Pros and cons of your med school?
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Original post by felt_monkey
can someone do liverpool's pros and conss please
Original post by you-belong-with-me
can someone do liverpool's pros and conss please
Cons:
It's in Liverpool
Pros:
It's not not in Liverpool
Original post by iceman_jondoe
Peninsula medical school
Pros:
Work at your own pace, small year group. Few lectures.
Clinical experience from day one which is excellent
Cons:
PBL
They make you move campus after 2 years which is crap because you finally cant settle in a nice place (unless you apply to stay in a particular locality)
No anatomy- so dont come here if you want to be a surgeon....intercalation not possible unless your in the top 15% and is done after your fourth year..at either Exeter or Plymouth uni...if its done at PLymouth uni you might aswell take a year out any degree from there wont be worth the paper its printed on....o and with the way you go through case scenarios they train you to be a GP rather than anything else;
Exams dont test your true knowledge...i mean which idiot thought it would be a good idea to make every year sit an exam set at an F1 standard 4 times a year and base the entire year result on that.
People can pass the year by failing 3 of the four exams and simply pass the last one which counts.
Negative marking
Dont know what to learn, feel you are in a med school for idiots who wernt good enough to get into a decent med school e.g. kings
Its linked to Plymouth university.......enough said.
Public health...i mean WTF!!!
Pros:
Work at your own pace, small year group. Few lectures.
Clinical experience from day one which is excellent
Cons:
PBL
They make you move campus after 2 years which is crap because you finally cant settle in a nice place (unless you apply to stay in a particular locality)
No anatomy- so dont come here if you want to be a surgeon....intercalation not possible unless your in the top 15% and is done after your fourth year..at either Exeter or Plymouth uni...if its done at PLymouth uni you might aswell take a year out any degree from there wont be worth the paper its printed on....o and with the way you go through case scenarios they train you to be a GP rather than anything else;
Exams dont test your true knowledge...i mean which idiot thought it would be a good idea to make every year sit an exam set at an F1 standard 4 times a year and base the entire year result on that.
People can pass the year by failing 3 of the four exams and simply pass the last one which counts.
Negative marking
Dont know what to learn, feel you are in a med school for idiots who wernt good enough to get into a decent med school e.g. kings
Its linked to Plymouth university.......enough said.
Public health...i mean WTF!!!
Hi,
Just a few points with what you've written.
1. "no anatomy" is not true unless you do not complete your life sciences. I've just completed a 6 week orthopaedic attachment and was told my anatomy knowledge was far above their SHO's level. They also told me they would welcome an application from me - i.e. become a surgeon! (also with the points system of job applications your university had absolutely no impact)
2. 5 of my friends are currently intercalating in London and 1 in Manchester, i'm sure there's more dotted about the country i don't know about.
3. you have to be in the top 50% to get permission to intercalate - those in the bottom 50% are still able to apply just less likely to get in.
4. The exams test your general knowledge. No exam system is perfect, at least these don't allow you to memorise and regurgitate past papers.
5. Some of us did get multiple offers and chose Peninsula so it's not full of "Kings rejects"
I guess you've had a pretty bad experience but that's no reason to write things which may wrongly influence other's opinions.
(5th year student using sister's account!)
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by felt_monkey
I must say that, at the moment (and I know it's still early days), I agree with Phalanges. I find tutorials really useful and they seem to find a good balance between PBL and lectures. I'm feeling that Soton is far too lecture based. Having 4 in a row on a Monday morning really destroys your morale and you stop listening (and caring) after the second. But I know it could all change...
I know Sarky has already done southampton but as they redesigned the course could you please post your pros and cons for southampton from your viewpoint? thanks
Seeing as the other thread was closed and people were asking me as to why Cardiff medical school looks terrible in the rankings, I thought I'd share my views. I love everything about the course, the city, the university. It really is fantastic and I would encourage anyone to consider applying to Cardiff or to accept an offer from there...
