Medicine 2012...(hopeful entrants) !!

Nah i dun think i should miss school for work experience..
thanks for the advice btw, im watching the programme as well its awesome!
yea i do.. i was in cambodia for 11 days during christmas building a school for khmer kids..
its got nothing to do with medicine though

I dunno, I've got these psychic powers.

And yep, same. Odd that I'm part of one now. Hits home the reality that UCAS is just a few months away.

Fair enough, schoolwork is really hard to catch up with (especially Chem )

Np. I live in Newcastle and I swear I saw one of the Junior Docs go into a hospital the other day... and one of my teachers is friends with Jon. But yeah, it's a good show, it just got realllly repetitive with the little personas they gave everyone. :/

Doesn't matter, as long as you reflect on what it taught you... as in, did it teach you anything on communication (how did you get round language barriers and suchlike)? Did it teach you anything on time keeping or teamwork or how to stop your emotions affecting your work and all that?

Also, have you got any long-term stuff? Because apparently med schools like that, it shows commitment.

Leeds do a joint honours Chemistry and Philosophy course! I want it to be my 5th choice but dunno how well a med personal statement would go down.

Ah, fair enough, although you never know, you might like it.
The underground is scary but it's an experience. When I went, we saw the guy from Queen's Nose... the one who burned down the house. And there are some really beautiful places so I guess it has its ups and downs.

true..

Wow, that's cool, so is it true what they put on the show according to jon?
i only got to the 3rd episode so it's still okay for me
i see a lot of bad sides about this career but nevertheless still enthusiastic about medicine, guess thats the thing from watching the show?

oh true.. there's a lot to talk about other than things to do with medicine anyway
but no i dun hav any long-term voluntary stuff... unless being active in school's outreach/charity club counts, because im studying in a boarding school in the middle of no where
and there's not much long-term voluntary work available to us

anyway, thanks a lot, r u an applicant as well??

Joint honours chemistry and philosophy? Wow, that's quite a mix.
I wonder how many people drop out during the existentialism module of philosophy courses...

You never know, you might pull it off! If there's nothing biochemmy you'd rather do as a 5th I see no reason why you shouldn't put it down (cue someone with a reason I haven't thought of).

I don't think I'm going to put anything down as my 5th... if I don't get into a medical course this cycle then I might do something differently next cycle (who knows, I might even decide to get my philosophy on after all, although I can't see that being likely), but I'd feel daft (possibly) attending an interview for a course I had no real interest in doing.

Ah ha just did a bit of googling the town centre is really close to the hospital it even has an Odeon cinema (that's good for someone who lives an almost half hour drive away from her nearest cinema).

I think my teacher said that Jon was pretty pissed off at how they portrayed everyone. Clever editing.

Nice, you've got another 3 to go. The last episode is pretty boring, imo, but I quite liked the second last one.
Yeah, the docs said some pretty clever and insightful stuff. The programme kinda put me off med but my friend (who has no interest in medicine) said it made her want to be a doctor. I was like

That counts, but the main thing is to reflect on what you've learned, remember. If possible, you could ask to help in classes for younger students or something?

Yeah, applying when you do, although I have a couple of friends in the year above who applied and got in so I'm lucky that I have a tiny bit of insight into what it's like to apply. Apparently the best piece of advice for applicants (according to them) is to take the process one step at a time and to not get overwhelmed.

Hahaha, I would actually want to see stats. I wonder what suicide rates are like for Philosophy courses?

I wouldn't mind doing something Biochemmy but I'd rather do something I genuinely love and that allows me to live my life for three years then devoting my life to med. I so wish the post grad option was cheaper and less competitive.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't want to put anything down but it's so possible that I'd get lower than AAA and there aren't very many unis that accept resits without extenuating circumstances out there.

Sorted (as long as it's decently priced). Half an hour drive! So what kind of stuff do you guys do in your free time if there isn't the cinema and suchlike nearby?

I wouldn't mind doing something Biochemmy but I'd rather do something I genuinely love and that allows me to live my life for three years then devoting my life to med. I so wish the post grad option was cheaper and less competitive.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't want to put anything down but it's so possible that I'd get lower than AAA and there aren't very many unis that accept resits without extenuating circumstances out there.

If you love maths and feel FM won't affect the others keep it on. Otherwise I'd strongly recommend you just stick with the standard 4 AS's and 3 A2's

Im coping at the moment...but as FM is not considered a 4th A Level I dont see the point in continuing it...and also I would love to do 3 subjects. but isnt it recommended to do 4? even though uni's ask for AAA?

Im coping at the moment...but as FM is not considered a 4th A Level I dont see the point in continuing it...and also I would love to do 3 subjects. but isnt it recommended to do 4? even though uni's ask for AAA?

Do you have enough work experience?

Im yet to get a placement at an old peoples home/hospital.
All I have is charity work.

Nope. I can get GP work fairly easily, which is what I am planning to do. Hospital work will be a bit more difficult, even though my dad's a consultant.

I will have to start volunteering soon as well. It is a bit late, but I only realised I wanted to do medicine a few weeks ago. My previous choice of course was Economics, where no-one gives a damn about extra-curricular activities, work experience and volunteering.

With the options for next year coming up.. was just wondering which of these seems better..

3 A2s with the EPQ
or
4 A2s

Having difficulty choosing and think I'd be happy doing either to be honest.. so its coming down to which might seem minutely better for med school (I know theres not really that much between them)

I'm doing 3 A2s with an EPQ, and IMO it's a lot better as you can choose what to do the EPQ on, preferably something medical, then talk about it in your personal statement and interview to show your interest and passion in medicine. Plus an EPQ is a lot easier than an extra A2