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Medicine 2017 entry

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Original post by mliela
I've already applied for 2016. My advice would also be to do the ukcat in August before you go back to school.


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Oh okay, so start BMAT around June and UKCAT around August?
Original post by TianaEsther
Oh okay, so start BMAT around June and UKCAT around August?


Start ukcat first and sit it around August. Once that's finished start on BMAT.


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Taking a gap year, and applying in 2017 :wink:
Original post by mliela
Start ukcat first and sit it around August. Once that's finished start on BMAT.


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Okay, thank you! :smile:
Hi everyone, been looking for this thread for ages and I'm so glad I've found it - though reading through the last 8 pages has just made me realise how high the standards are and how competitive getting a place at Med School is! I didn't realise people had started preparing so early! :redface:

GCSE's: 11A*s (eng lit &lang, maths, chem, bio, physics, french, geography, latin lit, latin lang, history) and an A in FSMQ additional maths
Current AS's: Biology, chemistry, maths, history (no predicted grades as of yet..I've got mocks in 3 weeks! :eek:)

Work Experience so far:
Did a week last summer, spending a day in neurology, radiology, cardiology, respiratory and a few hours in obstetrics and in clinic with an orthopedic surgeon. Organised a few days for Easter to be spent with an ENT consultant and I'm really hoping I'll be able to follow her into theatre - this was just out of pure luck as I met her at a careers convention and managed to persuade her to allow me to shadow her for a few days. Volunteering Volunteered at Revitalise for a week during October Half term - this was a really good experience and I recommend it: at first it was a bit of a shock, but being there really improved my social skills and "bedside manner" so to say. I also made some really good friends who also volunteered!
Did volunteering in charity shops for bronze and silver Dofe
I started volunteering weekly at my local care home in September 2015 - and I plan on carrying this through for at least another year.

Other things:
Completed my Bronze and Silver Dofe, and am already planning the routes for Gold!
I am a peer mentor to younger pupils - though this isnt entirely relevant because the peer mentoring scheme is not utilised at all at my school
I tutor maths once a week to a GCSE student
Recently passed Grade 6 violin and hoping to do 7 at some point
Play hockey for school

Potential Universities:
Imperial, UCL, Cardiff - but that's mostly because they appealed to me most at the Universities convention..
However, traditional courses are appealing to me just as much as PBL or integrated so I really need to visit more universities and do my research before I can say I've committed to applying somewhere!

So..

Haven't started preparing for neither UKCAT nor BMAT - though UKCAT registration opens 3rd May, and I will be preparing hopefully after AS exams (which my school has just confirmed I will be sitting), and really just booking a date and spending about a week or so familiarising myself. Talking to some people, they said they found the crash courses useful, and others didnt so I'm not really sure.. Are you guys considering anything like this?

Found the step up from GCSE to AS quite challenging, especially for Biology but I'm starting to really get into the swing of things now! In terms of work-social life balance, it's been a bit strained, but i have managed to still go out and see friends etc, but I am putting in extra work in after school and on weekends just to make sure I stay vaguely on top of schoolwork and actually understanding what I'm learning rather than just learning facts which I got away with in GCSEs. I'm really amazed at how much volunteering you guys manage to fit in as well as get those predicted grades - and it's made me realise that I probably could use my time a lot better!

EPQ wise, I have to attend an hour of EPQ lessons a week anyway, but I'm not sure whether I'm doing it - let alone what question I want to focus on. Speaking to universities, they appreciate that you've done it but it really isn't a necessity and it's better to get your grades as someone said before.

I honestly did not know what I wanted to do career wise this time last year - and it was only after I did my work experience last summer that I realised that Medicine was something I felt I would be well suited to and actually wanted to study at university.

