KCL vs Newcastle

same query

Hey! I posted this three years ago; I just finished my 3rd year of Medicine at King's. In short, my recommendation is Newcastle. 😂

thanks for that answer... could you explain some more... ie pros / cons / reasons why?
this is for an international student...

thanks much

Sure! For me, it really boils down to the teaching experience and how well-organised the course is. Granted, I can only speak from my experience at King's; I'm not entirely sure if Newcastle is much better.

The teaching at KCL has been quite poor. There's very little contact between Professors and students, lectures are large and impersonal, the content taught doesn't seem to correlate with what's on our actual exams. Hospital placements are also quite disorganised. I'll frequently show up to a teaching session and the instructor hadn't showed up. I actually showed up to a ward I was allocated to, asked for the Consultant doctor I'd been told to report to, only to find out that he hadn't worked at Guy's Hospital for a year.

In short, the MBBS programme is basically a self-study course. Whether it's multiple choice progress tests or OSCEs, I've found online content (e.g. QuesMed, ZeroToFinals, PulseNotes) much more useful than anything KCL has provided. Frankly, I gave up on attending KCL lectures in my 2nd year.

There are some exceptions to this. I had a great GP tutor last year, my research project supervisor this year was great and there are some hospital placement days that are better organised. Not to mention, some of the problems mentioned were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic; I started at King's in fall 2020, which was in the midst of the UK's lockdowns. However, all in all, it's not been a good experience.

My advice would be to consider your priorities especially as you're an international student. If you want to simply practice Medicine, then a qualifying MBBS from any university will do. Newcastle is MUCH cheaper than London, which is something to consider.

The potential advantage of KCL is that it's a very well-known and respected university and medical school worldwide. As a result, diving into a career in public health, consulting or something else might be easier than from Newcastle. If you want to discuss further, I'm happy to message or call at some point. Feel free to DM me. I hope this helps!

This is so important, honestly, I find student satisfaction scores are so important here. I've heard stories like this, where the school's administration seems to be in tatters.

I went to St Andrews and had a fantastic experience, the entire university and the school was organized, they never dropped the ball once. They kept the curriculum relevant, simple and effective. Almost all of our lectures were taught by career lecturers, not clinicians who have no time to prepare their slides. The same lecturer taught the same course year after year and they were amazing at explaining concepts to students. The concepts you learn in medical school are basic enough that require an educator not a researcher to teach.

We were told over and over again that when we went to our partner schools we'd find we were ahead, I didn't believe at the time but I see the truth now. Do not ignore student satisfaction scores, they sound fluffy but they are so very real.