Cambridge Medicine Students and Applicants

rocketscience

hi
has anyone worked through the list of questions on the basic science concepts page?

I haven't yet. I've also given away all my A level textbooks and revision guides :s-smilie:

Did anybody see the objectives etc for our first few practicals on the anatomy website? I went back to look at them more closely the day after seeing them and they'd been moved.
I'm going to have a look at this stuff though:
http://www.pdn.cam.ac.uk/teaching/fabinfo/basic_anatomy.htm

Have you done anything Rocketscience?

Reply 381

citizen.erased

zedliv

http://www.pdn.cam.ac.uk/teaching/fabinfo/basic_anatomy.htm

NO way!! this will be really helpful for you guys to learn b4 you go, honest. If i'd known it b4 the first 5 anatomy practicals may have made sense.

Reply 382

rocketscience

hi zedliv
well i started going through the list yesterday, there are so many questions and the a-levels books do come in handy but there is allways wikipedia :smile:

as for the practical objectives i haven seen them but i will look at that site.
Thanks

Reply 383

psyche87

8

Ah yes, that site's quite helpful in learning the terms you'll use (proximal/distal, axial, coronal, etc) in anatomy. I was quite lost in the first few anatomy practicals until I figured those terms out!

Reply 384

Darthdevidem

1

I am doing Work Experience at my towns "general hospital" & I am an adult (First Aid) volunteer in the St Johns Ambulance thing..

Oh also this summer I am going to have an opportunity to go to india & help vaccinate people in poor villages (Polio Vaccines/drops)....will an experience like this "count" at all?? as its in a different country..but I feel it could be very rewarding!

Will all these things be enough to impress Cambridge in my PS and get me an interview??

I'm in Year 12 currently

Reply 385

Helenia

20

Darthdevidem

I am doing Work Experience at my towns "general hospital" & I am an adult (First Aid) volunteer in the St Johns Ambulance thing..

Oh also this summer I am going to have an opportunity to go to india & help vaccinate people in poor villages (Polio Vaccines/drops)....will an experience like this "count" at all?? as its in a different country..but I feel it could be very rewarding!

Will all these things be enough to impress Cambridge in my PS and get me an interview??

I'm in Year 12 currently

Provided you have reasonable grades and are predicted AAA, you will get an interview at Cambridge - this is one of the great advantages of it over the other medical schools!

If you want to go to India and do vaccinations, do it, but bear in mind it will be a contrast to the UK, rather than a useful experience for what medicine is like here. Whether it will sound particularly impressive (to Cambridge or otherwise) I can't say for sure. You might be best off asking more in the work experience thread in the medics forum.

Reply 386

Darthdevidem

1

Helenia

Provided you have reasonable grades and are predicted AAA, you will get an interview at Cambridge - this is one of the great advantages of it over the other medical schools!

If you want to go to India and do vaccinations, do it, but bear in mind it will be a contrast to the UK, rather than a useful experience for what medicine is like here. Whether it will sound particularly impressive (to Cambridge or otherwise) I can't say for sure. You might be best off asking more in the work experience thread in the medics forum.

Ok thanks for the advice....

BTW....does Cambridge have a UCAS points "cut-off point"?? You see I do no sports....e.t.c. so I am doing 5 AS's & trying to get A's in them to maximise my UCAS points..

Reply 387

Helenia

20

Darthdevidem

Ok thanks for the advice....

BTW....does Cambridge have a UCAS points "cut-off point"?? You see I do no sports....e.t.c. so I am doing 5 AS's & trying to get A's in them to maximise my UCAS points..

AFAIK, Cambridge do not pay any attention to UCAS points; almost everyone applying has pretty much straight As and is predicted more, and beyond a certain limit, the number of A-levels you do does not matter either. If you want to do 5 AS levels, do them, but do NOT do them just because you think it will give you a better shot at Cambridge.

Reply 388

Darthdevidem

1

Helenia

AFAIK, Cambridge do not pay any attention to UCAS points; almost everyone applying has pretty much straight As and is predicted more, and beyond a certain limit, the number of A-levels you do does not matter either. If you want to do 5 AS levels, do them, but do NOT do them just because you think it will give you a better shot at Cambridge.

Thank you so much Helenia....thing is I really don't want to do 5 AS-Levels....I thought just for UCAS points sake I'll do them....

I guess I'll drop further maths soon & then concentrate completely on the 4 subjects! Aim to earn maximum UMS in them....

Thanks very much again :smile:

Reply 389

Helenia

20

If your 5th was Further Maths, there's definitely no need to do it unless you really love Maths. Most med schools don't count it as an extra subject anyway.

Reply 390

Darthdevidem

1

Yeah its F. MAths....I have made the decision to now definetely drop it.

