Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Why?

Why, when applying for medicine can you only make four choices?
And also does this apply for foundation medicine?

Thanks for replies.

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Reply 1

AEH

Because medical school application screening is so time-consuming and uses a lot of resources, it cuts back on work for the medschools. Four is a pretty reasonable number really.

Reply 2

Philosoraptor

Thank goodness. I thought they were going to say "Why medicine?" I was about to commit suicide.

Reply 3

AEH

Tell me about it. "I just want to hear what other people think, share our experiences, commune to be at one with the god of medical careers. You know, whilst I take notes because I want to get through all this I-love-medicine nonsense on my PS so I can do five years at medschool, be a complete **** to every patient I meet and then drop out for some job in business when its clear daddy and the aunties don't care any more and I'm just desperate for a shiny Porsche."

If it were any more blatant I'd throw up my own pancreas in an anatomically improbable visceral reaction to my own deep disgust. Take it that's how you feel Philosoraptor?

Reply 4

Renal

For once, we actually have a good question on here.

As AEH says - it's time and money. Screening applications, interviewing candidates, etc. costs everyone involved a lot of money. To reduce expenditure by (approximately) a third for each medical school reduce the number of applications by a third.

What's more, because the requirements of medical schools are so similar (but yet so different), someone who is rejected without interview (after is a different matter and not really relevant here) four times is quite unlikely to succeed given an extra two chances.

Does this apply for foundation medicine? I don't know. But, if you're eligible to apply to foundation medicine you should be ineligible to apply to medicine (so you can't do med, med, med, med, foundation, foundation).

Reply 5

Philosoraptor

AEH

If it were any more blatant I'd throw up my own pancreas in an anatomically improbable visceral reaction to my own deep disgust. Take it that's how you feel Philosoraptor?

Precisely.
I can't stand it. I also know someone who got forced into it :rolleyes:

. Don't get me started lol mate, I could talk for an hour about this.

Reply 6

Skipper

How can you get "forced" into it? :s-smilie:

Reply 7

work_til_failure

Skipper

How can you get "forced" into it? :s-smilie:

Pressure from your parents, relatives etc...i can safely say that in the asian community parents are always encouraging/persuading their children to become doctors..iv neer quite understood why myself, i mean you can be just as sucessful inother fields :confused:

and be recognised/have high status (which is what im guessing parents want their children to fulfill)

btw i just love the talk of this 'aunty/uncle culture' :p:

Reply 8

Skipper

Yeah its weird :confused:

As you said you can be just as successful if not more in other fields and plus, you're not likely to be good at somehting you're not naturally suited too...round peg in a square hole as the saying goes....

Reply 9

digitalis

Well look at this bloke? From the medicine universities thread...full of "prestige" universities, future jobs and the prize statement

and (b) you can say doing medicine should not be for the money etc etc, but 90% of people (from where i'm from neway) sadly are entering the proffesion purely for this reason, the money, however i severly doubt this would make them any less able or any less of a doctor

It really makes you wonder what the doctors qualifying in 10 years time will be like!

Reply 10

Liar

Why go into medicine for the money? There are quicker ways to make more money.

Reply 11

Skipper

It is worrying :s-smilie:

I wouldn't want a doctor who just went into it for the money treating myself or my family!

Reply 12

turkkan

Why go into medicine for the money? There are quicker ways to make more money.

I actually disagree with this statement, which tends to get thrown around often when this debate comes up. THere are quicker ways of making money depending on the type of person you are. For quite a few in medicine i doubt they would make more money in other jobs than they would do in their medical carreers. A lot of peoples alternative jobs include being a teacher, becoming a scientist, law or perhaps economics etc. Putting aside being a teacher ,which will not pay you as much as the average GP gets nowadays anyway, the rest can make you a lot of money only if youre successful within those fields and the competition for success once youve started working in those fields is quite immense. Now there are a lot of high-flyers in medicine who could probably make quite a bundle in those fields but there are also a lot of people who wouldnt be able to do so and medicine is probably the most profitable career choice for them. Whether this will make them better or worse doctors is a different story.

Reply 13

Renal

turkkan

Putting aside being a teacher ,which will not pay you as much as the average GP gets nowadays anyway,

Go on, what does an average GP take home these days and how long does it take them to get it? :evil:

*Renal was out drinking with a lawyer on 40k in his first year!*

Reply 14

turkkan

Go on, what does an average GP take home these days and how long does it take them to get it?

*Renal was out drinking with a lawyer on 40k in his first year!*

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6902463.stm

Eventaully they will get that amount, i assume 5 years after they graduate and assuming the contracts dont change, although im more than happy to be corrected. I still highly doubt that a lot of medics would make more in another field. As for youre lawyer friend its not that impressive, i know people who have topped their class throughout law school and are under 30 and making a phenomenoal amount each year considering their age and flying first class to different countries constantly and all the rest of it.Things which if you are a doctor in the NHS you would probably not be able to dream off. Out of the number of lawyers who graduate every year though how many make that salary or even the 40k you mention youre friend got? THe potential to get it is there but certainly only for a handful. Now perhaps with the onset of MTAS and the number of jobless doctors things will change concerning the job security medicine offers, but for now medicine for quiet a few people will give them as much as they could possibly hope to make.

Reply 15

Renal

turkkan

I assume 5 years after they graduate and assuming the contracts dont change, although im more than happy to be corrected.Hahahaha! More like 20 years. I don't think that the statistics used in that article are necessarilly measuring the right thing - it doesn't make any distinction between NHS and private work, practice partners, locums and the rest.

Reply 16

turkkan

Well most NHS sites ive looked at (http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=553) dont give a time frame but put the amount to swhat that article says for GP's, and i didnt notice that they included private work in those figures, so perhaps youre right it still goes to show that you can live considerbaly comfortably by being a doctor, and until recently also have quite a good job security even if you dont perform that remarkably which would not be tolerated in other job sectors.

So after 2 years of foundation school, and 3 years of GP training, how much would the average GP expect to earn?

Reply 17

Spencer Wells

turkkan

So after 2 years of foundation school, and 3 years of GP training, how much would the average GP expect to earn?

I spoke to 2 GPs about this and they said "about 35k."

Reply 18

Fluffy

Spencer Wells

I spoke to 2 GPs about this and they said "about 35k."

Aye - I was told around £40K... Not sure if that includes the extra £6k you get if you opt in to work nights (which apparently works out at £1.32 an hour - and the Government wonder why GPs don't opt in!!!)...