It's by no means perfect though and there are problems, plus of course I'm extremely biased having only studied at one medical school! The organisation still isn't great which is one of the reasons why Cardiff doesn't do to well with its satisfaction although there are changes being made (as I'll explain) Also, feel free to comment or criticise what I've said, I don't know that much about the Swansea/Cardiff merge for example.
Why Cardiff comes near to bottom in the rankings
Looking at the criteria for how they judge the medical schools and then looking in the column 'student satisfaction' you will see that Cardiff's is pitifully low compared to the others. I don't have the tables in front of me but it's something like 15-20% different from the next lowest med school. In all the other criteria, research, employment prospects (not that it's really important for med schools as they're all 99%+), spend on students etc. Cardiff fares pretty well. It's the student satisfaction that lets us down.
Why the bad student satisfaction?
Firstly, the survey is undertaken by 5th year students I believe so doesn't really represent the satisfaction of all the other students down the line who benefit from the ongoing changes that the med school have undertaken to improve these scores. There have been many changes made; we get better feedback (still not great, but for 300+ in a year it's probably adequate), exam changes have been made to allow for retakes in all years (this wasn't the case before and so people doing finals had to retake the whole of 4th or 5th year) and the new Dean does seem super keen to improve Cardiff's reputation for student satisfaction.
Secondly, as I mentioned before, we have a lot of students - about 300 in each year. Granted, some other schools are bigger, but it does mean that as a student we do feel a bit invisible at times. They have made changes though to improve things though as they realise the students didn't feel like they had a voice - hence the new Dean's 'open door policy' and frequent surveys within the med school about our satisfaction etc.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, the cohorts of students who have graduated and therefore will have been the ones who have filled out these student satisfaction surveys were part of the merge of Cardiff students with Swansea post-grads. Swansea now has its own full 4 year grad course whereas before students would merge into the 4th year of Cardiff undergraduates after doing pre-clinical training. As this was a fairly new occurance as the merge only began a few years ago due to the new opening of Swansea's PG medical course, there was a lot of disorganisation and teething problems resulting in a fair few problems with sorting everyone out and the year group gaining in size. Hopefully for the last year of merged students (this year) the student satisfaction will have improved due to ironing out of problems... and then better still for the years afterwards (including my year) which won't be affected at all by Swansea students.
Sorry for the massive essay and hope that answers some questions
xxx
It's by no means perfect though and there are problems, plus of course I'm extremely biased having only studied at one medical school! The organisation still isn't great which is one of the reasons why Cardiff doesn't do to well with its satisfaction although there are changes being made (as I'll explain) Also, feel free to comment or criticise what I've said, I don't know that much about the Swansea/Cardiff merge for example.
Why Cardiff comes near to bottom in the rankings
Looking at the criteria for how they judge the medical schools and then looking in the column 'student satisfaction' you will see that Cardiff's is pitifully low compared to the others. I don't have the tables in front of me but it's something like 15-20% different from the next lowest med school. In all the other criteria, research, employment prospects (not that it's really important for med schools as they're all 99%+), spend on students etc. Cardiff fares pretty well. It's the student satisfaction that lets us down.
Why the bad student satisfaction?
Firstly, the survey is undertaken by 5th year students I believe so doesn't really represent the satisfaction of all the other students down the line who benefit from the ongoing changes that the med school have undertaken to improve these scores. There have been many changes made; we get better feedback (still not great, but for 300+ in a year it's probably adequate), exam changes have been made to allow for retakes in all years (this wasn't the case before and so people doing finals had to retake the whole of 4th or 5th year) and the new Dean does seem super keen to improve Cardiff's reputation for student satisfaction.
