Healthcare Science (Physiological Sciences) 2016 Entry

Hi! c:
I've applied to Leeds, St George's, Southampton, Swansea and MMU. I chose this course because it's really specific & I've seen the career outcome and I'd love to work as a cardiac physiologist! I haven't heard anything from these universities, except that Leeds won't do anything until after the deadline (and I got a postcard from Swansea this morning, haha). Even though my head of 6th Form only sent it 6 days ago, it's making me panic a bit because I know loads of other people on here seem to have already had offers AND interviews and I'm just panicking, aha.

What about you??

And good luck to everyone too! c:

I've applied to the same, except for Plymouth instead of MMU! I was interested in this course because the cardiac side of biology was my favourite, and I wanted a career with patient contact so cardiac physiology seemed like the most apt option I have interviews on 13th at St George's, 14th at Southampton and 30th at Plymouth so far (all in Jan)- I'm so nervous!

I'm sure you'll hear back soon bc I heard most unis ask people for interviews in rounds depending on when your application was sent off. I think people who sent it in October have already had some interviews, I sent mine in November and I heard back in December (it seemed like they took forever!). So you'll hear back very soon, I'm sure

ST GEORGE'S
I had my first interview at St George's on 13/01 and I am so glad it was so much more relaxed than I expected it to be. We arrived at 1pm and were given a short tour of the university hospital by a senior Med student and a second year Healthcare student. We were then taken back to a small room (there was about 20 of us?) and given a quick presentation on the course. Then about 6 Healthcare students were brought in and they answered our questions whilst we were waiting to be called up for our panel interviews. I had 2 interviewers and I cannot stress how incredibly comforting they were. It was more of a 'chat' than an interview. They asked very generic questions that you should already be prepared for: "tell me about yourself"; "why did you choose this course"; "how did you hear about it"; "tell us about your work experience"; "what are the qualities needed to be a CP"; "what would you do if a patient was distressed (like being really grumpy and causing problems unnecessarily)"; "what kind of difficulties do you think you would face with this course (e.g. travelling to placement)"; "cardiac or resp+sleep"; and it ended with "do you have any questions (try and ask at least one)". It was supposed to be a 15 minute interview but I was done in 5-10 minutes. I loved the university and the lecturers and the whole department so much. Although I have to say the interview details aren't always conveyed very well and I hadn't got any information on what I had to bring. Take your various forms of identification with you (e.g. passport, birth certificate) and all your education certificates + photocopies. But there were people in my group who didn't have photocopies and the uni did it for them, and some people used their Oyster cards as identification hahha So it's very relaxed

SOUTHAMPTON
I had my Southampton interview the day after on 15/01. It started at 10am and a lot of people were late due to an accident causing lots of traffic into the city but they were very flexible with that. First there was a presentation, then half the room (6 of us) were taken to another room. 5 of us had already met at St George's the day before so that definitely helped! There was a Cardiac nurse, a second year HCS student and another professional marking us, and a professor organising the day sat in too. We were given a statement like: "Patient Safety and Safeguarding the Public are key issues within the NHS"

We were given poster paper and two pens and we basically just discussed it for about 30 minutes? We were then taken back to the room and then called up for one-to-one interviews. I had the second year HCS student and the other professional. It was a quick 5-minute interview and they had 5 generic questions to ask me so they went through it: "why..."; "an example of your experience with working with people"; "qualities needed for a CP and do you think you have them"; "what does the job entail"; "cardiac or resp+sleep"- around those lines. They were both very nice but it was quick so keep your points precise. Then we were given lunch with sandwiches and cakes and coffee and tea. Next, we were given 3 separate tours which was a bit tedious (first was cardiac tour, second resp+sleep, third clinical skills lab (like where you learn)). Then were done at around 4pm so it was quite a long day. Do try and bring all the documents that the uni asks for, especially the passport-size photo bc that's used when marking for the group discussion. However, they are very nice and said they will email people if they need anything and you can send it to them so it's okay

That doesn't sound too bad! I'm glad the interview seem really relaxed too. It seems a bit odd that it was a HCS student who gave the interview but it's still a good thing, haha. Good luck with your Plymouth interview! (And Swansea and Leeds if you've got an interview with them yet!)

Yeah, we thought that too! But to be fair, she was the Vice President of an union/committee(?) to do with the course so it wasn't just random. I've heard Medical students do MMI interviews for Medicine after a little bit of training so maybe it was like that Thank you! Good luck to you too

Ohhhh, I see!

This is definitely a weird question, but what did you wear/what did people wear to the interviews?? Some of my interviews are way too close together and I feel that wardrobe may become an issue.

Hahha don't worry, I was fussing over the same! I wore dresses and tights with a simple black blazer and small heels to both interviews. One was a short-sleeved peter pan collar dress; the other was a long-sleeved shirt dress. The girls mostly wore dresses/ smart top + fitted midi skirts with blazers. I saw very few wearing the same, but with trousers. The boys (I saw 2 lol) wore a shirt, tie and trousers, without the blazer. You could just switch the shirts/tops and you'll be fine

(Oh btw where have you heard back from?)

Ok, that sounds good, thank you so much!

I've heard back from everywhere apart from St George's! I heard back from Swansea today, and they want me down there next week. I hate how they've given me almost a week's notice but I guess some unis are like that.

Oh wow! Swansea's the furthest uni for me so if I do get an interview (fingers crossed!) I hope they give me some time to sort out my transport :/ Do you live near it at all? But do post about Swansea's take on interviews once it's over Good luck, too! Also, when's your Leeds one? I'm going up on the 8th of Feb

I live in North Wales, but it's such a pain to get down there! The roads are just mountain roads and country lanes for almost 80% of the way down.
I'll definitely tell you how it goes Thank you!
My Leeds one is on the same day! Mine's in the morning - what about you? Good luck for Leeds, too!

I got an offer from Leeds a few week ago but I haven't received any letters from them. Just wondering if anyone else is the same?

I'm still waiting for replied from unis...starting to go slightly insane!

It's been a whole month and Swansea still hasn't replied!! I don't even care if I get a rejection or not, I just want a reply!

When did you have your Swansea interview, it's a month since I had mine, I'm wondering if we were at the same one!