I am a first year medical student. Ask me anything!

Scroll to see replies

Are GCSE'S important for Medicine as I got 4A's and 4B's- do I still have a chance?

like i said in a previous post, not all unis use the same criteria in selecting applicants. some will be very gcse heavy. for any other course, your gcses are great, but for medicine they arent gonna give you much of an edge. pick unis wisely, pick the ones that dont place too much emphasis on gcses. apply to your strengths.

Reply 21

Millie-3

Original post by nexttime

How many PMs are you actually getting per day though? Given that aside from this post you haven't been active since 2017?

how many am I actually getting? 1 a week easily. when i say 50 a day, i was employing a rhetorical device known as hyperbole. it's where one exaggerates in an obvious fashion to drive home a point. i only wanted that rather than saying the same thing individually over and over, it be brought out in public where it can help a greater number of people. i know i appreciated medical students doing it when i was an applicant, and i was just trying to give back to this wonderful community.

unfortunately, it didn't actually happen (reference answer above). and i appreciate you trying to help me out. hey everyone, tag @ecolier! remember, i'm just speaking form my perspective, there are so many different stories and journeys out there but our destinations are the same. get as many different perspectives as possible to increase your chances to get into med school!

Reply 22

Millie-3

Original post by molly.butcherx

Hi! Thanks for doing this!
I was wondering just how stressful the hours are? I know they are very long compared to other courses, but do you feel as if you’re being drained by them?

How much work do you find yourself doing out of lessons, and do universities set you ‘homework’ to do, like research things before a lecture/seminar?

And accommodation wise, when you’re in year 2, and move out of uni accommodation, are you moving with your flat mates or medic friends?

Thank you!!

Hi Molly! thanks for your questions.

let me start by saying that these are just my opinions, and that everyone has a different experience. my university is traditional style, so i can't speak for all the pbl/cbls out there. that means that i have a 9-4 day on average four out of 5 weekdays. i cannot emphasise how different this is to most other courses. my pharmacy and physics and law and english and business friends are all in half of the time i am in. it used to bother me last semester, that i'm handing over so much of my day, then come back only to do more work, when at the end of it we all come out with degrees. i really struggled first semester. it took a few weeks but now i've remembered why i've signed myself up for this torutre. its coz it isnt torture, not really. i love this stuff, i've waited and dreamt and toiled for it forever. and it is everything i wanted it to be, now that i'm settled and happy.

i really struggled with how to learn at uni. i saw my course leads and relevant SU staff, only to learn the most annoying of truths. that this si something you have to figure out for yourself. it took my until my christmas exams to learn what works for me. so to anyone who thinks they don't know what they are doing, exams are your new best friend. they kick you into doing what you are meant to be doing, you just figure out what works for you. and don't take your first exam results too seriously. think of it as a practice run, and that these exams are not just you learning the content of the exams, but also how to sit exams in uni.

i know this is really bad, but i only work for lessons when i'm not stressing about the next upcoming text or exam. we aren't set work as such, we're treated like adults and trusted to get on with it. i dont do it for all lectures, usually ust anatomy, physiology. you'll know which subjects need some foundation and which don't. for lectures, i download the lecture, and the second slide is usually a list of learning outcomes. i try to teach myself everything on the list by googling stuff, watching youtube videos, reading relevant chapters (but only if the textbook is actually any good). for i know i won't have covered everything, but i'll know enough that i don't be lost in the lecture theatre. for tutorials, i'll try and have some answers ready if they post the questions online before hand. i try and get the answers from the lectures we've had, because tutorials should just be covering what we've already been taught. what i find most benficial is after lectures, making notes. that shows me what i don't understand and what needs to be emailed to the lecturer. So: teach yourself the lecture, go to lecture, do notes on lecture.

i have applied to be RA next year, so i'm actually hoping to get back into halls. if that doesnt work out, i'll get a house with medics. the reason for that is that medics are taught in different buildings to other subjects, so it makes sense to get a house closer to where we are taught, and this isn't practical for other subject people.

Reply 23

Millie-3

Original post by HateOCR

From your personal experience of your application and other friends how likely were they to get an offer after interview, in general, not specific to any medical school.

after interview? there is no telling. sometimes we thought certain interviews went poorly and ended up getting an offer, other times we thought we had it in the bag and got rejected. there is really no telling sometimes. all we can do is try our best and leave the rest!

Reply 24

BlindingLight

I don't have any questions but congrats for getting into medical school :smile:

Reply 25

Millie-3

Original post by BlindingLight

I don't have any questions but congrats for getting into medical school :smile:

thank you very much, you're too kind!

Reply 26

Jibba Habba

Will you be after your registration and working experience to place on your CV stay and work for the NHS, or move into the private sector or move abroad?

Reply 27

K8e.H

What work experience, volunteering and extracurriculars did you do? What would you recommend doing/what work experience did you think was most valuable? What did you talk about most in your PS and interviews?
Thanks in advance :smile:

Reply 28

nmudz_009

having completed a few months, are you still sure you want to do medicine as a career?

Reply 29

Millie-3

Original post by Jibba Habba

Will you be after your registration and working experience to place on your CV stay and work for the NHS, or move into the private sector or move abroad?