Best of luck to everyone who also has exams looming!
Original post by Christina1999H
x


You're profile is absolutely amazing! :biggrin:

I've been looking at universities this afternoon, trying to whittle them down into potential places, so I don't start visiting any that I won't get into/plain dislike, but I might whittle them down again when all the prospectuses are released :s-smilie:

I've also been attempting to arrange a lot of work experience, but would volunteering placements in hospitals on a Lourdes pilgrimage count as work experience? If so, that would be really helpful :colondollar: Damn my late birthday!
GCSE 8A* 2A 1B

AS biology, chemistry, physics, maths & CT aiming for A's
Work exp care homes so far
further reading, in progress with The selfish gene, the usual interview books & attended alcohol & society lecture

1st choice uni Manchester

hobbies
art (painting)
reading
netball
Original post by Gogregg
You're profile is absolutely amazing! :biggrin:

I've been looking at universities this afternoon, trying to whittle them down into potential places, so I don't start visiting any that I won't get into/plain dislike, but I might whittle them down again when all the prospectuses are released :s-smilie:

I've also been attempting to arrange a lot of work experience, but would volunteering placements in hospitals on a Lourdes pilgrimage count as work experience? If so, that would be really helpful :colondollar: Damn my late birthday!


Thanks haha! Honestly, I didn't think I had actually done very much until I sat down and actually thought about it - and yours doesn't sound too bad yourself!

Regarding work experience, I don't know whereabouts you are, but my advice is that you can often find lists of doctors/consultants on your local hospital trust's websites - along with some useful email addresses and phone numbers! Seeing as you're 16 now (I think), you can definitely go in an shadow at least, or follow a junior doctor doing ward rounds which I did in August, so call them and keep chasing up emails until you get a reply - but obviously make sure you're polite and not too impatient!

I too found it a bit odd that some universities specify that you need two weeks of work experience, but I think this might include any experience in a care setting - again, need to check with the admissions office!I think any experience you have in a care setting would be valuable - so the Lourdes Pilgrimage definitely sounds like a good idea :yy:

My best bit of advice when you're doing clinical or any kind of work experience is to take a notepad and just jot anything interesting down - it'll help you when it comes to interviews hopefully, and you'll able to reflect upon your own thoughts and personality afterwards which is actually quite nice! Obviously try and enjoy it too! I think medical schools do accept that it is hard to find clinical work experience, but nonetheless, keep trying and if that fails, volunteering in a care home or rehabilitation centre is good too. My theory as to why universities want you to have work experience is to help you make sure that medicine is the right decision for you, and observing and experiencing it hands on - even for a short time may either change your mind or make you even more determined to pursue your goal.

Good luck applying for work experience - oh and check that your school/college doesn't have links with the local hospital already! You can also try speaking to your GP who might not let you shadow them specifically, but will certainly know doctors in your area who you can speak to :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Ishea16
GCSE 8A* 2A 1B

AS biology, chemistry, physics, maths & CT aiming for A's
Work exp care homes so far
further reading, in progress with The selfish gene, the usual interview books & attended alcohol & society lecture

1st choice uni Manchester

hobbies
art (painting)
reading
netball

I applied to Manchester this year. Make sure you do some regular work or volunteering in a caring environment as they're big on it (at least 6 months ideally)
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Christina1999H
Thanks haha! Honestly, I didn't think I had actually done very much until I sat down and actually thought about it - and yours doesn't sound too bad yourself!

Regarding work experience, I don't know whereabouts you are, but my advice is that you can often find lists of doctors/consultants on your local hospital trust's websites - along with some useful email addresses and phone numbers! Seeing as you're 16 now (I think), you can definitely go in an shadow at least, or follow a junior doctor doing ward rounds which I did in August, so call them and keep chasing up emails until you get a reply - but obviously make sure you're polite and not too impatient!

I too found it a bit odd that some universities specify that you need two weeks of work experience, but I think this might include any experience in a care setting - again, need to check with the admissions office!I think any experience you have in a care setting would be valuable - so the Lourdes Pilgrimage definitely sounds like a good idea :yy:

My best bit of advice when you're doing clinical or any kind of work experience is to take a notepad and just jot anything interesting down - it'll help you when it comes to interviews hopefully, and you'll able to reflect upon your own thoughts and personality afterwards which is actually quite nice! Obviously try and enjoy it too! I think medical schools do accept that it is hard to find clinical work experience, but nonetheless, keep trying and if that fails, volunteering in a care home or rehabilitation centre is good too. My theory as to why universities want you to have work experience is to help you make sure that medicine is the right decision for you, and observing and experiencing it hands on - even for a short time may either change your mind or make you even more determined to pursue your goal.

