To our regular posters on Medicine forum

Firstly thank you for your contribution - it is really appreciated.

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Secondly here is a question for all of you who frequently uses and engages with posters on the main Medicine forum (
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=195)

We are looking to streamline the number of Stickied threads. Maximum of 3 ideally - there are currently 12.

What would be your suggestion that we should keep an what should we unsticky?

Should we make a new stickied thread? Do you think there even should be stickied threads (i.e. will people ignore it and post anyway)?

Please give us your thoughts!

Post originally created by ecolier.

Scroll to see replies

No one ever looks at stuck threads that much tbh. I never had much success with them in Study Help minus results day periods. Having said that, I do think there should still be stuck threads for threads that could be helpful to have at the top for that particular time (e.g. UKCAT thread etc.) or threads that have been there for a while that applicants tend to find helpful. So, my suggestion would be:

UKCAT for 2018 Entry Discussion - Keep it until the UKCAT is over but then unstick it until next year and maybe replace it with the BMAT thread then.

*MEGATHREAD* - The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread MK III - I don't think many people use a lot of the megathreads anymore, they just make their own threads instead. So I personally wouldn't keep this either.

REMINDER about *not* sharing Interview and MMI details - Unstick this one until interviews start again

Medics and Applicants Profiles - NO DISCUSSION - No idea how much people use this now, but I found it very useful when I was applying. If it's still used by people, I'd keep it.

*MEGATHREAD* - Work Experience and Voluntary Work - READ BEFORE POSTING - Unstick

*MEGATHREAD* - The 'What Subjects Should I Do' Megathread - Unstick

How to use The Medic Portal to help with your medicine application - Unstick

*MEGATHREAD* - The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread - Unstick

*MEGATHREAD* - Hyper Awesome mega thread for simple applicant questions! - Unstick

Article: Medical school GCSE requirements - Unstick

Volunteer to be a part of the PSV team on TSR - Unstick

Getting help for mental health problems in medical school - I think this should be kept stuck but in the current med students forum rather than in Medicine. No idea how many threads there are there though!

Reply 3

junior.doctor

Might be worth having just one stickied thread with a post with links to all the megathreads / useful info threads in it? I get the impression people just make their own threads anyway and don’t use them so much (bracing myself for the next influx of peri-UCAS “Am I good enough” threads...) - but they’re still useful for people to read through. And whilst people should be perfectly capable of using the search function, having a thread entitled “links to lots of useful threads containing useful ideas and information” or something, could help get rid of nearly all the stickies. Then important items like no interview chat can be stickied when needed.

Reply 4

Ghotay

I also feel that 'Medics and Applicants Profiles - NO DISCUSSION' should be kept stickied

It might be possible to combine a lot of the information in some of the other stickied threads together into a megasticky titled something like 'important information about this forum - please read before posting', and then include the key information like not posting info about interviews, links to other useful resources etc. I've seen that lots of forums have one sticky like that, but also concede that probably most people never read it.

Reply 5

nexttime

I strongly agree with making there be less stickies. Pretty sure I've said that before.

I think people don't use them currently as there is too many and they don't bother reading. You might find that with fewer they get used.

Is TSR paid for the medic portal one? Does that have to stay?

Does the reminder about not discussing interviews have to stay? Do we think it actually makes a difference?

A lot of the others read as really useful and probably represent like 90% of the threads in the forum, but if they need to be compressed into an FAQ then needs be. The title of the FAQ thread will be important! Should probably mention work exerience, "Am i good enough", and 'What subjects?'

Reply 6

Es0phagus

No one reads stickies.

Reply 7

TSR George

I have unstickied a few, leaving 3 and also a "Previous stickied threads" post. Let me know if you want any to return in the near future.

Post originally created by ecolier.

Reply 8

Ghotay

Looks waaay better!

