The Student Room Group

Any grad-entry med students who did an Anatomy degree?

I've pretty much lost all hope and faith of getting in to Medicine this year. I received a rejection from BSMS back in Nov and I haven't heard anything from the other Unis, but I have a feeling that the lack of news probably means bad news. I think I'll end up applying through extra and going down the grad-entry route. It's the academic part of my application where I'm falling short, my GCSE results pale in comparison to your average med applicant. Anyway, back to the point of the thread. I was just wondering if there were any grad-entry med students on here who did an anatomy degree prior to applying for med? What uni did you go to? What was your experience of the course like? How is it helping you with your medical degree? What other advice can you offer?

Thanks.

Rep at hand for helpful answers :smile:
I didn't do anatomy, but I would think that it's a pretty useful degree to do if you want to go into medicine. It would definately give you a headstart when learning anatomy on a medicine course. :smile:
Reply 2
dances_with_lamposts
I didn't do anatomy, but I would think that it's a pretty useful degree to do if you want to go into medicine. It would definitely give you a headstart when learning anatomy on a medicine course. :smile:


What did you study and how is that helping you now? I'm thinking of anatomy or Biomedical Science or possibly neuroscience.
I did biomedical science, I've mentioned it before in other threads that I think it was a really helpful degree to do. I think I would have struggled with some of the concepts on this course had I not already covered them in my last degree. However, I think I would have liked to do a degree with a bit more anatomy & physiology because they are big parts of my course now and it would have saved me a lot of time if I was already familiar with the stuff. I hope that makes sense - I just read it and it seems jumbled up! :smile:
Reply 4
-F-
I'm thinking of anatomy or Biomedical Science.


I do Biomed at the moment at Hull uni, and I'm hoping to get into graduate medicine for 2010 entry (fingers crossed!) I got into HYMS first time round but my A level chemistry let me down on results day. I do enjoy my degree, but I often wish I'd done something a little less generic - a lot of "failed medics" go on to do Biomed courses. I think Anatomy sounds interesting and if it's what you enjoy then you should go for it! Biomed can often be suffocating, you learn so much close to medicine without actually doing it, and it is easy to resent that sometimes! :smile:


Don't give up quite yet though - my GCSEs weren't strong when I applied and I still got 2 interviews and 1 offer so there is always hope!
Yeah, Where did you apply? some uni's weight GSCE's differently, I got an offer - you can see my GCSE's on my prof page I think.

And don't give up yet, sometimes things come through very late, and sometimes even applying with your grades is a big enough step up
Reply 6
dances_with_lamposts
I did biomedical science, I've mentioned it before in other threads that I think it was a really helpful degree to do. I think I would have struggled with some of the concepts on this course had I not already covered them in my last degree. However, I think I would have liked to do a degree with a bit more anatomy & physiology because they are big parts of my course now and it would have saved me a lot of time if I was already familiar with the stuff. I hope that makes sense - I just read it and it seems jumbled up! :smile:


Where did you study? And where are you studying now? Im thinking of Medical Science at Birm uni, mainly to save money cause its pretty close to home. Not really sure why they called it Med Sci though or how its differs from Biomed Sci though cause they have it under Biomedical Science on UCAS. :s-smilie:

I emailed them inquiring on the differences and they replied with:

The main emphasis of medical science at Birmingham is to train students for careers in medical research and the programme should not be confused with accredited programmes where the aim is to train students to work in for example hospital laboratories.


Does it really matter though? When I'm just using this as a platform to study Med.
Reply 7
rainbowbex
Yeah, Where did you apply? some uni's weight GSCE's differently, I got an offer - you can see my GCSE's on my prof page I think.

And don't give up yet, sometimes things come through very late, and sometimes even applying with your grades is a big enough step up


I applied to BSMS, Leeds, Leicester and Southamptom.
-F-
I applied to BSMS, Leeds, Leicester and Southamptom.


Fair enough, Leeds and leicester both do a points score system - in which cases GCSE's seem to become more important. I'm afraid I don't know about the other two, but as southampton doesn't interveiw (I think) is there a chance they weight academics higher?
Reply 9
-F-

The main emphasis of medical science at Birmingham is to train students for careers in medical research and the programme should not be confused with accredited programmes where the aim is to train students to work in for example hospital laboratories.


Does it really matter though? When I'm just using this as a platform to study Med.



What they mean is that on an accredited degree program they will be preparing you for a career working as a Biomedical Scientist in a hospital lab (doing blood tests, microbiology and all sorts) so they teach you the knowledge and the skills to do this. Medical Science will not be the same thing, and as they talk about research expect it to be research based with a big emphasis on a final year project. Maybe it's best to get some prospectuses together and compare the two.

