King's College Medicine applicants 2014 entry

Hi hello101,

PM privately.

If you do try again next year, I will train you in interview techniques. (Free of charge, and when I am in London.) How do you think my daughter (as an International) got into EVERY single medical school she applied to ? Not just in the UK, but in other countries too :-) I trained her to answer exactly how a doctor should answer. But to be fair, her innate empathy, eloquence & intelligence came through clearly. And she also carries herself very well.

Hi hello101,

PM privately.

If you do try again next year, I will train you in interview techniques. (Free of charge, and when I am in London.) How do you think my daughter (as an International) got into EVERY single medical school she applied to ? Not just in the UK, but in other countries too :-) I trained her to answer exactly how a doctor should answer. But to be fair, her innate empathy, eloquence & intelligence came through clearly. And she also carries herself very well.

The people that are complaining about the admissions process would not have done so had they received an offer. Blaming the system when there must have been ways in which other applicants were more suitable in KCL's view is not a good idea. You should instead focus on what you could improve and apply again if you want to.

Vk ... Much luv to u ...
No what happened here is i am complaining about they don't offer feedback which is a hindrance to improvement ...
U will always get it when u apply for real world post interview ...
An they arent saying some are better ... The comments are directed at certain Hugsby1 .
And the point about people being better was basically said to console us rejected people ... Truth is important but u have to get the timing right and give it at the right stage ...
Can u imagine what it feels like to be a grad already on a gap year and then having ti consider another one ... It is pretty humiliating and inconvenient...
Everyone knows what you are saying even rhe person being rejected ...
They are just being nice...
But i thank you for your honesty ... It is very very important to be honest to ensure the facts are not missed ....but on this one occasion everyone is just helping to build morale including urself.... Many thanks and much luv


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Another wise guy with nothing useful to add here!

@hello101 I just found out, I'm real sorry that's all I can say x

Hi Dr. Ang,

I am writing this not to mean any disrespect to you or how your daughter managed to secure many offers this cycle. This is entirely my humble point of view but I would like to think that your daughter would have gotten in to medicine even if her mother is not a physician.

I am not an applicant so purely from a patient's perspective, I don't believe there to be such a thing as how "a doctor should answer" as doctors are human and are entitled to have their own "style" of addressing patients and colleagues (with respect, empathy, sensitivity of course ). My favourite doctor is "gangster" as hell, but is compassionate, kind and we all love him to bits.

I would also like to think that having a doctor as a parent does not really give the applicant an edge but the reality is: it probably does, not only with interviewing skills but also with background knowledge and perhaps even with organising work experience? I work as a research assistant at a university and a friend of mine working in clinical research at a nearby hospital recently had a high school student shadowing him in his day to day clinical research. When asked how that student in question managed to secure such an impressive internship post, my friend informed me that his father was a surgeon at said hospital and arranged this on behalf of his son.

My sister secured 4 offers to Graduate Entry courses this cycle and we haven't had a doctor in the family for many generations. She had to fight for work experience, volunteering roles and spent many hours hiding in her room, educating herself on the NHS, the medical profession and goodness what she's up to stuck in her room during the past 6 months. Our family also suffered financial hardship so she wasn't able to attend any of the commercial coaching courses.

I guess internet forums like this should be used to share stories, to inspire people (especially those who were unsuccessful this cycle). @Dr. Ang: I wonder what the moral behind your posts stand? And what messages you strive to deliver?

I'd like to use my little sister as an example to show everyone that if you want something a lot, you can fight for it and you will get there in the end.

Hello .....many congratulations to your sister for getting in..your story is truly inspiring and thank u for sharing it with us ....

I don't mean to butt in here but I would just like to say Dr. Ang's reply was directed at me therefore it doesn't actually sound like it would if that was just a stand alone reply .........

Well clearly the unis are looking for some thing and I am not able to express it in the way they want .... This is where Dr. Ang is going beyond their duty of care to help .... This kind of help offers are usually offered by many companies who want to make money first ..... So the intention is quite noble....the fact they are a doctor is even better as they can help me understand how my answers sound to a seasoned professional and I can bridge the gap between what I am saying in my opinion vs what the doctors are hearing.....
To be honest this gap should truly be bridged by the unis themselves , leaving the professional like Dr. Ang to provide excellent care to their patients... And communicate their passion and experience to future medics ....... But unfortunately unis don't...... Which is such a shame..... So if I ask u what do I do if dr. Ang doesn't help me ... Sit around and keep getting rejections till I say things in a way the uni wants to hear ..... If and when I say those things would that be an indicator that I am more ready to be a doctor ..... ? Maybe so...,... But I hope u can see why I can't believe this .....

Now there is no way to know how Dr. Ang's daughter would have done if Dr. Ang wasn't a doc but they were just expressing their opinion and a bit of parental love ( lol u know what I mean )

Anyway I hope u see the point I am addressing even if I am doing so in an in conscise manner....

The story of u and ur family is very inspiring personally and thanks once again for sharing it..



