graduate medicine

Hi,

Sounds like you'd be in a good position to apply for medicine as a graduate, with a science degree and science A-Levels. Graduate is more competitive and expensive, but there are plenty of people on here who've applied successfully. I know it's awful when you don't get the results you want and you feel like it's all over, but there is hope

If you have any questions about GEM, feel free to ask.

thank you so much for the reply!
so have you taken graduate medicine then?
i've seen worries that there might not be GEM in the future? how likely is it for this to happen?

No problem I wanted to do medicine since I was about 15, didn't get the A-Levels I needed, so I applied last year (unsuccessfully), applied again this year and I'm starting GEM at Warwick in September.
Yeah, there are rumours it might disappear... I'm not sure how likely it is, but places are reducing their cohorts, i.e. SGUL halved their places, Leicester got rid of their GEM course, Imperial have switched to 5 years. However, the point of GEM is widening access to medicine, so it'd be a shame to completely eliminate such a popular avenue. It might be altered somehow, but it's really difficult to assess at the moment I think.

congratulations! and good luck with medicine
what degree did you do before GEM then? and did you do the GAMSAT and/or UKCAT? (sorry for all these questions!)
ahhh that's disappointing to hear, i really do hope they won't eliminate it completely

thank you so much for the reply!
so have you taken graduate medicine then?
i've seen worries that there might not be GEM in the future? how likely is it for this to happen?

Thanks! Very excited, but it's going to be tough! I did biomed, very original, I know :P
I sat the UKCAT only, really didn't fancy the GAMSAT as it's expensive and I didn't feel I had the time to devote to revision whilst studying.
I really hope not. Warwick and Swansea have graduate only courses, and they're both relatively new, so it'd seem unlikely for 2 newish schools to completely close... Assuming some avenues for GEM stay open, here's a brief overview:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=15889-graduate-entry-medicine-a-guide

Also, here are more profiles of applicants, including GEM - http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=865511

Cant copy the link for some reason (on my ipad atm) but if you google "student bmj" one of homepage articles is about the future of GEM. To summarise, its quite likely to disappear if the gov goes ahead with plans to docs full registration immediately on graduation, reason being that european rules require docs train for 5 years to be able to practice. At the moment FY1 counts as a training year as we dont get full reg til FY2. Id say, reading about, theres a reasonable chance the gov could go ahead with these plans, question is whether it will happen before you graduate, which is uncertain. As the above post mentions, unis are already cutting back as a result so may well self-destruct regardless of plans going ahead.

Basically i wouldnt rely on it being there; may be the 5 year course is the only option. Sorry to bring bad news. Dont give up though, may take a while but if youre keen enough youll get in!

thank you for the reply!
when you say the 5 year course does this mean the undergraduate course? or GEM? and would this mean they would no longer give out the loans to pay for half of the tuition fee?

I suppose they may keep 5 year grad only courses but tbh im not sure and given the current government's reduction on things like maintainence loans I'd suggest funding is unlikely if they do exist. I imagine it woyld prob just be the standard 5 year undergrad though. In the end it depends on conserative policy, which isnt necessarily focused on equality of access (not having a major dig here, i voted for them, sorry!).

Oh, and after 1st year atm you get all fees paid (in loans) if youre english. I mention this purely cause I'm from scotland and thus get sweet fa while my flatmates get £14,000 p.a. Not that im bitter or anything...

hmm yeah that's disappointing do you know if the standard undergrad entry requirements for graduates look at your degree rather than your a levels?

what route have you gone down by the way?

I applied for 3 undergrad and 1 gep so know about the ones i applied to but that's it. Entry requirements change every year too so basically you'd need to look at each uni individually, will be on the website.

First degree is in law and have no science a-levels so limited where i could apply. Applied to keele and dundee pre-med, they didnt care about a-levels except that i couldnt have chemistry. If I'd had chem then i think it had to be a B for the 5 year program though. Durham 5 year undergrad didn't care either, nor did warwick gep (where im studying med.). However i applied to them specifically because they didnt care; most generally want some a-levels, though the requirements are usually reduced, often bbb plus a 2.1 or above in your degree.

Will likely change by the time you apply though and each uni is different so its a case of looking it up at the time.

thank you so much this is really helpful
i've just got to hope that GEM is still around when i graduate if i take the offer i have

Hopefully. Just remember to enjoy your first degree (and being a fresher!) though, obv keep med in mind but don't stress at this stage. I spent the last year of my law degree waiting for it to end so i could start med (and find out whether id got in!) so wasted the year like it was some kind of prison sentence!