Exeter medical school applicants 2015!
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Original post by ArchieMH
Blimey......
Something tells me Exeter may be giving you an interview aha
Something tells me Exeter may be giving you an interview ahaHe knows it
Original post by Dr. Django
9A*2A, 4A AS, A*ABB A2 with exten circumstances, 760 ukcat 
A*A predicted alongside my achieved A*A
A*A predicted alongside my achieved A*A(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by ArchieMH
Blimey...... Something tells me Exeter may be giving you an interview aha
Something tells me Exeter may be giving you an interview ahaOriginal post by Hudl
He knows it
I hope so!! But as I'm a resitter I'm bricking it that they may change their policy or something will go wrong xD
Resitting just makes a brudda scared
Original post by dr. Django
i hope so!! But as i'm a resitter i'm bricking it that they may change their policy or something will go wrong xd
resitting just makes a brudda scared
resitting just makes a brudda scared
feel this :s
Hi there, I am a current second year at Exeter Medical School and i'm happy to answer any questions you may have. It's also worth getting in touch with the first years as they'll have a fresher idea of the interviews and of course the interview system may have changed.
Good luck on your applications!
HD
Good luck on your applications!
HD
Oh also - resitters don't worry too much. I got A*ABB (B for Chemistry) at A-Level and just applied with an A prediction. Also my interview was quite horrendous if my biased memory serves me well. Got 725 UKCAT but I know people with low 600's who have gotten interviews. High grades, UKCAT and personal statement mean squat once you reach interview stage, at that point only performance in intervew counts.
TL;DR Don't worry too much as long as you meet the minimum grade requirements
and an acceptable UKCAT scote
TL;DR Don't worry too much as long as you meet the minimum grade requirements
and an acceptable UKCAT scote(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by harrydo
Oh also - resitters don't worry too much. I got A*ABB (B for Chemistry) at A-Level and just applied with an A prediction. Also my interview was quite horrendous if my biased memory serves me well. Got 725 UKCAT but I know people with low 600's who have gotten interviews. High grades, UKCAT and personal statement mean squat once you reach interview stage, at that point only performance in intervew counts.
TL;DR Don't worry too much as long as you meet the minimum grade requirements and an acceptable UKCAT scote
TL;DR Don't worry too much as long as you meet the minimum grade requirements
and an acceptable UKCAT scoteMan I love you #FullHomo
This is so reassuring as I got exactly the same A2 grades as you! I meet all the other requirements and have a high ukcat (760) so hopefully I'll get an interview
I'm sure you understand how scary applying as a resitter is so it's pretty sweet to have someone in a similar situation be successful!
My only actual question: what was a typical ' Day in the life of Harrydo' during first year?
Original post by harrydo
X
Original post by Mehhhh
To any medical students, could you please describe a typical week? How many hours of lectures, small group tutorials, etc?
^^^^^
I'll take you through what my first year was like:-
So there are a variety of sessions you will have:
PBL: Once or twice a week, depending on what week it is. When you start a PBL case (when I was in year 1), it'll be on Monday. You'll get your case beforehand from the internet and you bring it with you and discuss it within your PBL group. From these discussions, you'll formulate questions you hope to answer and the learning points you wish to take from this. You'll then go off and research on these questions and commit the answers to memory. Then you'll meet up the next monday and you'll discuss your findings. You'll meet up again on Wednesday to discuss any questions you did not get round to and anything else your facilitator might choose to do. These sessions last around 2 hours with a break in between depending on how diabolical your facilitator/chair is. Each person will generally have to be the chairperson or group leader for at least a session and I'd take advantage of this as its a good experience. You may have to be a lowly scribe and scribble things onto the board. This is about groupwork so try not to be too loud/quiet and you will also have to put up relevant info onto a group wiki page on the internet. Also, bring snacks. It makes long sessions less depressing. Some groups make you bring cake to the next session if you're late (D
The monday after that will be the start of another PBL case. (They progress age-wise, so Conception -> Fetai -> Infancy> Childhood .etc) Each cast lasts 2 weeks. You switch PBL groups after the first term and carry the second one through till the end of the year (it gets emotional).
Life Sciences: Usually once a week but they sometimes do twice in one week and none the next (especially in year 2).etc. Same for Clinical Skills. This is where you get to learn most of the basic science and anatomy you need. You'll get lectures about basic physiology, histology and imaging, There are Living Anatomy Models (not as awkward as you think) and you might get to draw things on your fellow students. You get some time to study by yourself in some sessions. Always prepare beforehand for these sessions, and try and avoid PBL questions that cover the same topics. 2-3 hours.
