Need advice with which degree to accept for intercalation

Hey,

I'm a third year medic intercalating this Sept.
I've received 2 offers to two very different unis and courses;
One is an iBSc at UCL (amazing uni) and the other is an MRes at Brighton (great course).

I'm finding it SO difficult with deciding which to accept as both have pros and cons. I go to King's so already know London and the social life here well so I know I'd enjoy UCL, and I believe and iBSc is less intense than a Masters.
On the other hand, a Masters will look super impressive for my future and I've never been to Brighton uni so would be nice to try a different city.

Does anyone who's done an MRes have any advice/experience they could share with regards to the difficulty of it? I'm guessing it's a LOT harder than a BSc... will it have an affect on my social life/free time?

Thanks :smile:

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 1

harper_

10

They are quite different courses - what was the reason for intercalating? If you want to do some research, pick the MRes. I am guessing the UCL course doesn't offer much opportunity to do it?

Reply 2

FriendlyMedic

OP

2

Original post by harper_

They are quite different courses - what was the reason for intercalating? If you want to do some research, pick the MRes. I am guessing the UCL course doesn't offer much opportunity to do it?

Thanks for your reply. Reason for intercalating if I had to be completely honest was to get more points for my EPM (Educational performance measurement) for when I apply for F1 posts in hospitals after graduating. My uni was very pushy with encouraging everyone to take one (probably for their own business agenda) but I decided to try a year in a different uni.

The course at UCL offers a 'research module', but of course it's a lot less intense than a whole year researching a topic of my choice.

Do you know how difficult an MRes would be? Do you have any idea if it common for medical students to do?

Reply 3

myra17

12

Original post by FriendlyMedic

Thanks for your reply. Reason for intercalating if I had to be completely honest was to get more points for my EPM (Educational performance measurement) for when I apply for F1 posts in hospitals after graduating. My uni was very pushy with encouraging everyone to take one (probably for their own business agenda) but I decided to try a year in a different uni.

The course at UCL offers a 'research module', but of course it's a lot less intense than a whole year researching a topic of my choice.

Do you know how difficult an MRes would be? Do you have any idea if it common for medical students to do?

Doing either of the degree with get your points. Many chose iBsc with few doing Masters as well. Masters is a bit more intense though. It involves more research in comparison to Bsc.

Reply 4

harper_

10

Original post by FriendlyMedic

Thanks for your reply. Reason for intercalating if I had to be completely honest was to get more points for my EPM (Educational performance measurement) for when I apply for F1 posts in hospitals after graduating. My uni was very pushy with encouraging everyone to take one (probably for their own business agenda) but I decided to try a year in a different uni.

The course at UCL offers a 'research module', but of course it's a lot less intense than a whole year researching a topic of my choice.

Do you know how difficult an MRes would be? Do you have any idea if it common for medical students to do?

Not sure what is common for medics. MRes would be challenging but likely not too difficult, especially if you enjoy the course. COVID makes everything more uncertain, so not sure how it would affect an MRes (I guess it depends a lot on the subject and how many lab hours you may have allocated).

The two biggest factors are probably:
1. How much will you enjoy each course
2. How much extra prestige there is in a medic having a MRes on their CV instead of an iBSc

Whether you plan on going into academia/medical research after you finish your medical degree is also something to consider - w.r.t. factor 2, having an MRes is slightly less important if you want a career in hospitals as opposed to a research lab.

I honestly don't know much about the specifics of any of this though; I am a physics graduate, unfortunately.

(edited 3 years ago)

Need advice with which degree to accept for intercalation

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