Hey guys,
I'm a final year medical student so I have been through the application process and remember it well! I managed to get 4 offers so I must have done something right!
I just was browsing and I'd just like to say that you all sound great. Having a good personal statement is obviously important - it's how you get selected for interview - but that's not just about how much work experience you have or how many things you've achieved. Having some is good because it shows that you've actively tried to gain experience about the subject that you're thinking of entering into, but quantity isn't the same as quality, and it isn't the same as getting an offer. I know people who were rejected who had more, and people who were accepted with less.
I think the main thing with personal statements and all this work experience/voluntary work/achievements etc is to think why you are writing this stuff on there. What are you trying to tell the medical school? For example, I did my D of E (only for the personal statement glory!), and then I wrote about how it was a good way of developing leadership and team-working skills. Or I wrote about my volunteering with disabling children, then wrote about how "their diverse needs and personalities required me to develop my abilities to respond appropriately to the individual" (direct quote! :P )
Ultimately, almost everybody who is applying to medicine is going to have some work experience, some voluntary work, something interesting on their statement. What's important is trying to stand out as somebody who is suited to a medical career. Once you get to interview, it's all about you as a person and how you come across!
Just a couple more things...
1) Don't lie!! I've heard horror stories about someone who said they read Gray's Anatomy in their spare time, and then was quizzed about anatomy! Don't do it!
2) Don't worry if you think you embarrass yourself in an interview... I know somebody who walked into the cupboard when trying to leave the interview, and still got a place!
3) I recommend reading the document "Tomorrow's Doctors" by the GMC. It shows you what the GMC want doctors to be like... and that in turn will show you what they are looking for in a potential candidate. The main 3 are "doctor as a professional, doctor as a scientist, doctor as a practitioner." Read it and see if you can show that you have or are aspiring towards these characteristics.
4) Read the medical news, I got asked at 2 of the 4 interviews about something interesting I'd recently read about medicine!
5) Know the things you put on your personal statement. 2 of my interviews used the personal statement and 2 didn't. The ones that did picked up on conditions I'd mentioned (e.g. I met a child with Down's Syndrome at my work experience) and asked me a bit about them. Not loads, but a bit!
6) Big yourself up... but also be yourself! I cringe reading my statement back, partly because of all the self-promotion that you have to do but also because I sound so super keen. That's what they want though - training you up is a big investment for them so they want to know that you're committed and really interested!
Any more that I can think of, I'll edit and add to here as I go. Tell me if this wasn't helpful and I'll stop! Also feel free to message me if you have any questions. My finals are in 4 weeks so I'll be a bit busy until after then but I'll still reply if I'm able to!
Rachel
(Brighton and Sussex Medical School)
Edit 1: Also, having re-read my post, I'd just like to add that I know it's hard to find clinical placements sometimes. I had real difficulty getting any hospital work-experience and in the end I only managed it through a friend of my parents who worked in the hospital. Universities understand this, and will respect attempts you've made to get into similar work experience. So although hospital/GP would be ideal, if you can't manage it, then care homes are a great place for experience, or even my year 10 work experience was in a vet which was still vaguely medical!