Secondly, as I mentioned before, we have a lot of students - about 300 in each year. Granted, some other schools are bigger, but it does mean that as a student we do feel a bit invisible at times. They have made changes though to improve things though as they realise the students didn't feel like they had a voice - hence the new Dean's 'open door policy' and frequent surveys within the med school about our satisfaction etc.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, the cohorts of students who have graduated and therefore will have been the ones who have filled out these student satisfaction surveys were part of the merge of Cardiff students with Swansea post-grads. Swansea now has its own full 4 year grad course whereas before students would merge into the 4th year of Cardiff undergraduates after doing pre-clinical training. As this was a fairly new occurance as the merge only began a few years ago due to the new opening of Swansea's PG medical course, there was a lot of disorganisation and teething problems resulting in a fair few problems with sorting everyone out and the year group gaining in size. Hopefully for the last year of merged students (this year) the student satisfaction will have improved due to ironing out of problems... and then better still for the years afterwards (including my year) which won't be affected at all by Swansea students.
Sorry for the massive essay and hope that answers some questions
xxx
Really hoping someone knows/a Bristol medic sees this as I'm really keen to read someone's opinion on the course whos actually going/gone through it?
Original post by tikkitak
Hi,
Just a few points with what you've written.
1. "no anatomy" is not true unless you do not complete your life sciences. I've just completed a 6 week orthopaedic attachment and was told my anatomy knowledge was far above their SHO's level. They also told me they would welcome an application from me - i.e. become a surgeon! (also with the points system of job applications your university had absolutely no impact)
2. 5 of my friends are currently intercalating in London and 1 in Manchester, i'm sure there's more dotted about the country i don't know about.
3. you have to be in the top 50% to get permission to intercalate - those in the bottom 50% are still able to apply just less likely to get in.
4. The exams test your general knowledge. No exam system is perfect, at least these don't allow you to memorise and regurgitate past papers.
5. Some of us did get multiple offers and chose Peninsula so it's not full of "Kings rejects"
I guess you've had a pretty bad experience but that's no reason to write total rubbish which may wrongly influence other's opinions.
(5th year student using sister's account!)
Just a few points with what you've written.
1. "no anatomy" is not true unless you do not complete your life sciences. I've just completed a 6 week orthopaedic attachment and was told my anatomy knowledge was far above their SHO's level. They also told me they would welcome an application from me - i.e. become a surgeon! (also with the points system of job applications your university had absolutely no impact)
2. 5 of my friends are currently intercalating in London and 1 in Manchester, i'm sure there's more dotted about the country i don't know about.
3. you have to be in the top 50% to get permission to intercalate - those in the bottom 50% are still able to apply just less likely to get in.
4. The exams test your general knowledge. No exam system is perfect, at least these don't allow you to memorise and regurgitate past papers.
5. Some of us did get multiple offers and chose Peninsula so it's not full of "Kings rejects"
I guess you've had a pretty bad experience but that's no reason to write total rubbish which may wrongly influence other's opinions.
(5th year student using sister's account!)
I still stand by what I said. Im a fourth year In exeter still hate Peninsula's structure. Especially for the clinical years where three and a half days in a placement is simply not enough. I love medicine only because i have taught myself everything and gone to extra events throughout the course to help build up my knowledge. Once i qualify I hope to feedback my experience of peninsula to the med school in the hope to restructure it.
ps: I have also notified the GMC of the complete waste of time the doctors and teachers ssu in fourth year is.
pps: Orthopaedics doesnt exactly test the mind when it comes to anatomy. Learning bones is easy.
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by rj0804
I know Sarky has already done southampton but as they redesigned the course could you please post your pros and cons for southampton from your viewpoint? thanks
I don't know if I'm comfortable with doing this as I've only done 1 term! So please take everything I've said with a pinch of salt, because my opinions could very easily change. And this only represents 1/10 of the actual course
+We're one of only a couple of med schools in the country where all its students graduate with BM and BMedSc.
+Tutorials have been really interesting and useful so far. They really complement lectures.
+Placements once a fortnight in the first year. Following the development of a baby has been fascinating.