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You misunderstand my intentions! I was simply saying that certain applicants may be at a position of advantage because they have doctors in the family. This is merely stating a fact, without any negative or positive connotations implied at all. I was using my sister as an example to show that you don't have to have coaching, or professional help to get a place and that medical schools are more interested in selecting applicants based on desirable character traits (communication skills, leadership, teamwork, interpersonal skills) which they do so by assessing the individual's performance at interview, and the information provided in both the reference and the personal statement. Of course, this may not be a perfect way to select candidates but I think we can all agree that this is the most fair way given time restraints, the sheer volume of applicants; I think the system gives everyone an equal chance.

"So if I ask u what do I do if dr. Ang doesn't help me ... Sit around and keep getting rejections till I say things in a way the uni wants to hear ..... If and when I say those things would that be an indicator that I am more ready to be a doctor ..... ? Maybe so...,... But I hope u can see why I can't believe this ....."

I also don't think this is true. I know you are very upset about your rejections this cycle but there are definitely other things you can do to improve, rather than rely on professional help as many candidates managed to secure a place without it. I also don't think you can blame not receiving professional help or coaching as the main reason for being rejected. As others have said before, it's unwise to vent your frustrations by blaming the system, rather than taking constructive action to improve your application. Dr. Ang may or may not be in London, she may or may not offer you help. And if she does, fantastic! If not: The question you should be asking yourself is what you can do to make your application better?
Sorry if my comments caused any discontent! This is my honest POV.

Hi folks

I am writing this now as you people are anonymous to me; I rarely mentioned this to my friends. Talked about growing up in poverty. I grew up with an alcoholic father in a tiny 1-room flat (there were 6 of us) in a slum area. My neighbors were prostitutes & drug addicts. We were so poor that my mother had to pawn all her wedding jewelry to buy rice for us. Wedding jewelry is very important to a traditional Chinese woman. That hurt me to this day. I studied hard and paid my own way through medical school by giving tuition even when I was exhausted . Hence my passion in helping the less fortunate as I have experienced personal suffering and bitterness. A significant part of my time and money now is spent running free medical clinics in the Myanmar border areas where the medical conditions are truly appalling and there are many child prostitutes. My daughter has also helped me in these medical mission trips.

Regarding my daughter. The broader issue is the advantages that a wealthier parent can give her child and the unfairness of this compared to a child who is disadvantaged. There have been many debates over this.

I used to feel guilty about this and hence we made it a point to never spoil our kids. Unlike many here in this affluent country with their own maids, my kids are the rare ones without maids and who washed bathrooms, mopped the floors, do all the dishes etc.

Someone pointed out to me that my kids have never squandered any of the opportunities we gave them. My daughter plays both the violin & piano at Diploma levels. She was the Concert Master of the country's National Orchestra, plus Concert Master of her school Orchestra. She is a black-slope skier, Captain of her school badminton team. Presidents of 2 very busy societies. She is also predicted 45/45 for her IB. She did many medical internships across 3 different countries, different hospitals and clinics. She was also involved in a complicated hospital heart research project. Her many testimonials from her doctor-mentors/teachers all universally attest to her extremely warm, generous & responsible personality. Like me, she has always been a giver, not a taker. And equally her passion for medicine shone through. Interviewers can see this clearly.

So did my daughter get into so many medical schools based on my coaching?

When I first started practicing interviews with her, I noticed that although she was eloquent, yet her answers were not well structured and she was not sure of some medical terms, hence coming across as somewhat gauche. Let me give you an example ( for future applicants reading this please do NOT use this example next year as I can imagine many applicants giving the same type of answer !). When asked what health-related things students read, most students tend to say BBC Health News etc. However, for my daughter we talked about these journals that discussed the medical lawsuits and mistakes made by doctors and how doctors can avoid these mistakes. It is obviously a very interesting publication and we enjoyed frightening ourselves with these real-life examples of errors made by doctors and the harm brought to patients as a consequence of these errors ! In 2 of her interviews, she mentioned these medical negligence cases and the interviewers were obviously impressed.

So yes, please do practise for your interviews in a sensible way. You do not necessarily need a doctor to help you but I would strongly suggest an older, more mature adult who can help you with your flow of words/ideas. As for reading materials, there are many publications on health issues, interview questions. We just downloaded 100 medical school interview questions off the Internet and those questions were a good place to start.

I am sorry that this comes out only at the end of this cycle. I am very busy, rarely goes onto TSR and actually almost everything I said about interviews have been discussed ad nauseum in this Forum and elsewhere.

I'm so excited!!!!! There's just this one more hurdle to jump... anyone else wading through the swamp that is finals revision?

Why do you use so many ellipses

....?

Spaces things out ... A bit of my personality ... Lolz


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It's quite hard to read tbh. You don't need to space things out

and if it's your personality, do you think this is also how you present yourself at interviews?

Lol kool thanks for the feedback ...
I like it to be honest ...
Ps this is not really a formal chat that i have to really care about presentation but yea point taken ... Thanks for the feedback ...ps honesty is good but being too blunt can come across as a bit harsh like in ur comment.......
Have u got an offer from kings or anywhere else ?


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