Medicine 2012...(hopeful entrants) !!

what were you GCSES?

I thought unis dnt allow you to sit A Levels through 3 yrs?

A*AAAAABBBBC - not the best but I had no motivation at the time.

They don't really, but because I only sit exams during year 12/13 it's allowed.

Oh god open days, no idea how I'm going to get to most of mine

but you study for an etra year though.

My school only let us go to 2 during the week, so I think I'm going to have to be "mysteriously ill" a couple of times

Haha yeah
Just want to help people because I'm one of the very few people who have applied to medicine from my school in a good few years and they didn't help me at all. I went into the whole process totally blind and I didn't even know what the UKCAT was until my dad happened to find out about it! Managed to learn alot through applying !

I'm not saying you need to do all this but this is what I did, and it worked!

I got unconditionals for Edinburgh and Dundee. And a conditional for Glasgow (BB Advanced Higher, C Higher) and I withdrew from St.Andrew's as it was my last choice.

I got 722 in UKCAT.
6 As at Scottish Higher; Biology, English, Maths, French, Chemistry and Geography.

Advice I'd give would be:
Get in contact with your local NHS Trust or any doctor you know and try to get work experience. I wrote out 50 letters to GPs and hospital departments asking for work experience with my name, my age, why I was looking for work experience, what I hoped to learn etc. Try your best to get experience in at least 2 different environments, although don't worry too much if you don't. Just remember to write and talk about what you learned from the experience (e.g I learned that there was alot more paperwork involved than I thought, but I said that this still would not put me off or I said that I learned that teamwork was absolutely essential in hospital and GP work, and everyone uses their best skill to provide the best possible care for patients.) Don't feel bad if you can't get much experience, just talk about your enthusiasm for what you did do and see and what you learned. The unis know that its difficult to find work experience!

Do voluntary work for as long as possible before you apply in any kind of environment but a nursing home/elderly group/hospice/youth group would be great. I had volunteered at an equestrian centre for four years and although its not medically related it showed dedication and I used it to say I had increased my communication skills in dealing with people and people who have difficulties communicating (I worked with Riding for the Disabled Association). I also mentioned in my personal statement that I had applied to volunteer in a hospice however Disclosure Scotland had not come through. However, at interviews, I spoke about my experience there and how it had helped me learn to cope with my emotions.

Try to apply strategically. Look into which unis put most importance on which factors (UKCAT, work experience, non-academics etc.) look at your strong points and apply accordingly. Applying to medicine is as much strategic as it is luck and grades etc.

Do as much at school as you can. Get involved in any projects, fundraising, head girl etc. And use this in your personal statement to show what you learned. Everything in applying for medicine is what you gained and learned, not what you did! (e.g I was in the yearbook committee, it developed my teamworking skills and helped me to express my opinions more clearly) Also try to make sure you have some hobbies to write about. They like to know that you're a well rounded person!

I'd definitely advise buying the ISC books for the UKCAT test and Medicine Interviews. The Medicine Interviews book gives you lots of questions to look at and you can prepare some things in advance (Why do you want to do Medicine? Why that uni? What do you know about PBL? Modernising Medical Careers? Ethical Questions etc.) They cost quite a bit but definitely worth it! So save up and get them. The UKCAT book questions are so much harder than the actual test but they really prepare you well seen as if you do a selection of the questions, you've done wayy more that is in the test.

Make sure you dress appropriately for any interviews, a smart suit or a pair of nice trousers and a blouse are fine.

Try to do a mock interview with a family member or teacher to be more prepared.

Put BBC Health news (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/news) as your internet homepage. I'd advise picking a condition (I chose Alzheimers as my gran has it and I wrote about it in my personal statement) and researching it in depth to be able to speak about it in detail at interview. Don't ignore everything else though, look at any news as all interviews asked me if I had looked into the news about medicine.

Keep a notebook and write out anything you think of. (e.g answers to common questions, details or medical news)

Most important! Be yourself, especially at interview! And don't give up! I was lucky enough to get in first time round. But many amazing applicants are rejected and need to re-apply. If it happens, take a gap year, get more work experience, find a job and don't worry, it'll happen!

Good Luck and if you need any more advice, just ask!

But I don't actually 'take' A level exams over three years - only two.



Haha I only get 1 day off, there may be a sudden outbreak of flu when the open days come up!

But you study for 3 yrs!!

haha sure! hope it helps a little!

And me also ?

Ask the mods to sticky this!

How do I do that?

Don't worry, I'll get round to it. It just seems such a good guide, filled with good ideas, so I think it would be good if it was either in a sticky on the Medicine Forum, or in the Medicine Applicants wiki. Thanks again!

Don't worry, I'll get round to it. It just seems such a good guide, filled with good ideas, so I think it would be good if it was either in a sticky on the Medicine Forum, or in the Medicine Applicants wiki. Thanks again!

subjects are in my sig

Jan Results: psych 87/100, bio 90/90, C1 92/100, S1 91/100
took no chemistry because its my school's policy not to do chem in january as they don't feel we've caught up enough, which i partly agree with.
am not resitting any of them - happy with the grades, can't really spare the cash and don't want to have to risk getting good grades in the summer/putting down too many resits onto UCAS.

i've already fallen in love with King's and Nottingham which is really bad cause i havent even seen them yet (well, i live like 5 seconds away from king's, so i have seen it, but ahh well)

anyone going to peninsula open day next saturday at exeter? i think i am - takes like 2 hours to get there though, which is a bit iffy :/ i'll get some revision done on the train

We do basically the same subjects haha, only got 78 on the psychology, so will be trying for 82 on unit 2 in summer. I was thinking about going to the peninsula open day, seeing as it's so nearby (about 30mins). I did work experience at Exeter hospital and met some of the 3rd year medical students from there who really recommended it.