Life after getting into medicine

Alot of the threads in here are about getting into medicine. To get a realistic idea about medicine, I would like to find out about life after completing a medicine degree.

1) What's the number/percentage of people who drop out of medicine degree?

2) Do we need to spend alot time studying? How many hours do you spend studying a day?

3) For FY1 and FY2, are there any exams? Do we need to spend alot of time outside of office hours to read up about the medical symptoms and treatment of the ward that we are attached to?

4) Is it extremely difficult to pass MRCP. Cause the passing rate is around 65% to 70%. Below are the 3 different types of exam.

- MRCP(UK) Part 1

- MRCP(UK) Part 2 Written

- MRCP(UK) Part 2 Clinical (PACES).

1) My personal experience: very few; well over 90% of my year completed the degree. If you want national figures you're going to have to do a search or put in a FOI request.

2) How long is a piece of string? I would do a couple of hours every day after pre-clinical. During clinical years I'd read whilst commuting and also during gaps on placement when anything wasn't happening, so I didn't do that much when I got home in the evenings.

3) The MSRA is a selection exam for some specialties which you can do in FY2 if you're intending on applying to specialty training that year. There are other postgad exams which allow FY1/2s to register. There are no mandatory exams however. Your progression during FY1 and FY2 is based on your eportfolio, which is a kind of ongoing "coursework" which you have to complete satisfactorily to be able to pass to the next stage of training.

4) Are you sure the pass rates are that high?

You can read all about postgrad exams here:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5202178

...but if you're currently an applicant I really wouldn't worry about MRCP!

There are no mandatory exams however. Your progression during FY1 and FY2 is based on your eportfolio, which is a kind of ongoing "coursework" which you have to complete satisfactorily to be able to pass to the next stage of training.

Sorry to jump in here, but what is the pass rate (roughly, no exact figures needed) for progression from FY1 to FY2? Is it something that generally most people pass?

I don't know the exact figures but I would guess "very high". Making a doctor repeat FY1 would be seen as a very big deal as you are hindering their progression to full registration by a year (with all the implications that has for their career and the workforce), so it would not be done lightly.

ePortfolio isn't like sitting a demanding exam with a high pass mark. It's mostly a tedious tickbox chore which involves collecting various bits of "evidence" and reflective learning throughout the year and ensuring they're all uploaded to the correct sections by particular deadlines. The main issues are some pieces of evidence are more challenging to obtain than others, and there is sometimes an element of having to chase more senior doctors for signatures. In general, most people get through however. It is obviously in the NHS' interests to pass you otherwise they are going to be short of senior doctors.

I am not a fan as you might be able to tell

Thank you, it sounds like a very similar process to DFT so I’m trying to mentally prepare for the process by extrapolating data from medics

what is DFT?

Alot of the threads in here are about getting into medicine. To get a realistic idea about medicine, I would like to find out about life after completing a medicine degree.

1) What's the number/percentage of people who drop out of medicine degree?

2) Do we need to spend alot time studying? How many hours do you spend studying a day?

3) For FY1 and FY2, are there any exams? Do we need to spend alot of time outside of office hours to read up about the medical symptoms and treatment of the ward that we are attached to?

4) Is it extremely difficult to pass MRCP. Cause the passing rate is around 65% to 70%. Below are the 3 different types of exam.

- MRCP(UK) Part 1

- MRCP(UK) Part 2 Written

- MRCP(UK) Part 2 Clinical (PACES).

what is DFT?

The course tutors basically jsut kept saying "do what you'd do if you saw this at work guys"

Haha, that's up there with "it's basically just like finals, they just want to see that you're a safe pair of hands" - oh the things you get told during PACES revision

Haha, that's up there with "it's basically just like finals, they just want to see that you're a safe pair of hands" - oh the things you get told during PACES revision

My husband (who is a PACES examiner) is wheezing wiht laughter!
Not sure if he'd be more surprised if someone did what they did at work in PACES or did what they did in PACES at work!!

Is the Pace exam very hard to pass?

I have never tried!

What about the MRCGP exam?