And even though it's only your "platform", it should matter because it's what you could potentially be doing for 3 years and you shouldn't decide in a hurry. :smile:
Reply 10
sizzle011
What they mean is that on an accredited degree program they will be preparing you for a career working as a Biomedical Scientist in a hospital lab (doing blood tests, microbiology and all sorts) so they teach you the knowledge and the skills to do this. Medical Science will not be the same thing, and as they talk about research expect it to be research based with a big emphasis on a final year project. Maybe it's best to get some prospectuses together and compare the two.


Oh right. So Biomedical Science degrees differ from uni to uni? I was under the impression that they would train you for the same purpose, much like a medical degree where at the end of the 5 years regardless of where you've studied you become a doctor.

Also a bit confused why ucas have different course codes B900/C900/B990 for whats essentially the same course 'biomedical science'.
Reply 11
-F-
I've pretty much lost all hope and faith of getting in to Medicine this year. I received a rejection from BSMS back in Nov and I haven't heard anything from the other Unis, but I have a feeling that the lack of news probably means bad news. I think I'll end up applying through extra and going down the grad-entry route. It's the academic part of my application where I'm falling short, my GCSE results pale in comparison to your average med applicant. Anyway, back to the point of the thread. I was just wondering if there were any grad-entry med students on here who did an anatomy degree prior to applying for med? What uni did you go to? What was your experience of the course like? How is it helping you with your medical degree? What other advice can you offer?

Thanks.

Rep at hand for helpful answers :smile:



the best is to get intouch with the universities that you will applay to then they will let you know what graduate courses they accept or just simply look at their entry requirment for graduate entrance (A101 cod).
have a look at this web, is really helpful.
one other thing is never give up, no matter what age you are, as long as you are sure if this is what you want. good luck

http://www.medschoolsonline.co.uk/index.php?pageid=11
Reply 12
-F-
Oh right. So Biomedical Science degrees differ from uni to uni? I was under the impression that they would train you for the same purpose, much like a medical degree where at the end of the 5 years regardless of where you've studied you become a doctor.

Also a bit confused why ucas have different course codes B900/C900/B990 for whats essentially the same course 'biomedical science'.



Well all degrees differ from uni to uni, but the basic content is the same and if the course is accredited then the content is regulated (by the IBMS to make sure all graduates have a good base knowledge), and this applies to most Biomed courses. However, it sounds like the Medical science course you are looking at isn't the same course at all (despite some content being the same), as it is more research based and not accredited?

The best thing you can do is look at the variety of courses on offer at a variety of places and compare them in terms of content, assessment type and the university itself. Hopefully you'll find yourself a good back-up

:smile:
Reply 13
Well lets just wait a minute, what were your GCSE's? As long as you have 5 C's or more you woul have an excellent chance of getting into Durham, Newcastle, and a few others! Seriously dont bother with grad entry, it might be useful, but it is seriously the long way round as most grad meds end up on 5 year courses anyway, Take a gap year and reaply! It will save you almost £20000 debt!
Reply 14
shaz111
Well lets just wait a minute, what were your GCSE's? As long as you have 5 C's or more you woul have an excellent chance of getting into Durham, Newcastle, and a few others! Seriously dont bother with grad entry, it might be useful, but it is seriously the long way round as most grad meds end up on 5 year courses anyway, Take a gap year and reaply! It will save you almost £20000 debt!


6 A's and 3 B's
-F-
6 A's and 3 B's

if you dont get in this year reapply.
you have the grades so why waste 3 years doing a degree?
Reply 16
ballerinabetty
if you dont get in this year reapply.
you have the grades so why waste 3 years doing a degree?


Cause I'm a re-sit applicant. I messed up my first year of A-levels, I do have extentuating circumstances, but with such a high influx of medical applicants are unis really going to seriously consider a re-sit applicant with subpar gcse grades when they have plentiful amounts of applicants with a tonne of A*s who are completing their A-levels in 2 years.
Reply 17
That said I did go to a **** secondary school, I had a potpourri of supply teachers for much of my time there and it was also under special measures, and my year had the worst grades since 1997, but I was the one that came out with the most A's in my school year. Noone got an A* lol. So my mediocre grades arent too bad considering my circumstances, I guess. I asked my old school head to write me a reference letter explaining this to help me with my application, but I think the unis just dont care. Why would they want Miss Average when they can have the cream of the crop? Hence, my plans to go down the grad-entry route. I know theres no guarantee that I'll get in that way either, but I dont have many other choices do I?
-F-
That said I did go to a **** secondary school, I had a potpourri of supply teachers for much of my time there and it was also under special measures, and my year had the worst grades since 1997, but I was the one that came out with the most A's in my school year. Noone got an A* lol. So my mediocre grades arent too bad considering my circumstances, I guess. I asked my old school head to write me a reference letter explaining this to help me with my application, but I think the unis just dont care. Why would they want Miss Average when they can have the cream of the crop? Hence, my plans to go down the grad-entry route. I know theres no guarantee that I'll get in that way either, but I dont have many other choices do I?

it is a policy at some unis to take in to account your schooling. look at foundation courses like east anglia, kcl, liverpool, nottingham and southamton. here there look for students who went to bad schools.