Medicine 2012...(hopeful entrants) !!

I did a week at a GP practice over February half term and loved every minute of it, but I'm still really struggling for hospital experience since the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust suddenly closed their program at short notice

How close is the next nearest hospital? For my hospital shadowing it was 30 miles away, so I had to pay about £50 in train fares for the week and walk over 6 miles a day :/. Worth it though, managed to get a really good insight into what being a doctor is like at the various levels.

Hello everyone
If anyone's worried about work experience, try asking whether your local hospital do a 'Young Volunteers' scheme - you basically start by doing Hand Hygiene, then do stuff life porter jobs, and also get to feed and talk to patients
It's really really good, and you get to have a longterm volunteering experience at the hospital, where you can talk 2 doctors/nurses to arrange more work exp/shadowing

Hey - I just noticed that your insurance is Birmingham and I was looking for some advice - do you think it's worth applying there if you have 8A*'s at GCSE?
I thought I'd be fine, but I've just been reading through the thread for people applying there this year for medicine, and alot of them are saying that you'd need 9 A*'s. Do you think it would be a waste of time applying there for me? I'm trying to find at least one university to apply to that doesn't do the UKCAT and I really like the look of Birmingham.
Good luck with your exams by the way!

Anyone else around here thinking of applying to Birmingham?

Hey guys, I've just got my CRB form back in order to volunteer at a private care home for people with dementia - the care home's asked for a "Personal reference" now (a letter), and I'm not too sure who I could ask for that :s

Cheers in advance for any suggestions

I think Bristol don't use the UKCAT either

Hey - I just noticed that your insurance is Birmingham and I was looking for some advice - do you think it's worth applying there if you have 8A*'s at GCSE?
I thought I'd be fine, but I've just been reading through the thread for people applying there this year for medicine, and alot of them are saying that you'd need 9 A*'s. Do you think it would be a waste of time applying there for me? I'm trying to find at least one university to apply to that doesn't do the UKCAT and I really like the look of Birmingham.
Good luck with your exams by the way!

Anyone else around here thinking of applying to Birmingham?

walk 6 miles a day????

You could try asking a teacher in school - that's what I did for my reference. Or if you're a member of a club or something then you can ask the person incharge for a reference.
I just asked my teacher because he knows me really well so I knew he'd write something nice about me.



Thanks for that, I'm going to check out their website now. I hope they don't have really high GCSE requirements like Birmingham.

1 mile from house to train station, over 2 miles between train station and hospital, making that trip twice a day was not fun; plus I had to be there for a 8:30 start each morning.

I know of a few people who have offers with 8A*s, however, it can be a bit of a risk, but if you have above average A level predictions, good work experience, and a great personal statement, you should still be interviewed! (a few of my friends were interviewed with 7A*s)
Hmm, what about Bristol or liverpool? Liverpool in particular would love your 8A*s!

1 mile from house to train station, over 2 miles between train station and hospital, making that trip twice a day was not fun; plus I had to be there for a 8:30 start each morning.

'tis nothing..

I make a 30 mile trip to college daily and run 2 miles out of the 6 to catch the train on the way home!

Ah, the wonders of living in the countryside...

no buses between house/train station and train station/hospital???

ouch!

plus you probably did quite a bit of walking around in the hospital as well... sheesh

'tis nothing..

I make a 30 mile trip to college daily and run 2 miles out of the 6 to catch the train on the way home!

Ah, the wonders of living in the countryside...

Haha, countryside here too. Nothing is ever nearby, can't wait until I can drive .

How close is the next nearest hospital? For my hospital shadowing it was 30 miles away, so I had to pay about £50 in train fares for the week and walk over 6 miles a day :/. Worth it though, managed to get a really good insight into what being a doctor is like at the various levels.

Haha, countryside here too. Nothing is ever nearby, can't wait until I can drive .

Haha, yeah, city kids dont understand how amazing driving is for us country bumpkins!

The numbers of students that get the same train as me is gradually dwindling due to everyone turning 17 and driving to college (which means an extra half hour in bed and no 2 mile run to conform to the train timetable.. thats the life... )