Typical week in medical school

First year at Imperial, this was my timetable for the last two weeks of second term pre-mock exams (it's a fortnightly pattern basically), not including extracurricular


Monday: 2 prerecorded lectures on the large bowel and the pancreas and small bowel, plus a guided online reading/videos/reflection activity as hospital placement prep. All scheduled post 12pm as we're coming off a long weekend

Tuesday: 9-10.50am group discussion reflecting on patient care, 12-1.50 ECG analysis tutorial, prerecorded lecture on cardiovascular disorders

Wednesday: 9-12pm live tutorial preparing for hospital placement, afternoon off

Thursday: prerecorded Upper GI lecture, 9-10.50 Obstructive Jaundice tutorial, 1pm-2.20 anatomy of the thorax 2 clincal skills session (chest auscultation) at Charing Cross, 4-5pm thorax 2 dissection session at Charing Cross

Friday: 10-11.50am cardiovascular disorders tutorial

Weekend off

Monday: 9-10.20 genitourinary organisation and urinanalysis lab at South Ken, 10.40-12pm COPD: Clinical trial of a novel drug tutorial at South Ken, afternoon prerecorded lectures on Ions, Vitamins and Minerals, and Regulation of Gut Function and Appetite, anatomy of the thorax 2 post-session reading

Tuesday: morning prerecorded lectures on urological and renal disorders, and GI cancers, 1-2.50 tutorial on digestion

Wednesday: 9-12pm CSI TBL exam on cases 6 and 7

Thursday: all day GP placement in Fulham

Friday: morning pre-recorded lectures on pancreatitis and liver faliure, 10-11am renal disorders tutorial, 1-2.50 GI disorders tutorial, 3.30-4 formative test on the gastroenterology module


Obviously this is pre-clinical.

Thanks a lot for this.
I know your lectures are pre-recorded this year, but would you normally be required to attend all lectures? Do they register your attendance?

I seriously doubt it because second years and above go on about skipping lectures. They told us at the start of the year our attendance would be checked but I’ve heard of people who’ve missed all the anatomy sessions and no one has cared it seems like.

@AnnaBananana will know for sure.

I seriously doubt it because second years and above go on about skipping lectures. They told us at the start of the year our attendance would be checked but I’ve heard of people who’ve missed all the anatomy sessions and no one has cared it seems like.

@AnnaBananana will know for sure.

I'd love to be able to apply for Imperial, but I don't know if I'll be predicted an A* for any subjects this year, as I really messed up my mocks. I know that Imperial says their minimum requirement is AAA, but most applicants have A*s. Do you think it would be worth applying to Imperial if I were to be predicted AAA?

Ahh the age old “your attendance will be rigorously monitored this year” is all talk and no action

You can apply with AAA predicted, but the offer is highly likely to be A*AA, unless you are contextual

My postcode wouldn't give me a contextual offer, but would the fact that I missed 2 years of primary school when I was younger give me a contextual offer?

Ahh the age old “your attendance will be rigorously monitored this year” is all talk and no action

Skipping lectures is incredibly common, out of my year group of 64, less than 20 of us would turn up to lectures

Ahh, you say that, but I think it depends on the university. When I was pre-clin at Leicester, you were supposed to swipe your student card in to each lecture theatre/room you were scheduled to be in because they used that for attendance. If you missed 4 days of timetabled activities, you would have a meeting with your personal tutor; at 6 days you would have a meeting scheduled with the head of your year; at 8 days you would be referred to the health and conduct committee; at 10 days (maximum allowed for pre-clinical years at my uni) I think you would have a meeting with the head of the medical school. I know for a fact that this wasn't all talk as I had to take a week off during my first year due to being really ill from the flu (the awful 2018 strain!) and I went through the meetings! From my experience the meetings were just to check in with you and provide support if needed. After I recovered from the flu, I turned up to my meeting with the head of my year and he just said 'Oh yes, the flu is awful this season, isn't it?' and then sent me on my merry way

Skipping lectures is incredibly common, out of my year group of 64, less than 20 of us would turn up to lectures

Good to know! I am a total nerd so I would probably still go

Ahh, you say that, but I think it depends on the university. When I was pre-clin at Leicester, you were supposed to swipe your student card in to each lecture theatre/room you were scheduled to be in because they used that for attendance. If you missed 4 days of timetabled activities, you would have a meeting with your personal tutor; at 6 days you would have a meeting scheduled with the head of your year; at 8 days you would be referred to the health and conduct committee; at 10 days (maximum allowed for pre-clinical years at my uni) I think you would have a meeting with the head of the medical school. I know for a fact that this wasn't all talk as I had to take a week off during my first year due to being really ill from the flu (the awful 2018 strain!) and I went through the meetings! From my experience the meetings were just to check in with you and provide support if needed. After I recovered from the flu, I turned up to my meeting with the head of my year and he just said 'Oh yes, the flu is awful this season, isn't it?' and then sent me on my merry way

Do you mind me asking what med school you go to? Seems like quite a small cohort

My postcode wouldn't give me a contextual offer, but would the fact that I missed 2 years of primary school when I was younger give me a contextual offer?

I’m proud to say I was one of those less-than-20-students (trekking across the city and dealing with all of TFL’s faulty trains, signal failures, passenger alarms and whatever else!)

Such devotion to teeth!! Hope your exams are going OK as well

Thank you
We’ve received our preliminary results already, despite not having sat the final 2 exams so it’s a bit of a weird situation this year.

When are your results coming out?

That seems a bit odd tbh. Hope they were good results though and you've got the grades you undoubtedly deserve!

Classic Imperial so 21 July! Have a case exam on Wednesday (could fail it and still pass the module tho ) and a podcast to submit next Tuesday, then I'm free pending exam results going wrong.

It’s weird because I have my results but then not really because they’re incomplete?
Oh wow 21st July! Ours can’t be that late because they’d need time to sort out resits.
I feel that, we’ve still got assignments due in after our finals too - it’s never ending

I’m a bit of a catfish commenting in all of these medical threads - I’m not a med student, so you’re quite right, you probably won’t find any medical cohort in the U.K. with a grand total of <70 students (except maybe that private one?)