Clinical Skills: Takes place in a clinical skills center near the campus. Here you learn essential clinical skills you'll need. You will practice on plastic models and each other (you can withdraw yourself from this). This includes physical skills like examination, injections .etc and communication skills. For most of the first year, you will be recorded talking to other students pretending to be patients and you'll later get skilled actors to work with. Later on in your course, you'll get cool simulated patients, Sometimes Competencies (skills exams) take place in these sessions. 2 hours long.
Lectures (Duh): Lectures on stuff. Fun. Around an hour long each. You have to attend 70% but for some you can miss but send in apologies on time! It's a good idea to go to as many as you can.
WRAP: Interactive sessions at the end of every two weeks at the end of the case detailing the key points. You get to do a quiz on clickers or on a phone app.
Placements: In first year, you get a placement around once every two weeks if i remember correctly.In your first year, it can be varied so in hospitals, GPs, hospices, charities, health visitors, midwives, pharmacies .etc. In Year 2, they are all at GPs and you'll always be at the same one. In Year 1, you'll get a different placement each time. You take a partner with you and they will be the same for the whole year. You get a contribution to any travel costs you might have to pay.
Professional practice groups (PPG): You have to meet around once every 2 weeks to discuss your placements and the issues (social) surrounding what you encountered. You may have to do projects about certain themes. After every session, you have to fill in a form about what you learnt from the placement and the group.
Consolidation weeks: At the end of every term (or often at the start of a term) you will get a week with no normal sessions and you will get to do various sessions to recap what you have learnt and also to encounter things you normally might not such as analyzing evidence .etc. You usually get to do an anatomy/physiology formative exam to test your learning and you get a few cases you get to discuss and talk over,
How you are marked (well how I was marked): AMKs: Designed to test your medical knowledge. You get three a year, once each term. Your grade is determined by where you are ranked in the year. At the start you'll probably get 1-10 percent but don't worry, the first one is formative. The total grade for the year is determined by your aggregate score across all three. Don't worry too much about this now.
Clinical Competencies: You have to demonstrate you have the essential skills in your repertoire. Currently, for first years it's Pregnant Abdomen, Blood Pressure and CPR for the first sitting then a combined competency (cardio, respiratory, GI) for your second. You get three trys at each one.
Professionalism: You will get professionalism judgements at the end of each term. You have to have over 70% attendance at lectures, inform people when you wont attend something, behave professionally .etc.
SSU: Every term you get a Student Selected Unit which you choose out of a catalog of many. Basically you choose a theme (I had Biofilms, Why do people want to die at home, Personalised medicine and I am going to do domestic abuse and the morals of neuroscience) and you get to visit experts in this area a couple of times and you have to write an essay like it is a BMJ journal article and cite it with sources .etc. Some SSUs let you go into theatre and see surgical procedures, some involve life drawing or even music! You need to pass 2/3 I think.
End of Year exam: Only for Year 1s as the AMK scores are too low/fluctuating to measure whether youre ready for year 2. You get a retake for it but it's only about things you have learnt about so there is no excuse for failing it! The AMK however has the same questions throughout the whole course so your score is expected to go up.
The grading system for all of the above (except Competencies and SSUs, remove the Borderline bit) is: Unsatisfactory, Borderline, Satisfactory, Excellent.
You need Satisfactory in all the areas except AMK where you can progress with a Borderline but that is not a good position to be in. But if you pass one of the AMK or End of Year exams, you do not need to get satisfactory for the other. (that was what it was like for me anyway).
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask~
Happy applications! And may the odds be ever in your favor...
So there are a variety of sessions you will have:
PBL: Once or twice a week, depending on what week it is. When you start a PBL case (when I was in year 1), it'll be on Monday. You'll get your case beforehand from the internet and you bring it with you and discuss it within your PBL group. From these discussions, you'll formulate questions you hope to answer and the learning points you wish to take from this. You'll then go off and research on these questions and commit the answers to memory. Then you'll meet up the next monday and you'll discuss your findings. You'll meet up again on Wednesday to discuss any questions you did not get round to and anything else your facilitator might choose to do. These sessions last around 2 hours with a break in between depending on how diabolical your facilitator/chair is. Each person will generally have to be the chairperson or group leader for at least a session and I'd take advantage of this as its a good experience. You may have to be a lowly scribe and scribble things onto the board. This is about groupwork so try not to be too loud/quiet and you will also have to put up relevant info onto a group wiki page on the internet. Also, bring snacks. It makes long sessions less depressing. Some groups make you bring cake to the next session if you're late (D
The monday after that will be the start of another PBL case. (They progress age-wise, so Conception -> Fetai -> Infancy> Childhood .etc) Each cast lasts 2 weeks. You switch PBL groups after the first term and carry the second one through till the end of the year (it gets emotional).
