PS, UKCAT, Interview) As long as you have Maths, English Language and the sciences at C+ you should be able to apply to none heavy GCSE uni's. With B's in Maths, English Lang and the Sciences you will be able to apply to significantly more uni's.

Read the comments I put after your questions! Any more questions feel free to ask!

[carcinoma]

This thread was made in June 2012! :O ....for 2014 entry.

You don't even need to do anything until a year before your application date, but fair play on the commitment.

The best tips I can give you at this stage are:


1) Choose your AS/A2 levels wisely. Don't choose anything because you think it will be easy, there is a big step up from GCSE to A Level. I made the mistake of initially choosing Chem, Bio, Phys, and Maths then dropping Maths two weeks into AS for Applied ICT thinking it would be easier, worst decision of my life.


2) Do well in your January modules and make sure you are at least on ABB by the end AS. This will hopefully put you in a position where you can be predicted A*AA.


3)Then start researching Medical schools. You guys may think you know what you are looking for from a medical school but trust me you don't. You don't want to make the wrong decision and end up not enjoying medical school as much as you should, or struggling with the course as it dosent suit the way you learn best.

• Research the the medical course structures well, looking at all the teaching sessions/methods they use.
• No medical school uses entirely one type of teaching over another it is almost always a mix of several methods.
• Do not blanket exclude medical schools on course type as no medical school course is the same. Two lecture based systems based courses will be very different even though at the face of it they seem to have the same course layout.
• Definitely look for an integrated course it is the best way to learn medicine, learning the fundamental principles of medicine in an integrated fashion with clinical "hooks" to hang your knowledge on will make learning an remembering so much easier.
• You definitely want a course which teaches history and examination (and other clinical skills) before year 3. It gives you confidence and competance before you reach clinical.

[lsaul95]

(Original post by carcinoma)

You don't even need to do anything until a year before your application date.
[/LIST]

It is pretty much a year before application date. Give or take a few months

Nice tips on the universities, I have already decided my four choices!


This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-I9100

[SchoolKid.]

(Original post by lsaul95)
Read the comments I put after your questions! Any more questions feel free to ask!

Thank you for your detailed answers it has helped me out a lot. I really like your method and I am going to apply this for my a levels. Also, I totally agree with you about putting 100% in at home and at school (esp free periods) as its only two years and it will be well worth it.

About the PS...you said we should start drafting it after the AS exams during the summer holidays but I just wanted to know when was the deadline of submitting it?

I will try to maintain the charity shop and hospice volunteering which is 4 hours all together every Saturday..If i do struggle I will have to do only one or something. I will see how it goes!

For Extra curricular I do enjoy doing drama and participated in a play during year 9 in a theatre. I enjoy playing sports such as football and badminton. I also do Karate where I should be a black belt in 2 more years. Do you think this is enough for extra curricular?

I realise my GCSE wont be great and I will take your advice about applying to non heavy GCSE uni's. I know I got an A in maths already but im hoping for the English and Sciences to be majority A's and a few B. Will these results allow me to broaden my search for uni's?

Thanks again for your help...btw what are you hoping to get for your GCSE's and what A-Levels have you chosen?

[Penguinsaysquack]

Hello everyone!

It's that time of year, we're currently running the medicine awards as a bit of fun.

To see more about the awards, and vote in this years awards, see this announcement