Good luck applying for work experience - oh and check that your school/college doesn't have links with the local hospital already! You can also try speaking to your GP who might not let you shadow them specifically, but will certainly know doctors in your area who you can speak to :smile:


Thanks! I'm also in the process of trying to get volunteer work at a care home across the street from my school, which I really hope I can get, but if I don't I can always try elsewhere :h:

My dad has this link who is trying to get me loads of placements, which is really good as well, I'm just hoping that it will all go as planned, and that it will be enough :colondollar: I'm also going to go to my GP to see if I can shadow him for a day or two, but I don't know if that will actually be possible due to confidentiality and all that jazz...

Original post by Zwitterion1
I applied to Manchester this year. Make sure you do some regular work or volunteering in a caring environment as they're big on it (at least 6 months ideally)


I am always a bit confused by the term 'caring enviroment'. Does a charity shop count? And I do babysitting from time to time, is that caring?

EDIT: I just booked for the UEA open day! (18th June) Has anyone else booked? And does anyone else know what other universities booking for open days has started?
(edited 8 years ago)
How does everyone have so much work experience already? I'm just volunteering at a care home lol
Original post by Gogregg
Thanks! I'm also in the process of trying to get volunteer work at a care home across the street from my school, which I really hope I can get, but if I don't I can always try elsewhere :h:

My dad has this link who is trying to get me loads of placements, which is really good as well, I'm just hoping that it will all go as planned, and that it will be enough :colondollar: I'm also going to go to my GP to see if I can shadow him for a day or two, but I don't know if that will actually be possible due to confidentiality and all that jazz...



I am always a bit confused by the term 'caring enviroment'. Does a charity shop count? And I do babysitting from time to time, is that caring?

EDIT: I just booked for the UEA open day! (18th June) Has anyone else booked? And does anyone else know what other universities booking for open days has started?


It means looking after people, so for example a retirement home or children's centre or a befriending the elderly scheme. Anything like that.
Hello. Noticed this thread and just wanted to say that I am a year above you and going through this (pretty dreadful) process right now. If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Just quote me so I know :smile:
Original post by Funky_Giraffe
Hello. Noticed this thread and just wanted to say that I am a year above you and going through this (pretty dreadful) process right now. If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Just quote me so I know :smile:


Thanks for offering to help! :smile:

I'm just wondering, how did you start selecting medical schools to apply to/visit? And how many schools do you think we should visit?
Original post by Gogregg
Thanks for offering to help! :smile:

I'm just wondering, how did you start selecting medical schools to apply to/visit? And how many schools do you think we should visit?


So the for me, it was a case of trying to see as many as I could that I was interested in. So in terms of knowing which medical schools to apply to, you can rule some out quite quickly. I looked primarily at:

- Distance from home: I live in the South East and decided for myself that I was unwilling to travel more than about 3-4hours to get home from Uni. For me, this ruled out all of the Scottish Unis, Queens Belfast, Newcastle and Durham as well as a few others. Always be bearing in mind that you will spend at least 5 years in you chosen location, likely longer as chances are you will practise in that region when you qualify. Whilst you may for now want to get as far away as possible from your parents/family, you may very well regret this 3 or 4 years down the line. So ruled out a number of medschools that I chose to visit.

- The course type is a really important factor to consider. More and more medschools are moving towards PBL style learning (google it if you're not sure what this means) and for some people, this is an ideal way of learning. For others, maybe not so. For me it was the case that I tended to prefer non-PBL, but I wasn't going to rule out a university on the sole basis of whether or not it was PBL. However, some of my mates had strong opinions for/against PBL so this was one that can quickly whittle down the unis into the ones that best suit your learning style. Oxbridge and a couple of others offer traditional learning - again, some people like the fact that you spend 3 years doing your pure academics before doing any practical work with patients, but this was not to my liking and I immediately knew that Oxford/Cambridge was clearly not the place for me because of this. So that was a big decision I made based on course. And then there's integrated. You can't really go too far wrong with an integrated course and the majority of medical schools offer some kind of PBL + Traditional combo.