+Pathology has been so interesting so far. Lots of lectures from many different lecturers in different specialities, half a dozen tutorials and these interactive sessions called 'pathology in practice'. After the New Year we're having post mortem demonstrations, too.
+We're a big year with a huge variety of people; I know there's at least 210, but I don't know if that includes the 33 BM6 students from last year.
+ Great pastoral support. You are assigned your own personal tutor and the whole year also shares a pastoral tutor. She's so lovely and really helped me at first, as my personal tutor was on holiday so couldn't see me. You definitely don't feel the need to bottle anything up.
+Our MedSoc really knows how to throw a party!
- Histology and anatomy are poorly taught. The practical sessions can be disorganised and I know people who refuse to go to histology practicals. For anatomy, there's about 70 of you sharing the attention of 2 session leaders. However, one of the lecturers is fantastic and will happily give you private teaching in his own time if you need it.
- 3/5 days we're at SGH. All right for some, but because of where my bloody accommodation is it's a huge pain in the arse getting there for 9am.
- SSUs and IPL are a joke. So we've paid £1600 (or whatever) so far to make a board game and a poster.
- You've got to be prepared for ~25 hours of contact time a week (only a negative if you feel you're more of a PBL student, really). Which will include, as I said before, 4 lectures in a row on a Monday morning.
- I know this is probably true for all med schools, but you really are thrown into the deep end and expected not to drown. We were given an essay on the mechanisms of action of trastuzumab within the first few weeks, and it's safe to say everyone had a breakdown over it at some point!
-Southampton as a city is a bit meh. Although it is the 'teen pregnancy capital of the South', which gives me at least something to write about in my SSU essay
Keele
Pros
-Very well laid out course
-Help is always available, and there even is 1-1 help week before exams for anyone struggling with the PBP paper
-Excellent teaching staff, very friendly and willing to do anything for you to learn
-Brand new facilities
-Love dissection
-Lectures are a great way to know how much detail etc to go in for PBL
-Placements almost from 2nd week
-Great it's not totally isolated from rest of uni
-the actual med school is so compact and friendly
-we have 2nd mentors that help us with exam stuff and socials
-3rd years take us for extra anatomy revision every 2 weeks
-living anatomy is brilliant with the FY2s so keen and energenic
-Dissection with CT plastic surgeon
-Regular endoscopy with local surgeons in anatomy covering the recent topic eg polyps of the rectum
Cons
-library shuts at 10
-Some ignorant professors who expect you to know everything
-a lot of information threw at us, I believe we have least amount of free time compared to peers at QUB and Glasgow
-PBL seems useless at times
-If you want to head into Manchester it's 45 mins, 30 on train and 15 in taxi, as local town hanley not great for shopping, well clothes shopping anyway
Pros
-Very well laid out course
-Help is always available, and there even is 1-1 help week before exams for anyone struggling with the PBP paper
-Excellent teaching staff, very friendly and willing to do anything for you to learn
-Brand new facilities
-Love dissection
-Lectures are a great way to know how much detail etc to go in for PBL
-Placements almost from 2nd week
-Great it's not totally isolated from rest of uni
-the actual med school is so compact and friendly
-we have 2nd mentors that help us with exam stuff and socials
-3rd years take us for extra anatomy revision every 2 weeks
-living anatomy is brilliant with the FY2s so keen and energenic
-Dissection with CT plastic surgeon
-Regular endoscopy with local surgeons in anatomy covering the recent topic eg polyps of the rectum
Cons
-library shuts at 10
-Some ignorant professors who expect you to know everything
-a lot of information threw at us, I believe we have least amount of free time compared to peers at QUB and Glasgow
-PBL seems useless at times
-If you want to head into Manchester it's 45 mins, 30 on train and 15 in taxi, as local town hanley not great for shopping, well clothes shopping anyway
Original post by felt_monkey
Although it is the 'teen pregnancy capital of the South', which gives me at least something to write about in my SSU essay
Haha, is it really? Whoever said that has obviously never been to Portsmouth
Original post by tikkitak
Haha, is it really? Whoever said that has obviously never been to Portsmouth
I can proudly say yes, yes it is
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5028164.City_is_teen_mum_capital_again/?action=complain&cid=8335782
Original post by felt_monkey
I can proudly say yes, yes it is
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5028164.City_is_teen_mum_capital_again/?action=complain&cid=8335782
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5028164.City_is_teen_mum_capital_again/?action=complain&cid=8335782
Wow, it actually is worse than Portsmouth! I am also rather proud
. However I dont know where all these pregnant teenagers are hiding as I haven't seen any in yonks!
