Graduate Entry Medicine, is there any point?

With results day coming up, I'm starting to look at back up options for Medicine and graduate entry is an option that's worth considering.

However with the: £9,000 tution fees, scrapped maintenance grants, massive competition and having to fund your own graduate entry medicine degree - Is it worth it?

I come from what you would consider a "low income family", so I don't have the money to fund my own degree and with the maintenance grant scrapped, I can't even begin to imagine what my debt will look like. I also don't want to do a degree in a subject which I won't be that interested in for 3 years [e.g. Biochemistry/Biomedicine etc], and If I get rejected after those 3 years I'm essentially in the same position I was in 3 years prior to that.

So is there any point in Graduate Entry Medicine?
& For those on the programme, how are you funding your degree?

Reply 1

KQuick

I've got a few friends who just finished their degree's and are starting Post Grad med this September. They're doing the Four year accelerated course. One friend has spent the past 3 years working part time and saving to pay the £3500. I think the others may be getting help from parents/taking loans from private company's. If you do the five year course then you have to pay the full £9000 for the first four years so I think it's best to go down the accelerated route.

On a side note, Bradford University do a course called Clinical Sciences. The first year counts as the first year of medicine. If you pass that year with above 70% in all exams then you get invited to interview at Leeds. If you get in, you start your Medicine course at year 2. Also, you can do a foundation year. Same ideas apply, expect you'd start in year 1 at Leeds. My best friend did that and she's now into her 4th year at Leeds. It was a VERY competitive course though. She studied harder on that course to get in than she does now on the Medicine course.
I don't know if other universities have similar courses on offer if you miss your grades. Might be worth a look compared to post grad.

Reply 2

IllmaticLUPE

Thanks for the replies guys very helpful. I just wanted to ask, is graduate entry really that competitive? I've read it's more competitive than the standard entry, how true is this?

Reply 3

ForestCat

Original post by IllmaticLUPE

Thanks for the replies guys very helpful. I just wanted to ask, is graduate entry really that competitive? I've read it's more competitive than the standard entry, how true is this?

Very. A smaller number of places leads to higher applicant to place ratio. You also need to perform better on things like the ukcat and the dreaded gamsat.

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Reply 4

Cold Phoenix

Not worth it imo, being a doctor is great but there are loads of degrees and jobs you could do. All that hassle to be a NHS doctor is not worth it especially with the pay too

Reply 5

jessievoiture

I am currently going through the process of applying to GEM and, having achieved a 2:1 in medical science from Birmingham, and getting a GAMSAT score of 64 and 2 interviews, I did not get a place this year. I am going to try again in October but am also struggling to find a job that shows my commitment to medicine whilst also allowing me to earn enough money to get by as well as save the £3,500 required for first year.
My advice is, do all you can to get into undergrad - you only get one degree with full funding - give it at least another shot with a gap year before thinking of going the GEM route. The way things are going, I'm pretty sure fewer and fewer universities will be offering the part-funded 4 year route (Leicester are no longer offering it for 2016 entry), and even if you do get in, the idea of £60,000 more debt added onto my 17 grand from my undergrad is a constant worry in the back of my head (and that's with me getting in before the fees went up so I hate to think of the debt someone in my situation a year later would have!).

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

Zorg

Original post by kateamelia

You won't have to fund the whole degree (as long as it's a four year course). Only approx £3500 for your first year tuition, the rest is covered by student finance and the NHS bursary. You can get a maintenance loan as well. Some unis like Nottingham also offer additional means tested grants/scholarships to help with living costs. It's definitely worth it if you really want to be a doctor.

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Just want to point out that although has been true, currently 2016 entry GEM applicants are awaiting information pertaining to funding.

OP wait for results day, focus on your grades and apply for A100, both in year 13 and after sixth form if unsuccessful.
Grad entry is much more competitive, applicant numbers are close to the same but the smaller cohort sizes increases competition. As most schools select for interview based on entrance exams, the cut offs for these are much higher.

Essentially, grad entry is not the best of back ups.