- Also, worth looking at whether you can intercalate (again, look up what this means if you are unsure). Different universities also offer different types of intercalation so check their websites for all the details. Intercalation is essentially taking a year out of medicine to obtain a separate degree (e.g. a BSc) in addition to your standard Medical degree that you would normally get at the end of 5 years. Although this probably wouldn't be one of your first considerations as a Year 12 student who isn't even that sure if Medicine is still the thing to go into, whether or not you are able to intercalate becomes a bigger decision when you are a couple of years into your course. I decided that it would probably be a good idea to intercalate, since it gives you an advantage over recently graduated medics who haven't intercalated when you go looking for jobs at the end of your degree. Now, only a handful of universities offer compulsory intercalation, Imperial being one example, whilst other unis offer intercalation for those who want to and some unis only allow intercalation for the "top performers" in your year. So if you, like me, are quite keen on doing that, that will also determine to some extent which unis you go and look at. Worth bearing in mind that different medschools offer different degrees with your intercalation - some are worth more "points" than others. E.g. at Nottingham, you don't take out an extra year to intercalate - it's incorporated in your 5 years. Whilst this sounds good, you get less points than say, if you did 6 years at Cardiff University where you intercalated for a whole year. Doing it in 5 years puts you in a less advantageous position compared to someone having done 5 years medschool + 1 year intercalation, although you're still better off having done it at Nottingham compared to someone who hadn't intercalated at all.

Sorry for this lengthy reply, but to reiterate - I would rather not put a number on how many you see but try and see AS MANY medschools as you can (obviously not to the extent that your are missing ridiculous amounts of school/ seeing ALL of the universities... -_- :P). Even if you don't decide to pick them, at least you have visited them. The number of people who find that after their UKCAT score, they can't select 4 unis that they have actually visited and have to pick ones they haven't even seen is astounding, and you can avoid this by seeing as many as you can!

Ultimately though, a medical degree is a medical degree. Unlike law or other courses where certain universities are more favourable than others, Medicine is recognised as a standard course, whether it's been done at Cambridge or Aberdeen (nothing against either).


PS Plan your open days early. You will tend to find that many of them will clash, so by being organised, you can pick the days you want to see each.
(edited 8 years ago)
So happy that I managed to get a 1 week work experience at a local GP for February half term! I think it will be a very informative experience.
Original post by yukicookie
So happy that I managed to get a 1 week work experience at a local GP for February half term! I think it will be a very informative experience.


Great stuff! Your GP surgery placement will be very useful - however you should know that you may not be able to see many/any consultations during your week due to confidentiality shenanigans that many GP surgeries implement with students on work experience. This was certainly the case for me. Nonetheless it's a fantastic way to get exposure into how a practice functions. :smile:
Original post by Funky_Giraffe
Great stuff! Your GP surgery placement will be very useful - however you should know that you may not be able to see many/any consultations during your week due to confidentiality shenanigans that many GP surgeries implement with students on work experience. This was certainly the case for me. Nonetheless it's a fantastic way to get exposure into how a practice functions. :smile:

I am aware of that, however since it is a training practice and the director is very helpful, I might have a little more luck. I hope : )
Original post by yukicookie
I am aware of that, however since it is a training practice and the director is very helpful, I might have a little more luck. I hope : )


Fingers crossed. Should be very interesting.
Hey Guys! I can't believe that it's already our turn next!

GCSE: 10A*S and 1B (damn you English Lit)
A-Levels: Chemistry, Biology, Maths, and Religious Studies, predicted grades not yet given

WorkExperience: 1 week at GP practice, 2 weeks at 2 different hospitals, 1 week with a charity in India, 1 week shadowing an Indian GP in a rural village.
Volunteering: Acorns hospice volunteer, Oxfam charity shop volunteer, 1 week with Vitalise, and hopefully a nursing home volunteer if my application is successful!
Extra: St John Ambulance cadet, summer job at a GP practise, Bronze and Gold DofE, violin, choir, help at an outreach programme at school, elected for sixth form committee, science mentor for younger year students, frequent organiser of charity events at school.

Please be honest, according to my stats,where would be best for me, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (increasing strength), how strong would you say my application is? Can i apply to Unis like oxbridge, Birmingham? Sorry for all the questions!! :colondollar:

Thank you guys!!Xx :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)

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