Hey guys,
I know I'm not strictly allowed to post here (so I'll run along after this post) but I wonder if anyone has read this:
http://thelittlemedic.blogspot.com/2008/07/reflections-on-5-years.html
Can any Manchester medics comment on the validity of that post? The reason I ask is my little cousin has applied there as a school leaver, and I thought I should email him this, but I don't want to if it's a load of bull.
Anyway, thanks!
I know I'm not strictly allowed to post here (so I'll run along after this post) but I wonder if anyone has read this:
http://thelittlemedic.blogspot.com/2008/07/reflections-on-5-years.html
Can any Manchester medics comment on the validity of that post? The reason I ask is my little cousin has applied there as a school leaver, and I thought I should email him this, but I don't want to if it's a load of bull.
Anyway, thanks!
Original post by bean87
i didnt read it all, way too long. but im in 2nd year at manchester and love it
i recon PBL isnt suited for everyone though, so if your cousin will struggle with self directed learning, then get him/her to apply to a traditional lecture based course
i recon PBL isnt suited for everyone though, so if your cousin will struggle with self directed learning, then get him/her to apply to a traditional lecture based course
I think the guys main problem was being assigned to Preston in his clinical year, which cost him effectively £8,000. I think they've changed the assignment system though, as they found it to be biased (something the blogger claims to have informed them of the year before)
Thanks!
Original post by winter_mute
I think the guys main problem was being assigned to Preston in his clinical year, which cost him effectively £8,000. I think they've changed the assignment system though, as they found it to be biased (something the blogger claims to have informed them of the year before)
Thanks!
Thanks!
Being assigned to Preston didn't cost him £8000, choosing to stay in Manchester and commute to Preston cost him that much. He'd have had free accomodation and much less fuel cost if he'd lived in Preston, apparently. I have very little sympathy for that, it was entirely his choice to live in a nicer area.
Original post by winter_mute
I think the guys main problem was being assigned to Preston in his clinical year, which cost him effectively £8,000. I think they've changed the assignment system though, as they found it to be biased (something the blogger claims to have informed them of the year before)
Thanks!
Thanks!
i read some of it, was the £8000 cost from commuting from manchester? his choice to not move to preston.... i would move if i was preston, and all my friends going there will move to preston
assignment system is biased? tell me more. maybe thats related to clinical years more, we dont really have assignments
The assignment system isn't biased, it's randomly allocated now. I believe previously you ranked some preferences but now it is just done automatically and you are informed at the end of 1st semester. You can put forward extenuating circumstances, although they will only be accepted if they are good.
I think the blog post puts a somewhat skewed view on the medical school - student support has improved considerably (personal tutor for whole 5 years now), although those negatives relating to PBL still remain. Majority of my friends are happy here, and haven't heard many complains; aside from the sometimes dodgy administration which I believe plagues most medical schools!
I would not be put off as an applicant by that blog post, it is a great city and a good medical school.
I think the blog post puts a somewhat skewed view on the medical school - student support has improved considerably (personal tutor for whole 5 years now), although those negatives relating to PBL still remain. Majority of my friends are happy here, and haven't heard many complains; aside from the sometimes dodgy administration which I believe plagues most medical schools!
