Stuck between two universities!

Ooh, the night tube!! Whilst London is an amazing city, I'm just not sure whether I'd actually be able to handle living there everyday - whilst I do like city life, I'm also quite a big on the countryside and rural(ish) areas. Are there many green spaces in London? Parks etc.?

Fantastic! Do you enjoy it, and do you enjoy the course? What's it like? Sorry, full of questions :P

Oh, right - so basically a hardship fund is off the cards. Thought it was similar to a bursary but I'm clearly wrong :lol:

Dude... KCL is right near to Hyde park which is freaking massive!
Plenty of green space!

Reply 21

Helenia

20

Original post by XxKingSniprxX

Dude... KCL is right near to Hyde park which is freaking massive!
Plenty of green space!

The bit with most of the med school stuff isn't.

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Reply 22

Ghotay

13

Original post by suzyyyyxo

My problem is that I don't know much about how medical programmes abroad (i.e. In the USA) recruit international doctors - I've tried googling it but I don't know where to start looking and so far Google hasn't been very helpful. So the only thing I have to go on is the reputation of each uni abroad, as I don't really know any better. If I had an equal chance of being accepted into a medicine residency programme in America from Birmingham and King's, then I'd obviously choose Birmingham.

"To proceed towards ECFMG certification, your medical school and the year that you graduated must be in the International Medical Education Directory - imed.ecfmg.org Assuming your medical school and year are listed you will need to satisfy the Medical Science Examination Requirement, which entails passing Step 1 (basic medical) and Step 2 (clinical knowledge) of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). These parts can be taken before you complete your medical degree."

In short - if your degree is from a recognised and accredited university, you can apply to work in the US. Stuff like the USMLE and certification tests are going to be what swing your application, not which university you have gone to.

You're making decisions based off something you may or may not do in 5+ years time. And likely wouldn't have an impact on your working abroad anyway. Please, think about where you will be comfortable and happy for the next 5 years of your life and make your decision based off that

Reply 23

suzyyyyxo

OP

8

Original post by Ghotay

"To proceed towards ECFMG certification, your medical school and the year that you graduated must be in the International Medical Education Directory - imed.ecfmg.org Assuming your medical school and year are listed you will need to satisfy the Medical Science Examination Requirement, which entails passing Step 1 (basic medical) and Step 2 (clinical knowledge) of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). These parts can be taken before you complete your medical degree."

In short - if your degree is from a recognised and accredited university, you can apply to work in the US. Stuff like the USMLE and certification tests are going to be what swing your application, not which university you have gone to.

You're making decisions based off something you may or may not do in 5+ years time. And likely wouldn't have an impact on your working abroad anyway. Please, think about where you will be comfortable and happy for the next 5 years of your life and make your decision based off that

Thanks for this reply! Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I took a week to properly think about it and decide what I wanted to do.. Unfortunately, I'm still unsure. However I appreciate everybody on here taking the time to explain things to me! Many thanks :biggrin:

Reply 24

Cephalosporin

8

Original post by suzyyyyxo

That may be true actually! Birmingham has a very good reputation, yes, it's just that King's is more well-known. But I guess it's not a significant enough difference to make much of a difference. Ah fab, I'll check out that thread now! :biggrin:

Just stumbled across this thread! Have you completely made up your mind yet?
I'm a GKT medic (hello, hello)! Having never visited or applied to Birmingham, I can't really advise you on that front. From what I gather, the two medical schools are similar in that both are based on quite lecture - based, traditional curriculum. Here's my take on King's:

Pro's
At King's there is a heavy focus on anatomy teaching which is understandable because the anatomy department at King's is excellent! We have Prof Ellis, who is a legend. We also use a combination of prosections, plastic models and dissections. There's also the Gordon Museum, with a whole lot of pathology pots!

The year group is absolutely massive which means you're likely to find people you click with somewhere somehow. It's also a great feeling to meet someone new midway through second year because, well, there are over 400 medics in one year alone!

The research at King's is fantastic as well. There are loads of opportunities to get involved in projects during your undergraduate years here, whether through summer studentships or SSCs. King's also has links with John Hopkins - I think there are some people who went there for electives so definitely look out for that! There are quite a lot of student societies with a medical theme which is another thing I like about King's!

Con's
With the anatomy focus - it's probably not too great if you are not into anatomy! I definitely struggle with that but that's not the university's fault. The important thing is to find a course that you like and suits your interests. At King's, the first two years are quite (very) sciency, and you have to get through a lot of lecture - based content. It is traditional, and not PBL. That may be someone's cup of tea but learning from lectures may not suit everyone. Some people have complained about the admin at King's quite a lot - my experience with the admin has actually been quite positive. They have to sort out a lot of stuff for a lot of people. Having a massive year group may make it more easy for someone to feel quite lost. I haven't had that problem personally, but it's something to bear in mind. (Although, from what I hear, Birmingham has a massive year group too!)

Currently a preclinical medic so can't comment on clinics! From what I've heard, clinical teaching is really good, especially if you get allocated to a far away/peripheral hospital.

Another thing I have to say is about living and studying in London. I grew up in a tiny, tiny town with farm animals. I struggle with adapting to the city life in London. It did make me quite down for a really long time. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but I think choosing a university also means choosing a city to live in. Especially with medicine being such a long course, you have to think about whether you want to live in London for 5 years of your life. If I have to choose again, I would probably go for somewhere more rural (out of my list of medical schools, I probably should have gone to Dundee).
Anyway - wherever you go, good luck!! I'm currently trying to revise for 2nd year exams, and have many regrets. (The typical why didn't I use my time more wisely, what have I been doing all year) It's exciting having a brand new start!!!! :smile:

Stuck between two universities!

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