Aberdeen Medicine 2017 Entry

Stevo1925

Hey guys, very random question but...

I came across the Pareto Principle recently which basically posits that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. E.g 20% of your instagram followers account for 80% of your newsfeed. 20% of the apps on your phone are used 80% of the time etc. It's applicable in virtually every area of our life, including medicine.

I was speaking to an A&E doctor recently, and I asked him whether he actually needed to know everything (or most) of the things he learnt during the 5 years of medical school. He gave a resounding 'no'. And it really does make sense tbh, because you cover a wide range of topic in a lot of depth.

But, when a patient presents with chest pain, is knowledge of the role and structure of ribosome/mitochondria/Golgi really necessary when diagnosing and treating them? Isn't knowledge of the basics such as knowledge of blood pressure, ECG, blood tests enough? (Just an example)

In fact, I have heard that a lot of a doctor's time is spent doing mundane tasks, e.g paperwork, ordering blood tests etc
So, couldn't medical school be significantly shortened so that only the information which is needed most of the time are actually studied? Because the topics/content that aren't applied regularly will inevitably be forgotten anyways

I have never heard of the Pareto Principle, so thanks for bringing it up.

Yeah knowledge of things like cell organelles are probably not useful to an A&E doctor, however it could be necessary for other specialties like infectious disease medicine. You are probably right that medical school could be shortened, however that’s assuming you know what specialty you want to go into from day one, and even if you did, a tailored course for each specialty is something that undergraduate universities are not equipped for.

Having said that, it is a bit annoying that we are going to have to spend so much time learning various topics that we are not going to need in 5 years.

Reply 981

username600675

12

Original post by Potatoo

Do you know what uni accommodation most medics live at? And is it easy to make friends at freshers at Aberdeen? Sorry mate these are kinda random things but I tend to overthink and I am really worried

Most are at Hillhead (self-catered); spread about the halls there. You'll all mix when you walk/get the bus to uni together, parties etc, so which halls specifically you stay in doesn't matter so much.

Yeah everyone is in the same position as you at freshers, wants to make friends, meet new people etc. Most flats will keep their doors open for you to meet those on your floor; people will have parties during freshers week and are keen to mix with as many people as possible. As for actual medical freshers week you'll have plenty opportunities to meet your course mates. If you join a sports team/society they will have some sort of welcome night event/night out for the freshers to meet everyone else. So yeah pretty easy to make new friends!

Reply 982

username600675

12

Original post by Candlegal

How do you like the course?

Yeah I enjoy it. The clinical exposure is my fave part about it - so it's good thats mixed from first year. As a 4th year I'm only on clinical attachments now which makes a welcome change from lectures.

There's a good number of people in your year too that you'll know most people by the end of first year, even if just by face and not name

Reply 983

Potatoo

10

Original post by atomos

Most are at Hillhead (self-catered); spread about the halls there. You'll all mix when you walk/get the bus to uni together, parties etc, so which halls specifically you stay in doesn't matter so much.

Yeah everyone is in the same position as you at freshers, wants to make friends, meet new people etc. Most flats will keep their doors open for you to meet those on your floor; people will have parties during freshers week and are keen to mix with as many people as possible. As for actual medical freshers week you'll have plenty opportunities to meet your course mates. If you join a sports team/society they will have some sort of welcome night event/night out for the freshers to meet everyone else. So yeah pretty easy to make new friends!

Original post by adamdaniell

Students from all disciplines are mixed throughout the uni halls. You put down where you want to go, and they allocate - if you're in shared accommodation, at least when I was in Aberdeen halls, you can put down some preferences/additional info, but the accommodation complexes are big... there's no specific place where any degree group is gathered together.

As for friends, it's super easy - there's tons of events and, even if that doesn't work, there's also tons of clubs and societies. If you go to the ones you're interested in, and are willing to talk to the people around you, you'll make plenty of friends. I was bullied to crap and back in school, and had no self-confidence whatsoever when I arrived, and I still ended up making lots of really good friends. Pretty much everyone is in the same boat (wanting to meet new people, that is, not ex-bullied types with low self confidence ;p) and Aberdeen has a really good atmosphere to boot, so don't worry too much! :smile:

Plus, there's all the medic-specific groups too...

Thanks a lot lads. This means a lot

Reply 984

scottishmum

5

Hi,
I was rejected by all four medical schools, and my insurance choice, so on extra I applied for Psychology & Neuroscience at Aberdeen and they offered me an unconditional. However, I still want to do medicine and was planning a gap year, the insurance choice was just in case I got bad grades at Advanced higher and would have no chance of reapplying next year to medicine,
The deadline for replying to this offer is 20th July and if i don't reply it will disappear. I'm a scottish student and my exam results will not come until August. I'm not sure of what to do, I accept the offer and wait four years to do medicine, or can I accept the offer, get the grades I need and reject it again after I receive my exam results? Is this possible?