I would not be put off as an applicant by that blog post, it is a great city and a good medical school.
Hi I thought I'd give a few thoughts about Birmingham. When I applied many scores of moons ago I really wanted to go to Cambridge. When I was eventually rejected I was quite upset (not quite in tears, though). I got an offer from Birmingham though and went there. As you might know we have 2 pre-clinical and three clinical years. Throughout the pre-clinical years, I didn't "love" it, but I was very happy. Partly in the way most students are happy to at least some extent go to any university and partly because I thought all the pre-clinical science was a bit heavy and blimey, I would never cope in Cambridge where they do three times as much. First clinical year was ok, but a downward spiral began. I realised, probably in the same way as many do, that medicine isn't quite as glamorous as people make out and can be a bit, well, dull. And never more so than our fourth year where we have little time on wards and are mostly banished to interminable clinics. At the same time I became increasingly interested in academic medicine. Now, I don't hate my medical school quite... but I won't be sad to graduate. I feel quite strongly now that I should have applied to UCL and Imperial and perhaps I would have enjoyed those environments more.
So why do I take issue with my medical school? I think the bottom line is that it is just too big. With about 400 students per year group, even with the best will in the world, it would be difficult to resource as good an experience as students might hope. In the first two years most teaching is either lecture based or "small groups". But small groups are 16-18 people. Inevitably, in groups of that size 4-6 strong characters take control and everyone else ends up sitting, listening (or not) without too many opportunities to participate. The only one-to-one contact ever with staff is your personal mentor who you meet a couple of times a year, usually to "reflect" on a student selected activity. Many of these personal mentors are either disinterested or lack the knowledge to effectively mentor - so it is really pot luck whether you re given someone who genuinely wants to help. Even with the personal mentor system, the overall impression is that the medical school do not care too much about individual students and their aspirations, unless you run in to serious difficulties, in which case they actually offer good support. But it does mean the majority go largely ignored.
This lack of interest in students is best exemplified in the fourth year where we have seven placements of about 5 weeks each, potentially each at a different trust. Invariably you will be sent to some trusts over an hour's commute away. Each rotation covers roughly three specialties. So every five weeks you are thrown in to a new hospital where no one knows you and even within a particular module most trusts have little co-ordination between the few specialties, so that there is no one clearly responsible for your teaching, no one who should get to know you or take an interest. And for some reason doctors in trusts show less interest in fourth years than third years. You're expected to be in clinics not on wards, so if people see you outside of clinics you are usually (not always and not everywhere) ignored. So fourth year is just a series of many random, disconnected clinics, with little actual teaching. Most people find this quite demotivating.
Then there are all the usual problems - incompetent administrators, useless libraries, unfair and illogical rules about just about anything, painfully slow IT systems etc etc... but these things I suppose are the same everywhere to some extent.
My experience of course might not reflect those of others'. I feel I am fairly mainstream in my views, but perhaps I'm completely wrong. And I'm sure all medical schools have similar or other problems. There are many good times - but I find these are mostly down not to med school but to the very rare doctors you might meet who are actually passionate about teaching and want to share their enthusiasm and teach. Most of the hospitals are quite new and friendly (one or two exceptions!) and some of the commutes are terrible - but again that will be the same elsewhere and perhaps even worse.
Personally, I feel that they haven't given me what I wanted in terms of encouraging those interested in academia. I got involved in a lot of projects, but it was all done to me. Med school gave little relevant teaching, no advice, no framework, no support. Of course in any med school the greatest effort has to be on the student and I am not asking to be spoon fed - but sometimes it would be nice if they at least let us know of the opportunities that exist. Perhaps other med schools do this better, perhaps not.
I know they are working on changing the clinical curriculum and I hope they manage to improve it. I'm not too optimisic though. No doubt they will cling on to the student selected activities that everyone knows are mostly a waste of time (the patient information leaftlet, the "teaching" project, the baby posters etc etc). The fact that the med school is largely run either by GPs or medical educationaliss (who lack a medical degree) means it will always have a certain spin to it - the sort of spin that sends us on endless GP placements where you spend all day brainstorming and filling in question sheets, but not actually seeing patients.
