[w04andia]

AS the title says.....

talk about work experience, grades, voluntary works, whatever!

[w04andia]

so yeah, this is going great....(!)

Lol let me start off, i'm doing work experience in a hospital now, oncology ward. really interesting. Just got a good reference to boot haha. gonna start volunteering soon.

[w04andia]

haha lol, i wanna re-unite people who are in Y11 now who are thinking about what they need to do for medicine, but you have a valid point there my friend...

[t3h_y0u553f]

2011 a bit far away yet! But I agree I need to start volunteering soon too; I'll have a week or two at a nursing home organized within the next month. And then hopefully next year I will have something permanent (its a bit difficult at the moment since I turn sixteen on the 23rd August). Though the actual medical experience that I had a few weeks ago was really good, I learnt so much!

Hopefully the results on 27/08/09 will back me up.

[Rainbow-Dream]

(Original post by DrDomDom)
You're about a year early. That's your problem.

Would work experience done in the summer after year 11 be considered 'too early' for medicine work exp? Because I've just completed a week's voluntary work at a nursing home (I think I want to keep going back though)

[Rainbow-Dream]

If I get into university to read medicine I think I will feel like this


However I realise I'll need to work so hard
Good luck to all you 2011 applicants (even though it's a far way off yet)

[w04andia]

I just completed two weeks at a hospital and i think i might ask if I can volunteer about once a week afterwards. I'm not sure if it would be considered too early, you should write down all your experiences so you can talk about them in the interview, it's waht you learn from it that counts

[w04andia]

(Original post by Rainbow-Dream)
If I get into university to read medicine I think I will feel like this


However I realise I'll need to work so hard
Good luck to all you 2011 applicants (even though it's a far way off yet)

I would (hopefully will) feel the same, i'd probably freeze up for a little while before anything happened though

[wer343lit]

(Original post by Rainbow-Dream)
Would work experience done in the summer after year 11 be considered 'too early' for medicine work exp? Because I've just completed a week's voluntary work at a nursing home (I think I want to keep going back though)

I'm applying for 2010 entry, and trust me, it's never really too early. Anything can be helpful.

[clad in armour]

(Original post by Rainbow-Dream)
Would work experience done in the summer after year 11 be considered 'too early' for medicine work exp? Because I've just completed a week's voluntary work at a nursing home (I think I want to keep going back though)

why the hell would you say you did it in yr 11
just say you did it and more importantly what you learnt from it

[clad in armour]

yep as mentioned seriosuly you want to start as early as possible when applying to Medicine
heres hoping you all get A*s across the board
lol I cant believe my GCSE results are so important to B'ham Uni

[bodybuilder22]

yous wanna be doctors simply for the money!

[w04andia]

(Original post by DrDomDom)
If money was what people wanted, we'd all be business people of some sort.

so true. Yep it's never too early, we have to be prepared people! Frankly b'ham uni scares me lol. I haven't got my GSCE results yet though, so here's hopin'!

[Chiko 1001]

This thread is encouraging. At least not everyone is deciding on medicine at the last minute (or for the wrong reasons, as the two often go hand in hand!).

It's never too early to get experience- indeed if you start earlier you'll have a good shot at getting more overall by the time you get to application time. No need to say when you did it, just that you did it! Good luck to everybody, and feel free to drop me a pm if you have any questions

[w04andia]

(Original post by Chiko 1001)
This thread is encouraging. At least not everyone is deciding on medicine at the last minute (or for the wrong reasons, as the two often go hand in hand!).

It's never too early to get experience- indeed if you start earlier you'll have a good shot at getting more overall by the time you get to application time. No need to say when you did it, just that you did it! Good luck to everybody, and feel free to drop me a pm if you have any questions

Thanks Chiko lol

I'm really scared of not getting into medical shool, it just isnt an option.

[Chiko 1001]

(Original post by Rainbow-Dream)
Would work experience done in the summer after year 11 be considered 'too early' for medicine work exp? Because I've just completed a week's voluntary work at a nursing home (I think I want to keep going back though)

Set aside a couple of hours a week. If you can say on your PS that you've been at one nursing home for what will by then by two years, attending religiously every week, the brownie points will be frankly beyond comprehension. My interviewers went on and on about my nursing home experience and I'd only been there 5 months or so, and had almost two weeks in a hospital to speak about, but dedication is what they seek. Also, if you've been there for two years it's blatantly obvious you're not another last minute decider.

[Chiko 1001]

(Original post by w04andia)
Thanks Chiko lol

I'm really scared of not getting into medical shool, it just isnt an option.

If you're already like that, you're clearly serious. In my experience the people who decide early and start building a strong application years in advance do the best. Remember- every single thing you do is something to build a personal statement with!

[lekky]

It's never too early to start and to be honest the summer between year 11 and year 12 is when everyone wanting to apply to medicine should start.

Get a voluntary placement at a care home that you can stay with for the next 2 years -- it will go down VERY well (long term committment), and start writing letters now for work experience placements, I know this seems a long time, but one work ex at my local hospital I applied for in September 2008 and I have a place for November 2009 so yup, get going! Writing now will make you seem motivated and committed, arrange it for Easter 2010 and Summer 2010.

And keep your fingers crossed for good GCSE results, then work to make sure this carries on to AS & A2

EDIT: Also, if you don't have any extra curriculum activities, start one (or two) now. Dancing/any sport/learn an instrument/anything really. So many people don't have hobbies and it is important to have one, not just for your UCAS form (though they do look for EC activities) but I would have found it so hard to relax over the last year if I didn't have dancing to calm me down

[lekky]

(Original post by w04andia)
Thanks Chiko lol

I'm really scared of not getting into medical shool, it just isnt an option.

I think most people are, but it's a tad early to be so panic-ey about it because you've got enough time to get everything done you could possibly do to make sure your application is really strong. Not getting is not the end of the world either, especially at 18 a gap year is not a bad thing.

[Jessaay!]

This thread isn't too early, but getting worked up, wishing 2011 applicants luck etc, is slightly OTT.

I think, right now, all of you should be focussing on getting work experience in a relevant environment and researching the career. I know you're all excited, which is why I'm saying this, you need to know whether you've got a rose tinted view of medicine or whether you're realistic about it. I think that's one of the main problems when you've been wanting to do medicine at this age. It will help with your application, trust me.