EPOC
- University of Manchester 20/03/2010
- UCL 19/02/2011
- UCL 02/04/2011
- Covers: Is Medicine Right For You? Choice of Medical Schools, Applications and Admissions Tests, Interviews, Life at Medical School, Path to Becoming a Doctor, Options if you don't get in etc
- £79
- Website
Review
- most of the stuff I knew from doing research
Future Doctors
- London Based Courses starting from £79
- Commitment to medicine, clinical skills, interview skills, basic life support
- Web based courses £29 for 1 years access
- Downloadable material, presentations covering UKCAT, BMAT, GAMSAT, interview, personal statement, medical school curriculum, clinical sub-specialties.
- Website
Review
Getting Into Medical School
- All courses take place in Oxford
- GeMS course
- year round, full course
- includes choosing a medical school, application process, UKCAT, BMAT, how to write a personal statement, interviews etc
- £149
- Website
Review
M+D Experience
- Next event: Imperial College 28th March 2010
- Mayday University Hospital 5th June 2010
- Tries to help people understand whether medicine is right for them
- Includes preparation for the UKCAT, interviews, personal statements and specialist guidance on medicine applications
- £99
- Website
Review
Good:
You learn first aid skills and get a brief overview of what you may expect a career in medicine to involve.
It is run by qualified doctors who i'm sure can answer any questions you throw at them.
They give you a taste of what PBL may involve
The session on ethics was quite useful
Helps you to discover what you want out of life and helps to apply that to your suitability to a career in medicine.
Helps build links with consultants within the hospital
Apparantly counts as work experience and can be mentioned in interviews and in your personal statement....but I doubt it.
Bad:
Far too expensive for what it offers. I went on a careers day run by the RSM and it offered more things than this course and was free!
They claim that you get a certificate showing that you attended the event and a free book (Getting into Medical School 2010) but 4 months on, nothing!
It is advertised that it is the only course which takes place in a hospital but considering you are in 2/3 rooms throughout the course, it really doesn't make much of a difference.
The sessions were quite brief and general. Much of what was spoken about could have been easily picked up by looking on the internet.
Would have been better if they went into more detail about PBL
The full course meal advertised on their site was just cheap takeaway pizza XD
Upon leaving the course, I felt slightly more motivated and thought it was really useful, but after just a few months I don't think i'll even mention it on my PS/interview and feel it was pretty much a waste.
So yeah, unless if you have money to throw away, don't go. But even then you can go to the careers day run by the RSM which is much more useful
MediQuest
- 1 day course held at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
- Next dates: 25th June 2011
- Includes lectures on NHS structure and organisation, a day in the life of a medical student, junior doctor, consultant and GP.
- Personal statements, UKCAT, interview preparation, choice of medical school and qualities of a good doctor.
- Practical hands on experience of medical student teaching.
- £150
- Website
Review
Pros
I went on the last medi-quest course in February and really enjoyed it. I had been on medlink and should have read the reviews before booking. Medlink charge loads of extras whereas medi-quest was all included. Spoke to loads of doctors and med students from Manchester and Scotland. Lots of useful handouts given in the bag. Free stethoscope and even the teddy was good (you get to practice suturing him in the afternoon) The basic life support part was really useful and done by a really funny bloke. The bit about personal statements was great and they spent a long time in small groups to get the best out of us. Talk on ethics useful.
Food really good and not crap pizza like the course above!
It is held at the University Teaching Hospital which was amazing
Negatives
can't think of any.
Only regret was that I went on medlink and wasted my money. This one gives much more in just a day.
Medisix
Review
Medlink
- Held at University of Nottingham
- 4 or 5 day course, held in December (choice of 2 dates)
- Extra options available at additional cost include Pathology, Oxbrige, Per-Medlink, Premium Package and EDGE Session Options
- Course includes presentation, exhibition, interview workshops, practical sessions, patient contact, casualty alert, interactive surgery, UKCAT, parent sessions, campus life, social activities and free stethoscope
- £205 upwards depending on length of course + options
- Website
Review
The positive aspect of it was that I left on a huge high, they use motivational speakers a lot and the whole thing was a lot of fun. The activities were generally fun and interesting, and the lectures from the various specialties were good.