Well, who cares. If you make it to the end and learn some medicine along the way and graduate - well that is what you came for and what gives you so many opportunities in the future. I just hope I do make it to that happy day...
Please don't hesitate to correct me if this is all nonsense. Nor should it put you off Birmingham. Just keep your expectations realistic...
So why do I take issue with my medical school? I think the bottom line is that it is just too big. With about 400 students per year group, even with the best will in the world, it would be difficult to resource as good an experience as students might hope. In the first two years most teaching is either lecture based or "small groups". But small groups are 16-18 people. Inevitably, in groups of that size 4-6 strong characters take control and everyone else ends up sitting, listening (or not) without too many opportunities to participate. The only one-to-one contact ever with staff is your personal mentor who you meet a couple of times a year, usually to "reflect" on a student selected activity. Many of these personal mentors are either disinterested or lack the knowledge to effectively mentor - so it is really pot luck whether you re given someone who genuinely wants to help. Even with the personal mentor system, the overall impression is that the medical school do not care too much about individual students and their aspirations, unless you run in to serious difficulties, in which case they actually offer good support. But it does mean the majority go largely ignored.
This lack of interest in students is best exemplified in the fourth year where we have seven placements of about 5 weeks each, potentially each at a different trust. Invariably you will be sent to some trusts over an hour's commute away. Each rotation covers roughly three specialties. So every five weeks you are thrown in to a new hospital where no one knows you and even within a particular module most trusts have little co-ordination between the few specialties, so that there is no one clearly responsible for your teaching, no one who should get to know you or take an interest. And for some reason doctors in trusts show less interest in fourth years than third years. You're expected to be in clinics not on wards, so if people see you outside of clinics you are usually (not always and not everywhere) ignored. So fourth year is just a series of many random, disconnected clinics, with little actual teaching. Most people find this quite demotivating.
Then there are all the usual problems - incompetent administrators, useless libraries, unfair and illogical rules about just about anything, painfully slow IT systems etc etc... but these things I suppose are the same everywhere to some extent.
My experience of course might not reflect those of others'. I feel I am fairly mainstream in my views, but perhaps I'm completely wrong. And I'm sure all medical schools have similar or other problems. There are many good times - but I find these are mostly down not to med school but to the very rare doctors you might meet who are actually passionate about teaching and want to share their enthusiasm and teach. Most of the hospitals are quite new and friendly (one or two exceptions!) and some of the commutes are terrible - but again that will be the same elsewhere and perhaps even worse.
Personally, I feel that they haven't given me what I wanted in terms of encouraging those interested in academia. I got involved in a lot of projects, but it was all done to me. Med school gave little relevant teaching, no advice, no framework, no support. Of course in any med school the greatest effort has to be on the student and I am not asking to be spoon fed - but sometimes it would be nice if they at least let us know of the opportunities that exist. Perhaps other med schools do this better, perhaps not.
I know they are working on changing the clinical curriculum and I hope they manage to improve it. I'm not too optimisic though. No doubt they will cling on to the student selected activities that everyone knows are mostly a waste of time (the patient information leaftlet, the "teaching" project, the baby posters etc etc). The fact that the med school is largely run either by GPs or medical educationaliss (who lack a medical degree) means it will always have a certain spin to it - the sort of spin that sends us on endless GP placements where you spend all day brainstorming and filling in question sheets, but not actually seeing patients.
Well, who cares. If you make it to the end and learn some medicine along the way and graduate - well that is what you came for and what gives you so many opportunities in the future. I just hope I do make it to that happy day...
Please don't hesitate to correct me if this is all nonsense. Nor should it put you off Birmingham. Just keep your expectations realistic...
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