Ask a Buckingham University Student!

Do you think it’s more stressful to complete the medical course within 4.5 years instead of 5

I go to St. Georges and study Medicine, can you tell me what differences there are between Buckingham and other medical schools? Is the admissions process easier? Also, how much more does it cost than regular tuition fees?
Thanks😊

Hey, I remember when I applied 5 years ago as an international student. I made a list of all medical schools in the UK and Buckingham fell in the top 4 choices. As an international student, the fees are around 35,000 pounds/year in all medical schools in the UK (as with Buckingham) therefore I wanted to spend it at a place I knew I could get value for money. By comparing Buckingham to my other choices (plymouth, st georges, east anglia) I am not saying that these other medical schools are any less value for money.

I felt that the large staff:student ratio meant that there would be a lot of supervision and small group teaching. Also as stated previously I did not like the idea of long holidays so Buckingham ticked that box too. I was really surprised
The admissions process is MMI as with most medical schools. I found it pretty relaxed, the interviewers were extremely attentive to the answers I gave and it just made the whole process a whole lot more relaxed in comparison to some of the other interviews I attended.

I guess as a home student paying 36,000 a year that's when you need to sit down and consider different options.

How are you finding St. George's? What year are you in?

Hi there, thanks for replying😄, I didn't know much about Buckingham University before.
I'm a first year at George's, and I'm quite enjoying it(when uni was happening at least). Its taken a lot of adjusting too and can be difficult at times but I think one thing that George's is good for is the community, which is very supportive.
Are you going to start work early due to COVID-19, or chill a bit first?

I flew home for a nice break hoping to start work in August or maybe slightly before that (to try and help with the COVID crisis) however my country has now closed its borders and I can only hope international flights will resume by end july so that I can get back to the UK in time to start work as an F1.
I am glad you're enjoying the start of your career in Medicine. Time definitely flies and central London life makes that even faster!
If you need any advise with topics you find hard to study I might be able to help. Feel free to PM. I am a visual learner and work well using question banks and flashcards as my main study resource. For example, I did the Passmedicine question bank at least 3 times before I sat finals and it really helped. Flashcards were key in my revision during pre-clinical years. Evidence based methods of revision such as spaced repetition and active recall also helped me greatly. I am sure you will find something that has worked/ works for you. All the best

Hi! I'm an international student and I just received and virtual interview offer from Buckingham due to covid19 situation.
Can you tell me what is the teaching style at buckingham? Do the have cadaveric dissections or just simulations??

Thankyou.

Hi, first of all congratulations on your interview! The curriculum is essentially divided into the pre clinical first 2 years (with a few clinical sessions) and the full clinical years which is entirely based in hospital setting. In the pre clinical years you learn all the basic sciences at the main university campus in Buckingham. A typical day in year one is lectures from 9a.m to 10a.m followed by some groupwork sessions where you run through cases from a workbook and discuss them with a facilitator. This is between 10a.m and 12 p.m. After this, there is one final lecture between 12 and 1p.m. You are then free to go and have lunch and do your own revision.

There is no cadaveric dissection, Bucks has an anatomage table which is essentially a big table with an anatomy man in 3d and you can learn from it. I found it extremely useful because they give a similar software for your ipads when you arrive on day 1.

Clinical years is full on and you are expected in the clincial environments. They are extremely well run and I really enjoyed these 2 years.

Hey thank you so much!!
Which system do the follow exactly? PBL or CBL or traditional or integrated?
How much is the approx cost of living over there??
Do you get vegetarian food?
Can medical students take up part time job?
I know it's a lot of questions.....but It would be really kind of you to help me out... I'm too nervous if this choice I've made is worth it!😇

hi there. Could I ask you something?I‘m an international student living in Australia. I have done my bachelor degree in nursing in Australia in 2016, since then I have been working as a nurse.Am I eligible to apply for the medicine course? what are the admission requirements? Thank you a lot

Hello,
I am a recently graduated doctor from the University of Buckingham. Feel free to ask questions about medicine or even about the university life in Bucks in general. If you have questions about other courses at Buckingham, I can put you in touch with people studying those courses

Hi I wanted to know about how you went about paying the tuition fees. The tuition fees are a lot higher than other unis. Do you have a bursary from the uni or a student finance loan from the government? And do you know if after doing the Pre-Med course, can you apply to other medical schools except Buckingham? Thanks!

Hello, so I think the important thing to understand with tuition fees at Buckingham is that:
1) If you are a home student then yes the fees will be higher compared to other medical schools in the UK
2) If you are an international student, the fees is the same as what you will be paying at any other medical school in the UK/ abroad

As an international student, i knew that it didn't really matter where I went because the fees would be the same for me across the UK. So i picked bucks because it was a new medical school at the time and I knew there would be loads of opportunity to bring in student led ideas to improve the course wherever necessary. In addition to this, the excellent staff:student ratio attracted me to the course at bucks.

I do have friends who were home students and partly funded the course through student finance + their own savings/parents. Some also tutored GCSE/Alevel students to pay for their course, others took up part time jobs in the town.

I think- not entirely sure, but the Pre-med course allows you to enter the Bsc course and if you score >75% on your Bsc, you are invited to apply to medicine at Buckingham.
Hope this might be useful: https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/pg-medicine-allied-health/certhe/pre-med/

Thank you for your help. I am from France and I'm an eu student therefore the fees are a lot higher in Buckingham than other unis for me. I wondering even if I had a job during my studying, I don't know if I could have enough money to pay the rest of 16.000 pounds after 9.250 given from the government. Do you know if after the pre med there are other unis we can apply to except from Buckingham?

I totally understand where you are coming from. There are also additional living costs to consider as well.
My understanding from what it says on the website is:
'The Pre-Med has been developed for students that wish to enhance their application to medical or dental school and simultaneously complete the first stage of our accelerated 2-year BSc(Hons.) degree.'
This means that after completion of the pre med course which is 1 year, you will have decent knowledge of the sciences and you can use this certification to apply to other medical schools as well. This means that it will look good on your cv and an excellent point for discussion especially if you secure an interview because you can describe to the interviewer what you learnt while you undertook that science course at bucks.

If however you fail to secure a spot at medical school, you can resume your studies for the second year at bucks and obtain the Bsc Degree which will then allow you to apply at bucks for medicine or apply at any other medical school once again. This will definitely open more doors for you as you can then apply for a grad entry course which universities like warwick/ swansea offer (check which unis offer grad entry courses)

The pre-med course is essentially building up your knowledge of essential sciences which can put you ahead of many applicants who might not have that much in depth knowledge when they apply to med school.

Hope that helps

Thank you very much for your help. I won't be able to apply to bucks after Pre med because it's too expensive for me. However, last time I called bucks they said that I could also apply to Brighton but I don't know if you are guaranteed an interview there