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Medical courses over summer 2019

I would like to do a medical course over the summer? Does anybody have any recommendations? I’m currently looking at Gap Medics and Medic mentor.

Are there any more courses like medic mentor that you know of? I really like how they structure the one in medic portal because it helps you with preparation for UCAT/BMAT, personal statements, interview prep,etc. However, I don’t think I’ll be able to go on the dates available.

So was just wondering if anyone knows any other summer course like the one medic mentor is offering.

Thanks loads

Reply 1

Lauren @ Medical Projects

Official Rep

Hey @yumemi,

Great to hear you're looking into Work Experience for University with companies such as Gap Medics and Medic Mentors.

We have several options of work experience available both in the UK and overseas, and we have availability this summer if you intend to apply in October for next year? Our courses all include an element of application preparation which involves interview practice, personal statement advice and guidance from a current Medical Student.

Happy to help if you want to drop me a message, or head over to our website for more information, dates and options: https://educationprojects.co.uk/medical-projects/

Have a great day
Lauren

Reply 2

meddad

Original post by yumemi

A lot of these courses are very expensive. Some Med Schools put on summer schools for low cost or no cost. Quite often this is aimed at people attending local schools eg: in that city, or in that county or neighbouring counties. Sometimes they are aimed at state schools or lower performing schools, or based on less advantaged post codes.

You may want to first check whether your nearest Med Schools have such schemes - try their websites, or email their Medical Admissions team.

Reply 3

JoeTSR

Not to mention, these courses are just poor-quality alternatives for actual work experience. If I'm reviewing your application, I couldn't care less what exotic courses your parents paid for. If anything, it's going to hinder you. If you want to impress the admissions team, get your hands dirty, or at least do something that shows you what it's actually like. Top things would be carehomes, HCA work, shadowing, volunteer orgs (SJA/BRC), anything like that.

Medic mentor - you don't need a course to tell you how to write a personal statement. If you do, you're gonna struggle.
Gap medics - a bit better, but still. What will you actually learn? How glamorous it is to be a consultant surgeon? Some clinical stuff that you won't need for years and will have forgotten by then?

Med schools are trying to widen participation, not limit it to the rich and privileged. And these courses teach you nothing of what medicine is actually like. Go empty out diarrhoea filled bedpans 10 times a day. Sit around at a first aid tent doing nothing all day until someone makes your day by asking for a plaster. Get rushed off your feet doing dogsbody work all day. After that, come out of it all smiling, still wanting to do medicine.

Those are the kinds of things that will make your application stand out. You will do all of those things throughout your course, again and again, in one form or another. Medicine is a long, gruelling slog, not an exotic holiday. It will test you, and you need to be able to cope. There's a lot of **** to crawl through (literally!) to get to the finish line.

EDIT: Had a further glance at Gap medics. I definitely doubt it had any bearing on any of these peoples' getting in. 'treated as a doctor' [role consisted of taking blood pressures and temps, i.e. £2k to be an HCA], 'shadowed surgeon, assisted in minor surgery' [picture shows in scrub cap and facemask, yet not gowned up, i.e. minor suturing, something you can easily watch/participate in as an HCA - picture is for show, no one wears that combination], cytologist [picture of an operating room, yet description clearly describes you watching someone look at slides through a microscope all day. I think if you asked for that kind of work experience, the response would be along the lines of 'well, I guess, if you really want to. Not sure why you would'.] If you want to go on an exotic holiday, go on one and enjoy it, but don't overpay so you can paint it as work experience.