Reply 985

Julesdel

5

Original post by scottishmum

Hi,
I was rejected by all four medical schools, and my insurance choice, so on extra I applied for Psychology & Neuroscience at Aberdeen and they offered me an unconditional. However, I still want to do medicine and was planning a gap year, the insurance choice was just in case I got bad grades at Advanced higher and would have no chance of reapplying next year to medicine,
The deadline for replying to this offer is 20th July and if i don't reply it will disappear. I'm a scottish student and my exam results will not come until August. I'm not sure of what to do, I accept the offer and wait four years to do medicine, or can I accept the offer, get the grades I need and reject it again after I receive my exam results? Is this possible?

If you really want to do medicine then I would consider taking a year out . I know someone that got 4 rejections last year and 4 unconditionals this year . Only difference was more experience and confirmed 3A s advanced highers. The other option is to do a relevant degree like anatomy and if you get a min 2.1 apply as a post graduate . However not as many places available for postgraduates so maybe better to try a gap year first .

Reply 986

medic 2314

if there is an offer holders chat, can i be added? my name is Tarush Gupta

Reply 987

Jake_O_97

3

Hey. I've been accepted into Aberdeen med school and I think I'm gonna accept it (unconditional gap year). But I live all the way in London so it's like 8 hours on the train which is invariably going to be very expensive. Do you think I'll get a grant/extra loan to account for the high travel expenses

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Reply 988

GusBrolly

Hi, I'm on the waiting list, does anyone have any idea when we'll find out if we get places?

Reply 989

Medicapplic

6

Quick question: Are RUK applicants at a disadvantage if they apply to this uni?

How does admissions work here? Can someone explain? Thanks!

Reply 990

RowingMedic2905

Original post by Jake_O_97

Hey. I've been accepted into Aberdeen med school and I think I'm gonna accept it (unconditional gap year). But I live all the way in London so it's like 8 hours on the train which is invariably going to be very expensive. Do you think I'll get a grant/extra loan to account for the high travel expenses

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Hey

I haven’t heard of any grants/extra loans in relation to travel expenses. I know there’s a lot of offer holders here who are planning to move quite a distance from their home base (I know myself I'm planning to move quite a distance and I live in Scotland), and generally many students move quite a distance from their home base, I’m sure there will be some International applicants on this forum too who are moving a massive distance.

I’m guessing you are a RUK applicant? So I think Student Finance England would give you a tuition fee loan for the £9,000 each year, and a maintenance loan for living costs - I don't know how much you would get for that though. I’m not really sure if Student Finance England have bursaries? and maybe there's scholarships so that might help towards travel costs, but I think it's one of these things when applying to different universities, the universities know you've probably taken distance into consideration, so I don't think there will be extra grants/loans for travel costs alone really as many people will be in a similar situation. There is probably discretionary funds, but I don't think they would be given for normal travel home, just emergency maybe? I might be wrong though...maybe inquire with the university itself.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 991

adamdaniell

5

Original post by medic 2314

if there is an offer holders chat, can i be added? my name is Tarush Gupta

Hi, there's a facebook group/chat here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/1761855890798132

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 992

Jake_O_97

3

I'm reading the offer letter from UCAS track and I see we're needed to obtain a few documents: Disclosure Scotlands PVG scheme and an immunisation record.

Has anyone received any emails/letters regarding this?

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Reply 993

adamdaniell

5

Original post by Jake_O_97

I'm reading the offer letter from UCAS track and I see we're needed to obtain a few documents: Disclosure Scotlands PVG scheme and an immunisation record.

Has anyone received any emails/letters regarding this?

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I asked them about this. They won't be sending this stuff out until the deadline for offer confirmations, so no need to worry!

Reply 994

adamdaniell

5

Original post by Jake_O_97

Hey. I've been accepted into Aberdeen med school and I think I'm gonna accept it (unconditional gap year). But I live all the way in London so it's like 8 hours on the train which is invariably going to be very expensive. Do you think I'll get a grant/extra loan to account for the high travel expenses

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Afraid you just have to book in advance and just go back during the holidays - I don't believe there's any bursaries for travel, although--if you look at the bursary/scholarship pages (
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/infohub/finance/bursaries-scholarships.php)--you may be able to apply to get extra money towards tuition/living expenses (some of which could be used towards travel).

If you book in advance, though, you can get a return train or plane ticket to/from Aberdeen for less than 100 quid, and a bus ticket (especially megabus) can be even cheaper.

Reply 995

hopeforunderdog

OP

4

can any current Aberdeen students tell us about what the best accommodation is? no idea which ones to apply for

Reply 996

Steve1349

Original post by hopeforunderdog

can any current Aberdeen students tell us about what the best accommodation is? no idea which ones to apply for

Has anybody any experience on catered Accommodations?

Reply 997

Jake_O_97

3

Hello guys, can someone who lives in Aberdeen message me please. I'm just going to ask a few questions about Aberdeen as a city, so I can start planning some stuff. Thanks :smile:

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