Life Sciences: Usually once a week but they sometimes do twice in one week and none the next (especially in year 2).etc. Same for Clinical Skills. This is where you get to learn most of the basic science and anatomy you need. You'll get lectures about basic physiology, histology and imaging, There are Living Anatomy Models (not as awkward as you think) and you might get to draw things on your fellow students. You get some time to study by yourself in some sessions. Always prepare beforehand for these sessions, and try and avoid PBL questions that cover the same topics. 2-3 hours.
Clinical Skills: Takes place in a clinical skills center near the campus. Here you learn essential clinical skills you'll need. You will practice on plastic models and each other (you can withdraw yourself from this). This includes physical skills like examination, injections .etc and communication skills. For most of the first year, you will be recorded talking to other students pretending to be patients and you'll later get skilled actors to work with. Later on in your course, you'll get cool simulated patients, Sometimes Competencies (skills exams) take place in these sessions. 2 hours long.
Lectures (Duh): Lectures on stuff. Fun. Around an hour long each. You have to attend 70% but for some you can miss but send in apologies on time! It's a good idea to go to as many as you can.
WRAP: Interactive sessions at the end of every two weeks at the end of the case detailing the key points. You get to do a quiz on clickers or on a phone app.
Placements: In first year, you get a placement around once every two weeks if i remember correctly.In your first year, it can be varied so in hospitals, GPs, hospices, charities, health visitors, midwives, pharmacies .etc. In Year 2, they are all at GPs and you'll always be at the same one. In Year 1, you'll get a different placement each time. You take a partner with you and they will be the same for the whole year. You get a contribution to any travel costs you might have to pay.
Professional practice groups (PPG): You have to meet around once every 2 weeks to discuss your placements and the issues (social) surrounding what you encountered. You may have to do projects about certain themes. After every session, you have to fill in a form about what you learnt from the placement and the group.
Consolidation weeks: At the end of every term (or often at the start of a term) you will get a week with no normal sessions and you will get to do various sessions to recap what you have learnt and also to encounter things you normally might not such as analyzing evidence .etc. You usually get to do an anatomy/physiology formative exam to test your learning and you get a few cases you get to discuss and talk over,
How you are marked (well how I was marked): AMKs: Designed to test your medical knowledge. You get three a year, once each term. Your grade is determined by where you are ranked in the year. At the start you'll probably get 1-10 percent but don't worry, the first one is formative. The total grade for the year is determined by your aggregate score across all three. Don't worry too much about this now.
Clinical Competencies: You have to demonstrate you have the essential skills in your repertoire. Currently, for first years it's Pregnant Abdomen, Blood Pressure and CPR for the first sitting then a combined competency (cardio, respiratory, GI) for your second. You get three trys at each one.
Professionalism: You will get professionalism judgements at the end of each term. You have to have over 70% attendance at lectures, inform people when you wont attend something, behave professionally .etc.
SSU: Every term you get a Student Selected Unit which you choose out of a catalog of many. Basically you choose a theme (I had Biofilms, Why do people want to die at home, Personalised medicine and I am going to do domestic abuse and the morals of neuroscience) and you get to visit experts in this area a couple of times and you have to write an essay like it is a BMJ journal article and cite it with sources .etc. Some SSUs let you go into theatre and see surgical procedures, some involve life drawing or even music! You need to pass 2/3 I think.
End of Year exam: Only for Year 1s as the AMK scores are too low/fluctuating to measure whether youre ready for year 2. You get a retake for it but it's only about things you have learnt about so there is no excuse for failing it! The AMK however has the same questions throughout the whole course so your score is expected to go up.
The grading system for all of the above (except Competencies and SSUs, remove the Borderline bit) is: Unsatisfactory, Borderline, Satisfactory, Excellent.
You need Satisfactory in all the areas except AMK where you can progress with a Borderline but that is not a good position to be in. But if you pass one of the AMK or End of Year exams, you do not need to get satisfactory for the other. (that was what it was like for me anyway).
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask~
Happy applications! And may the odds be ever in your favor...