Firstly, I believe (and I might be wrong) that to get your full registration from the GMC, you have to do your foundation years in the UK answer only then can I move abroad as a fully qualified doctor. So ill definitely have to work in the NHS for a while.
As part of our training, we get taught by F2s sometimes who might be on their Academic Medicine placement. These wonderful young things can be more insightful than our wizened older lecturers sometimes. They generally agree that being a foundation doctor is hard but not the nightmare the media would have us believe. They enjoy their jobs and that gives me hope that the NHS might be a decent employer.

I would love to move abroad for my specialist training. We got a talk from a plastic surgeon who trained under the leading surgeon in Canada and how it opened so many doors. In fact many of the doctors who speak to us tell us about their stint abroad. So yeah, I would like to move at least for a little while. Just to experience a new country. And I won’t lie, if I eat more money for doing the same job, it won’t hurt.

As for private sector, I don’t think the NHS will outlive my career. It’s on its knees and the government doesn’t seem to have any plan to swoop in and help. So I’m not going to seek out the private sector but I believe I’ll end up working in it anyway. And also, some specialities lend themselves to privatisation more so than others e.g. push doctor and GPs, cosmetic surgery, etc. I don’t even know what I want to practice.

Reply 30

nexttime

Original post by Millie-3

Firstly, I believe (and I might be wrong) that to get your full registration from the GMC, you have to do your foundation years in the UK answer only then can I move abroad as a fully qualified doctor.

Just FY1.

Either way though you'd most likely be looking for a training position in whatever country you're after, which can be hard to secure. Its much more common to go for just a year away from training like you describe, be it in a similar healthcare environment e.g. Australia, or going to the developing world and taking on more responsibility than any UK consultant without any further training at all!

Reply 31

username2391309

Original post by Medicine...

Hi thanks, do i still have a chance at medicine with 4A's and 4B's at GCSE, and predicted A*A*A at A-level, wanting to apply to cambridge, Imperial, barts and Brighton- thank you x

Yes with AAA YOU CAN GET ONE OF THE ABOVE.

Reply 32

Nottie

Original post by Millie-3

Queen’s University Belfast :biggrin:

You can spend your summer one of two ways. You can start prepping or you can enjoy it to the max. If you can get access to study guides for the modules (maybe you know someone at the same med school?) then start lightly reading around what you know will come up. Especially with Anatomy. Then again, why not relax when you’ve got the chance? You’ll have to stress about all that work anyways once school starts!

Please don't do that. Enjoy your holiday while you can as you will very soon be a clinical med student and will have barely any time off

Reply 33

lawtho

Original post by Medicine...

Are GCSE'S important for Medicine as I got 4A's and 4B's- do I still have a chance?

no you don't

Reply 34

Mcgreggorrrrrrrr

Original post by Medicine...

Are GCSE'S important for Medicine as I got 4A's and 4B's- do I still have a chance?

Yes you have a big chance if u do well in your ukcat. Get the best ukcat and bmat possible, the best predicted grades and apply to 4 of: imperial, Brighton, Newcastle, Exeter, Plymouth, Glasgow, barts. You will get 4 interviews.

Reply 35

jonashon

Hey dude, I'm applying to QuB as well (have i interview next month)

I know you can't tell me anything about what they ask during the interview specifically- but can you advise me on things I should focus on for Queen's mmi?
Also what makes Queen's course unique? What's you're favorite aspect of their course?

Honestly I applied because it's close to home and also the course is more traditional;which I feel might be more suited to my learning style - and also because I loved the campus when I went to their open day in Sep.

p.s. I saw you said you applied to UEA- I applied there as well and had a (I would say) good interview- did they give you any reason for rejection pre-interview ?

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 36

iniajayi

Original post by Millie-3

GCSEs: 8a*, 2a
UKCAT: 725 avg.
didnt do bmat
i was a resitter so i had acheived A*AB in bio, chem and psy respectively. i was predicted an A* in psy which i eventually got. my applications are in the last post.

How did you revise for Bio, Chem and Pscyhology. Psychology especially.

Reply 37

LisaJasmin

Original post by Millie-3

It’s that time of the year again! Interviews are in the air, and I’m getting 50 PMs a day, so let’s just get those questions out in the open and go through them :smile:

I am an International student. How do I need to prepare for entering medical school in the UK? Is is possible to switch schools or even majors after the first semester? thanks to anyone who tries to help,

Reply 38

CookieButter

Original post by AB710344

What is meant by:
Medial and Lateral ?

lol....the terms medial and lateral are used to describe locations of structures on the body in relation to others. Medial refers to structures that are closer to the midline and lateral refers to structures that are further away from the midline of the body where the midline is a line that passes through the median saggital plane which is an imaginary longitudinal plane that passes through the middle of the body and divides it into two halves a left half and a right half. I hope this helps...lol

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 39

CookieButter

how many exams have you guys had so far at QUB? has it been stressful at all? is the course structured well? do you find you get enough time to prepare for exams? how large is your cohort? when do you guys start clinical? do you do any clinical in the 1st year? do they let you work on cadavers at all?