...Do you want to remove some from this subforum too? :colondollar:

I think the following could probably all be removed:
Getting help for mental health problems in medical school
Improving electives for medical students – your voice counts
Medicine in America megathread
Medicine study help

And I'm not sure if "Digitalis' Awesome Thread of Textbooks" is a resource that anyone's really using? Or if that could be unstickied too I dunno

Reply 9

ForestCat

I don’t think the author of getting help has been around for a while. Not seen anything by them. Agree it can be unstuck

Reply 10

ForestCat

We’ll protect you! Don’t worry, many regular posters were quite clear of their opinions about having them post on here and as far as I know they’re all still practicing 😜

Reply 11

meddad

Sorry, I wasn't sure whether from that other discussion whether you would sticky the thread again or not ie: Which Medical School should I apply to?
Tbh it makes no real difference to me, except people spread their questions elsewhere. At the peak last year, I guess I and another contributor were posting for about 3-4 hours a day with answers, and it was very popular.
It only needs to be prominent until 15th October though, and could then be put into hibernation agin until next August.

Reply 12

meddad

Yes, I agree that people sensibly should have made their decisions by the end of August, but it seemed to me that the busiest time last year was the 2 weeks before UCAS closed mid-October (stats may prove me wrong)

I don't really have a view on the other threads because I don't know them well enough. I suspect they're all useful.

If I have to trawl around other threads looking for people needing advice I will probably eventually just stop doing it. That's not a criticism, just a fact of life.That would be a bit of a shame, because quite a few people have said that they only got medicine offers because they had followed my advice on where to apply. That probably applies to other posters on that thread too.

I guess, at the end of the day, people will just get the best advice they can elsewhere.

Again, no criticism intended. It's just the way I see it.

Reply 13

meddad

If that is something that just makes people aware of the thread then it might be useful.

I have collected quite a bit of information about Med School cut off data which is in a 13 page word document. It's been reviewed and added to by the other main poster on that thread. It seems a shame to waste that knowledge. Hopefully it will get added to, as I successfully got cut off data from one Med School who refused to publish it. It took 6 months, an FOI request, and an appeal to the ICO to get it released, but following that I'm probably going to try the same with a few others.

Reply 14

meddad

The only suggestion I have if you want to restrict the number of sticky threads is to combine two of them eg: "Applying for medicine - am I good enough and which medical school should I apply to?"

Not sure if that will work, but it's all I can think of.

Reply 15

meddad

I notice the Medical Schools forum also has 3 stickies. One is entitled the Medical Schools Forum Index 2017. It's seems to serve no purpose. What information is on there relates to 2017, but mostly it's a list of university links which lead nowhere. It could more usefully be replaced with the Which Medical School to Apply thread (imo)

Reply 16

meddad

Not trying to be funny, but since we last spoke the stickies on the Medicine forum seem to have increased from 3 to 6, so the argument seems to have fallen apart somewhat.

Reply 17

999tigger

I definitely wouldnt remove that was if the information is good. one of the worst ones to remove . only takes one person a year t make it worthwhile.

Reply 18

meddad

I don't envy you the amount of effort that you must put into this.

I'm surprised that there's no process where CA/ST's talk to each other and agree a common approach, otherwise you're fighting an uphill battle with your good ideas for tidying up the forum.

Reply 19

nexttime

Whilst noting the above, i do agree that the graduate thread is a strange one for someone to choose to have stickied!

I assume the UKCAT one is being removed after the October deadline.

Original post by GANFYD

[The "Which Medical school should i apply to?" Uberthread] is a really good way to keep all med school application advice in one place, as those of us who try to help out struggle to search all posted threads individually, and this thread ensures that any advice offered is available to the widest possible audience. It has been far quieter than normal this year, and can only assume this is because applicants cannot find it or do not realise its usefulness.
Any chance of remedying this and pinning it again? Thanks very much

See discussion.

Original post by 999tigger

I definitely wouldnt remove that was if the information is good. one of the worst ones to remove . only takes one person a year t make it worthwhile.

I think the tidy up the forum we need to make some tough decisions and personally i do not think that thread made much difference.There are so many other sources of help out there.