(edited 9 years ago)
So a typical fortnight might be like:
Monday - PBL, two lectures
Tuesday- LSRC (life sciences)
Wednesday-Placement
Thursday - CSRC (clinical skills)
Friday - Lectures
Saturday - Alcohol
Sunday- Regret Alcohol and quickly cram PBL
Monday- PBL, lectures
Tuesday - LSRC
Wednesday - PBL, lectures
Thursday - CSRC, PPG
Friday - WRAP, Workshop (oh I forgot to add, a workshop is a longer lecture about a specific theme such as talks by patients .etc. usually on the last friday of the fortnight along with WRAP)
Saturday- "
Sunday - "
Lectures can be any day (excluding weekends ofc).
Oh and if you are a keeno, the numerous medical societies do lectures aimed at the AMK so you can pick up tidbits from them.
Monday - PBL, two lectures
Tuesday- LSRC (life sciences)
Wednesday-Placement
Thursday - CSRC (clinical skills)
Friday - Lectures
Saturday - Alcohol
Sunday- Regret Alcohol and quickly cram PBL
Monday- PBL, lectures
Tuesday - LSRC
Wednesday - PBL, lectures
Thursday - CSRC, PPG
Friday - WRAP, Workshop (oh I forgot to add, a workshop is a longer lecture about a specific theme such as talks by patients .etc. usually on the last friday of the fortnight along with WRAP)
Saturday- "
Sunday - "
Lectures can be any day (excluding weekends ofc).
Oh and if you are a keeno, the numerous medical societies do lectures aimed at the AMK so you can pick up tidbits from them.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by harrydo
Repped for incredible detail!
Cheers mayn
Original post by harrydo
Thanks for all the information.
Original post by harrydo
Oh also - resitters don't worry too much. I got A*ABB (B for Chemistry) at A-Level and just applied with an A prediction. Also my interview was quite horrendous if my biased memory serves me well. Got 725 UKCAT but I know people with low 600's who have gotten interviews. High grades, UKCAT and personal statement mean squat once you reach interview stage, at that point only performance in intervew counts.
TL;DR Don't worry too much as long as you meet the minimum grade requirements and an acceptable UKCAT scote
TL;DR Don't worry too much as long as you meet the minimum grade requirements
and an acceptable UKCAT scoteThat's reassuring and helpful, thanks mate
Original post by Marathi
Sorry if this has already been asked but what is the interview format? Is it MMI or a formal one on one/group interview?
Any other graduate applicants or current grad students? :P
Any other graduate applicants or current grad students? :P
It's still a panel interview with three/four people. There are quite a few graduate students in both my year and Year 1, so there is usually quite a varied cohort. If you can demonstrate you learnt some vital skills from your previous degree, it can really help.
Original post by harrydo
It's still a panel interview with three/four people. There are quite a few graduate students in both my year and Year 1, so there is usually quite a varied cohort. If you can demonstrate you learnt some vital skills from your previous degree, it can really help.
Hmm panel, terrifying haha! Ok that's good, are they all science background or do they vary do you know? I am non-science but there's definitely stuff that I did that is relevant to medicine.
Original post by Marathi
Hmm panel, terrifying haha! Ok that's good, are they all science background or do they vary do you know? I am non-science but there's definitely stuff that I did that is relevant to medicine.
Well they don't exactly tell you in the interview but the lady moderating the interview day said that most have a member of the public (i.e not medical or academic staff), one medical (maybe clinical) and one academic (either medical or other).
They're often more likely to think of you as more mature if you're a graduate so it is a good idea to take advantage of it if possible.
Original post by harrydo
Well they don't exactly tell you in the interview but the lady moderating the interview day said that most have a member of the public (i.e not medical or academic staff), one medical (maybe clinical) and one academic (either medical or other).
They're often more likely to think of you as more mature if you're a graduate so it is a good idea to take advantage of it if possible.
They're often more likely to think of you as more mature if you're a graduate so it is a good idea to take advantage of it if possible.
Sorry I didn't word that very well, I meant the grads in your year not the interviewers lol
Original post by Marathi
Sorry I didn't word that very well, I meant the grads in your year not the interviewers lol
Well most are biomed or medical science related but I'm sure you'd still stand as good a chance if you had a different degree. Especially as they're looking for doctors with more varied skillsets now.
Hey guys, just seeing all this panic about getting an interview or not so I thought I would post this. I got AABC at AS, 5 A*s 3 As 2Bs at GCSE, and 737.5 in my UKCAT. I got interviews from Manchester and Exeter and got offers from both. The panel interview at Exeter really wasn't as bad as it sounds and they were very reassuring. Just try and go in with a level head or at least pretend you have one and you can't go too wrong.
Best of luck with all of your applications!
Best of luck with all of your applications!
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