Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2024 Entry

I think what you need to do first is actually research entry requirements for UK med school and the route to med school in the UK, plenty of resources online. The system in the UK is completely different from the USA. And you need to get some shadowing work experience to have a better idea if a career in medicine is right for you

Yes thank you i have researched for the entry requiremnts and hoenstly it is not easy haha but its ok ik i can do it. i will try to see if i can shadow a doctor and look for some work experiences. btw do u have any recommendations for books i can read?

Reply 81

FutureMissMRCS

21

Original post by AzAz00

Yes thank you i have researched for the entry requiremnts and hoenstly it is not easy haha but its ok ik i can do it. i will try to see if i can shadow a doctor and look for some work experiences. btw do u have any recommendations for books i can read?

'This is going to hurt' by Adam Kay.

Reply 82

becausethenight

19

Original post by AzAz00

Yes thank you i have researched for the entry requiremnts and hoenstly it is not easy haha but its ok ik i can do it. i will try to see if i can shadow a doctor and look for some work experiences. btw do u have any recommendations for books i can read?

There is a whole thread with some books here https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6491274 :smile:

Plus a wiki with a good intro to the process here https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7063146

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 83

meowsies

13

if you have a genuine passion for medicine, is medschool fun despite the workload, stress, etc? this question may perhaps be too unspecific or daft but i was just really curious, i hope this is the right place to ask, if not let me know! thanks :smile:

Reply 84

meowsies

13

is that so! i’ve been meaning to read “This is Going to Hurt” so i’ll check that out

Reply 85

meowsies

13

LORD 😭 that does NOT sound appealing 😭😭

Reply 86

meowsies

13

this really boosted my respect for junior doctors even higher, it’s a shame there’s a lack of support and care for them when their duties are both mentally and physically taxing but i guess that’s all part of the job.. but i do think there should be a change tbh (quite obviously so) anyways, thanks again for all the help today! i’m glad i got to learn quite a lot.

Reply 87

becausethenight

19

Original post by vhbbgvujnbgv

hi everyone i have a few questions about work experience:
1. is now (summer between y11 and y12) the right time to be thinking about/organising work experience or should i leave it for another time
2. what are the "best" types of work experience, by this i mean is doing long term work experience like weekly volunteering at a nursing home or doing shadowing or doing virtual work experience best or should i do a mix of all of these
3. is virtual work experience still useful at all or was that mainly for the years where people couldnt get in person work experience due to covid
4. is doing nhs work experience better compared to private healthcare work experience
5. is doing non medical "work experience" like doing stuff in a charity shop or local primary school or something like that still helpful for the application
6. how to organise work experience. i dont have any family connections to doctors so i cant get it through that so i was wondering if there is a website that i should be using or should i use email to organise it (if this is the case who/what should i email) or something else

1. Yes - it may be trickier if you’re not 16 yet but it can be very hard to get shadowing experience so it’s best to start as early as possible.

2. The absolute best thing is long term volunteering or working that gives you evidence of commitment and building the skills to show at interview. Keele and Sunderland are the medical schools that score work experience before interview and they max out scoring at 160hrs last time I checked. Shadowing isn’t as important for interviews but can be very useful for you to see what the job is like and if you want to do it.

People will have varied amounts of work experience and shadowing, the main thing is what you learnt from it and how you reflect on it.

3. Yes, it is - it’s a great way to learn more about medicine.

4. Unis won’t really know/care but as you will be working and training in the NHS I’d prioritise NHS.

5. Yes, probably more helpful than medical shadowing.

6. Start with hospital websites as they will have defined work experience applications and calling or emailing GPs. I’d also ask anyone you might know at all who could get you in, including friends’ parents, teachers etc.

Most hospitals and care homes advertise volunteering on their websites and you can google in your local area too. You can also ask your school as they may organise volunteering.

Reply 88

HPSD123

4

I'm planning to go into sixth form but I'm unsure of when I should apply to my chosen university (Edinburgh) for Medicine. From what I have read I know that I need to do my UCAT before submitting my UCAS application but the issue here is I don't know when I should submit it (I have just finished year 11)

Reply 89

kitty2005

12

I'm 16 and emailed doctors from different hospitals and GPs and many have either ignored or replied they don't/can't offer work experience. What can do instead since it's summer and I am free?

Reply 90

MedicMind

11

Original post by HPSD123

I'm planning to go into sixth form but I'm unsure of when I should apply to my chosen university (Edinburgh) for Medicine. From what I have read I know that I need to do my UCAT before submitting my UCAS application but the issue here is I don't know when I should submit it (I have just finished year 11)

Hiya!