I also got to have a good look around Nottingham uni, which I loved and subsequently applied to.
However, when I think about Medlink a year and a bit on, I have to ask, how did it actually help my application? The the answer is that it didn't really. All of the applications/admissions info they had was stuff readily available online or in books and while you were there, no opportunity was wasted to try and sell you further courses and materials, giving the whole thing a slightly uneasy, exploitative feel. All in all, I feel that the only thing Medlink proved is that my parents can afford to send me on a ~£170 course. I could have done the same without it, but enjoyed it while I was there.
I attended Medlink back in 2004 and really enjoyed it. I liked the chance to experience 'university life' with halls living, lectures etc. I don't think I learnt anything much from it though and didn't use a lot of the 'advice' they gave when it came to my application. Overall, enjoyable but not particularly informative and not worth the money considering the vast amount of information freely available online.
Medsim
- Held at University of Nottingham
- 3 day course - 3 choices of dates
- Includes stimulated surgery, working under pressure, clinical skills, life support
- £221.50
- Website
- Brochure
Review
Having attended Medlink, I was given the impression that Medsim was vital for an application to medical school and would really help me to get in, so I went to it (back in 2005). I enjoyed the experience but didn't really learn much. The 'emergency call out' involved shouts from the square in the middle of the night because they couldn't get the phone system working, then we had to run around the square doing star jumps before being taken for a short ride in the back of an ambulance to a scene where we had to identify the position of the apex beat on a mannequin... I wasn't too impressed, nor by the stimulated keyhole surgery involving a cardboard box and a blown up glove, attempting to perform and appendectomy. It was all just not worth the amount I had to pay for it, and though I mentioned it in my personal statement, I don't think it helped my application in any way looking back now. I did find the life support teaching useful revision but had already gained qualifications in this before attending the course.
PotMed
- Held once a year at Imperial College
- Includes lectures, views of current students, tips on UKCAT and BMAT, personal statement advice, debates on current medical and ethical issues, tours of Imperial, mock interviews.
- £20
- Website
Review
For the price this is as goos as any other course. I found the 1 on 1 mock interview with detailed feedback the most helpful, 20£ well spent.
PreMed
- One day course held in Spring, Summer and Autumn at Imperial College, London.
- Includes presentations on application procedures, interviews, medical school curriculum, medical careers.
- Interactive workshops on practical aspects of medicine, suturing, hear and lung sounds, interpreting X-rays.
- £99
- Website
Review
Vertigo.0012 : The day consists of a lot of lectures about applying to medicine, the different med schools, life at med school and life after med school, broken up with a session of suturing a wounded orange and a lecture about x-rays and ECGs. Whilst a very informative, fun day, the information could easily be found in a number of books or by lurking the various depths of TSR. I had a great time on the day (it was also the first time I'd been to London :O ) but I'm not sure I could justify spending £90 on it. If you've got the cash floating around then by all means go check it out, but if not then don't worry - it won't make a huge difference if you're willing to dig around for the information. I'd agree with the review below; I went in early year 12 and found it pretty useful - but if you're in year 13 then really don't bother!
Vas876: All the information contained can ALL be found using universities prospectuses and websites and google. It is a waste of time, money and oxygen to go to if you are in year 13. It can possibly be a good thing to go to at the start of year 12 as i suppose it could be a good starting point for further research. Overall Google and work experience are still and will always be the best resources for Prospective medicine applicants.
Uniprep
- One day course held in central London in the Spring and Summer terms
- Includes desirable qualities of doctors, choosing where to apply, UKCAT, BMAT, personal statements, getting work experence and interviews
- £95
- Website
Review
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