why do you NOT regret studying medicine?

Renal

Medicine is as popular as it is because thousands upon thousands of idealistic kids apply every year while kidding themselves that it's can't be all that bad...

Awk darling, take a wee teaspoon of sugar :p:

Reply 22

OP

Spencer Wells

But a lot of it is pretty boring and/or useless.

this was intended as a thread for the POSITIVE aspects of medicine! i realise there are plenty of things that people dislike about it, but it would be nice to hear some positive things for a change for us prospective students, as all we ever hear is negative stuff.

Reply 23

OP

Woody.

Fantastic. I can't wait to spend five years of my life sitting in a dark room until the early hours memorising things that aren't even remotely interesting! Somehow I don't think that's the whole picture else I don't think medicine would be as popular as it is. I mean, I thought the memorising would be bad but then I imagine a lot of courses are like that an to an extent I imagine it stretches to A-Levels as they are essentially about memorising things.

i hope so... i intended this thread to shed some light on the positive aspects of medicine, but im beginning to think there are none with the response iv got! ahh well... still got 3 months to decide whether to take the plunge or not.. :smile:

Reply 24

Renal

blonde-beth

this was intended as a thread for the POSITIVE aspects of medicine! i realise there are plenty of things that people dislike about it, but it would be nice to hear some positive things for a change for us prospective students, as all we ever hear is negative stuff.

Well sorry, would you prefer us to all line up and tell you how perfect everything is? :mad:

Reply 25

OP

Renal

Well sorry, would you prefer us to all line up and tell you how perfect everything is? :mad:

no definatly not. its just i have heard everything there is to know about the negative aspects of it, and thought it would be nice to hear about some of the positives. i want a full, realistic picture, not just the negative side of things. obviously if you think there are no positive things about medicine then say so, but other medics I have talked to would disagree.

Reply 26

Spencer Wells

The positive things are:

getting to be a student for 4/5/6 years (though that too grows old by the end), having one hell of a social life, and doing something that, while often dull and repetitive, can occasionally be really ******* cool.

Reply 27

Good sense of camaraderie amongst medics. Learn practical stuff, not as my brother put studying economics "learning lots of obscure theories that don't actually work in the real world. There's no real limit to how much you can learn. You are in a very priveleged situation, sharing people's most intimate and personal moments and for some strange reason you are allowed to stand and be a part of it, even though you are just a student. You have those rare moments as students where other people take your opinion to mean something. Somebody might thank you one day, which is always nice.

Reply 28

Woody

Fantastic. I can't wait to spend five years of my life sitting in a dark room until the early hours memorising things that aren't even remotely interesting! Somehow I don't think that's the whole picture else I don't think medicine would be as popular as it is. I mean, I thought the memorising would be bad but then I imagine a lot of courses are like that an to an extent I imagine it stretches to A-Levels as they are essentially about memorising things.

You need to get in touch with any preclinical medical student (Miss_Scarlett is a good example-randomly having to learn 20 rare and obscure metabolic disorders coupled with their biochemistry...why?) just to understand the extent of the BS that you have to go through.

And none of this early hours nonsense, you will quickly twig on to what you need to learn to pass your exams.

Reply 29

Alex D

8

digitalis

And none of this early hours nonsense, you will quickly twig on to what you need to learn to pass your exams.

Thank **** :p:

In all seriousness though, is it relatively easy (that's probably not the right word) to work out what you need to learn and what will be essential?

Reply 30

Spencer Wells

Alex D

Thank **** :p:

In all seriousness though, is it relatively easy (that's probably not the right word) to work out what you need to learn and what will be essential?

Most people manage. Those that don't, fail.

Reply 31

Alex D

8

Spencer Wells

Most people manage. Those that don't, fail.

My main concern is probably in the pre-clin years, trying to memorise all the different 'cascades' and biochem pathways.

Reply 32

Woody.

As you all seem to say the preclin years are the worst, does that mean PBL unis don't have it as bad?

Reply 33

Spencer Wells

PBL does not = early clinical contact. PBL is a teaching approach to contrast lecture-based teaching.

Lecture based courses can have early clinical contact, and PBL courses don't have to.

Reply 34

Alex D

My main concern is probably in the pre-clin years, trying to memorise all the different 'cascades' and biochem pathways.

What are they? No seriously, I only learnt about 10 in two years.

A great example of how it totally depends on your course and how you should apply based on your personal preferences as to the course rather than any perceived 'reputation'. If learning about the science behind medicine interests you, go for a more traditional course. We didn't do much basic science so to speak, which I felt was a slight downside, other people loved it.

Horses for courses etc etc.

Reply 35

Woody.

Spencer Wells

PBL does not = early clinical contact. PBL is a teaching approach to contrast lecture-based teaching.

Lecture based courses can have early clinical contact, and PBL courses don't have to.

Sorry, quite right. I meant do courses that offer early clinical contact avoid these problems?

Reply 36

Woody.

digitalis

What are they? No seriously, I only learnt about 10 in two years.

A great example of how it totally depends on your course and how you should apply based on your personal preferences as to the course rather than any perceived 'reputation'. If learning about the science behind medicine interests you, go for a more traditional course. We didn't do much basic science so to speak, which I felt was a slight downside, other people loved it.

Horses for courses etc etc.

Do you have any recommended way to look for courses that you might like? Or is it just a 'look through every med school's website and check'?

Reply 37

OP

Woody.

Do you have any recommended way to look for courses that you might like? Or is it just a 'look through every med school's website and check'?

i have the book 'An insiders guide to uk medical schools' which is really good, gives alot of info about the course and lots of other stuff too. unis websites are pretty useful, as are other internet resources... for a general overview use this: http://www.wanttobeadoctor.co.uk/main.php?page=4

personally im going for integrated courses (mix of traditional and pbl)x

Reply 38