It's great to see that you're keen on doing medicine and you've done your research on the UCAT. :colondollar:

So you're currently in the summer between year 11 and year 12. You would sit the UCAT next year - between year 12 and year 13, and then apply in October of year 13 with a personal statement. :biggrin:

You really don't have to be thinking about the UCAT now, or preparing for it! :wink:

The standard advice is that you'd spend 6-8 weeks preparing for the UCAT, so not prepping for it until next year once your year 12 exams are over. :redface:

It may be tempting wanting to spend as much as you can to prep for the UCAT, but you can definitely burn out if you do too much and subsequently damage your potentials. :boring:

Have you researched about the other parts of your med application? :confused:

The main thing i'd recommend focusing on during year 12 is finding and doing volunteering placements AND getting good A-Level predictions. If you start doing these things early, then it'll make you so much more relaxed and less stressed come a years' time so that you have plenty of time to focus on the next hurdles like UCAT and the personal statement. :dancing2:

Lmk if you have more questions!

Marimo
UCL Y2 Med Student
Medic Mind

Reply 91

MedicMind

11

Original post by kitty2005

I'm 16 and emailed doctors from different hospitals and GPs and many have either ignored or replied they don't/can't offer work experience. What can do instead since it's summer and I am free?

Hiya,

First of all, you're 16 - just finished GCSEs? You still have the whole of year 12 and summer of year 12 to find work experience so I wouldn't stress too much if you haven't been able to find any work experience yet :redface:

.

But if you wanted to get work experience to see whether medicine is for you, it's great to see that you've had a shot at emailing hospitals and GPs! For hospitals there's often a scheme that you can find on their website for work experience - did you email them through the email address for the scheme or maybe through a different email address? Contacting them through the official work experience website is the best bet, but often they only allow year 12 students so you might have to wait for that. :closedeyes:

You could also email individual doctors on the NHS website, or try through the nepotism route of asking around doctor relatives or friends who have doctor links. :crown:

You could also see if your sixth form has some scheme for work experience - maybe they have doctors who they've asked in the past if students have shadowed them? :blush:

You could also do some online work experience - here we have a guide on it :h:

. However, do remember that you still have a year or more to do all of these things so I'd try and relax over the summer, or get a people-facing job as this will be useful for your med application in the future! :jitsu:

Lmk if you have more questions :tongue:

Marimo
UCL Y2 Med Student
Medic Mind

Reply 92

jaffacakesareyum

4

I have had chronic headaches for most of my life, I am still waiting on a diagnosis or miracle cure lol. It is my dream to go to medical school and I have started volunteering etc to build my application for 2024. The only problem is my 'illness'. I know some health problems can inhibit you from even studying medicine. I got bad gcses this year because of my headaches, but I am planning on applying to places that dont look at gcses (which are not many). I'm hoping to turn my life around for sixth form and want to get AAAs, if i achieve this, do you think my illness will stop me from getting in to medical school? Thanks in advance.

Reply 93

Shrek_lord

3

Should I start prepaing for med exam in year 12? And what med exam should i take UCAT or BMAT?
(note* I havent even start year 12 yet. it starts in few days)

Reply 94

A.B72

14

absolutely not, start the UCAT in the summer of year 12 and focus on getting good UCAS predictions for now. i cant speak for the BMAT but the UCAT takes at least 3 weeks to prepare for and if you overkill you'll just burn out

Reply 95

username5319484

19

Original post by Shrek_lord

Should I start prepaing for med exam in year 12? And what med exam should i take UCAT or BMAT?
(note* I havent even start year 12 yet. it starts in few days)

You can prep for the UCAT next summer and sit the exam between August and September.
The BMAT is only used at Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL, Leeds, Lancaster and BSMS.

Reply 96

Lovelydaisies39

1

Hi I'm wondering if you can please provide me with some guidance. I'm an A level student (first year) and want to apply for medicine. I know it's so competitive. Please could you guide me as to what work experience I need to do? I'm struggling to find a doctors surgery 😩. Feeling quite deflated. Any advice/tips will be greatly appreciated. Thankd

Reply 97

Lovelydaisies39

1

Yes, Year 12. No I've not asked any hospitals. I thought they might say you have to be 18 but I will call them. Is there any other work experience you would recommend? Thank you for any replies I get to this post. Much appreciated

Reply 98

Lewis T K

12

Original post by Lovelydaisies39

Hi I'm wondering if you can please provide me with some guidance. I'm an A level student (first year) and want to apply for medicine. I know it's so competitive. Please could you guide me as to what work experience I need to do? I'm struggling to find a doctors surgery 😩. Feeling quite deflated. Any advice/tips will be greatly appreciated. Thankd

Shadowing is probably one of the best ways to gain some experience. Perhaps asking a local GP if they would allow you to shadow them while in their surgery. Additionally taking on a part time role as a hospital porter or cleaner may give you an insight into the workings of a hospital and life within a medical field
Also, any job working with the public, such as hospitality, will help your communication skills and can prove beneficial for your studies in medicine, especially for your clinical side. Also having good communication skills will greatly help with interviews

Reply 99

Lovelydaisies39

1

Thank you so much for your reply. I'm feeling really deflated 😞 I've tried numerous surgeries and some have not even replied and others have all said they don't allow students to shadow a doctor at their surgery. I'm willing to travel from Manchester but can't get a surgery to allow me to do some experience at their surgery. Not really sure what else I can do.

Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2024 Entry

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