Thank you for the advice n help.

Reply 391

skelator

What do males wear to lectures/dissections/supervisions etc? Just normal everyday clothes, or are people expected to dress reasonably smartly? Like a shirt etc? Also, for matriculation, does the suit have to be black, or can it be black with lines/off black etc?

Thanks in advance.

Reply 392

visesh

17

skelator

What do males wear to lectures/dissections/supervisions etc? Just normal everyday clothes, or are people expected to dress reasonably smartly? Like a shirt etc? Also, for matriculation, does the suit have to be black, or can it be black with lines/off black etc?

Thanks in advance.

For your first three years, any 'normal', casual clothes will suffice.

As for the suit, a lightly patterned, dark suit will do.

Reply 393

*fran1991*

Hi! any idea how much weight BMAT has in a application. i.e will a candidate be deselected for interview even if they have the right predicted grades and gcses if they have a bad BMAT?

Reply 394

visesh

17

The vast majority of applicants (95%+) get an interview. As far as I'm aware, poor BMAT scores do NOT lead to de selection.

Reply 395

*Liana*

1

visesh

The vast majority of applicants (95%+) get an interview. As far as I'm aware, poor BMAT scores do NOT lead to de selection.

Except at Trinity. Aren't we nice?? :smile:

(I believe 'perform poorly' meant come in the bottom half of the country in those sections at one point. I'm not really sure how they calculate that though. I got 5.3 in Section 2 and still got an interview, so they are not really asking for astronomical scores).

Reply 396

citizen.erased

I agree with the posts above, I really don't think that they place much emphasis on the BMAT at all. I seriously doubt a low score will impact whether you get an interview or not, especially if your other grades are good. I also seriously doubt that if you perform brilliantly at the interview they'll even bother taking the BMAT into account. I also think I'm right (but maybe am not) in saying that they don't really care about the essay bit of the BMAT and only really look at the scores on the first 2 sections.

To be honest, I personally think that the BMAT is the load of garbage and will give no accurate prediction over how well you will perform both during the medical course or indeed as a practicing doctor (6 or so year after you took it). A mate of mine for example said he did pretty badly on the BMAT, got like 12 or something, but has managed to get 'good' firsts in 1st and 2nd year. I mean he forgot to answer one of the 3 pathology essays this year and still got a first, which is pretty impressive.

Reply 397

citizen.erased

I forgot to add: unfortunately the universities don't really care about my personal opinion on the BMAT so still try to do well on it! Just try to worry a little less!

Reply 398

skelator

Hey, I know we've already had a bit of book discussing, but it got a little confusing. :o:

So there are the courses:

Histology and Homeostasis (HOM)
Introduction to the Scientific Basis of Medicine
Molecules in Medical Science (MIMS)
Functional Architecture of the Body (FAB)
Medical Sociology (MSOC)
Preparing for Patients

Which books will I need/do you suggest for each of the options; also I'm sure there are no books needed for Preparing for Patients, but I thought I'd add it just in case. I would greatly appreciate any information/advice/insider info on what the best books are etc. Thanks a lot.

:smile:

Reply 399

*Liana*

1

OK here's my opinion :smile:

- you don't *need* any particular book as the lecture handouts are pretty comprehensive. Lots of my friends own textbooks they have rarely used. It's also best to wait til you've started the course before buying, so you have an idea of what suits you.

Histology and Homeostasis (HOM) - the Histology exam was easy in my year, you don't really need a textbook, just use the online modules... for Homeostasis there are a number of books. My college gave me one called 'Nerve and Muscle' (by Keynes and Aidley, I think) which was quite good, but only covers one part. There are a number of other books recommended by the department. I had Guyton & Hall, which was useful at times for essays and had nice pictures.

Introduction to the Scientific Basis of Medicine - no book required, IMHO. The exam is 10 MCQs.

Molecules in Medical Science (MIMS) - I had Voet Voet and Pratt (Fundamentals of Biochemistry) and also an old copy of Essential Cell Biology. VVP contains a lot of non-relevant info but equally has a lot of diagrams that explained things quite well, but again, my college gave it to me, not sure whether I'd buy it. ECB wasn't that useful.

Functional Architecture of the Body (FAB) - you will need an anatomy atlas. I had McMinn's (Color Atlas of Human Anatomy, I think), which is a photo atlas, and was very good for me. Some people prefer pictures rather than photos, in which case there are others like Grant's Atlas. Also had an anatomy book called Clinical Anatomy by Snell... that was also pretty useful.

Medical Sociology (MSOC) - there's a book by a man called Graham Scambler. I didn't use it, though it is recommended.

Preparing for Patients - indeed, no books required!

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