The Student Room Group

Aspiring Medic

Studying medicine requires a lot of fate (as well as commitment), a lot of: is it meant to be or is it not. I've heard a lot of people get the 4 big rejections. And some lucky ones with their 4 offers. We're all hard workers and we all see our own goals, sometimes it just takes longer.

Hi, my name is Christine and this is my blog. I will hopefully be documenting my journey to studying medicine.


For anyone that's curious these are my GCSE results:

Spoiler


I'm currently studying: Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Statistics (in Year 13)


UKCAT score:

Spoiler



I'll be updating how my revision has come along, mocks exams, daily life:u:...etc.


I will be replying to questions when I can, good luck to everyone applying for 2018 entry:smile:

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19:35 26/11/17

Just a small post about tips, whether you're sitting your GCSEs or doing your A-levels, don't burn yourself out. Listening to some sad piano music has made me think about all those times last year when I wouldn't sleep because I was worried I'd be 'wasting time'. When I pushed myself to do a bunch of revision that never got me to think about it properly. You can't memorise a textbook and expect to be able to answer the apply your knowledge questions or in fact, know that you've understood it properly. And to add, I didn't really have the best year, my Chemistry teacher hardly showed up, I had a bunch of covers for Biology but all in all, I've learnt from experience that if you really want something, don't hesitate to act! I complained enough times to my school until we were given covers for biology!

My results aren't the best but they're not the worst either. I forget that sometimes.:smile:And maybe you do too.

So, wherever you are in life right now: please treat yourself right. Give yourself enough breaks, and it's definitely okay to have a break even for the whole day, set a time for revision and surround yourself with people who make you feel good about you.

Overall, please don't forget to love yourself.

Christine :bunny2:
Hello! :h: there seem to be quite a few bloggers aiming for medicine this year! What attracts you to this course? :smile:

Good luck with your blog and getting the all important grades that you'll need :h:
Original post by Changing Skies
Hello! :h: there seem to be quite a few bloggers aiming for medicine this year! What attracts you to this course? :smile:

Good luck with your blog and getting the all important grades that you'll need :h:


Hellooo! Thank you so much!! I think I read somewhere that this year there's been a dramatic increase in medicine applicants since 2014 :smile:

ahhhh... the question I dread the most hehe.. :h:
I was one of those 'late' ones. In year 9, I had set my heart into doing creative writing -strange, I know. I loved the way words could influence a person and I really liked writing my own feelings and struggles into little short stories. I'm not sure why I wanted to do creative writing so badly because I didn't like doing descriptions at all! But it dawned on me that I really like understanding people and I like being involved in people's lives. Like an elderly woman who one moment was wheeling down the corridor in her wheelchair to another moment where she was wondering when her husband would pick her up (she'd forgotten he'd passed away). I think I really want to give people a comfortable life where they can feel as those they are happy and are in control of their own life. And also SCIENCE. :biggrin: The beauty of how organisms are living and breathing in the same universe with so many different mechanisms happening in the body which are all connected and specific is so so so amazing.

I hope that answers the question:smile::smile: I really like the GYG blog idea!
19:24 27/11/17 Cambridge Talk

Hi guys!

There's been a lot of stress recently and I think only today it has just faded away-slightly. I think I'm the type of person that will experiment and I'll test my luck. Okay, so back in October I went on an adventure with one of my best friends to see if I really wanted to go to Cambridge. And at the moment I did, and I applied despite many others advising me not to. It took so long for me to actually process the application, not because of my personal statement but because I was holding myself back on "testing the waters". I had a chat with a friend I met at a summer school and he made me realise that if I didn't I would regret it.

"Cambridge doesn't accept just anyone."
"It's really hard to get in."
"Not many people in our school get to go there."

I know.

I applied regardless. Andddddd... I got rejected!

Hahaha, I had actually been stressing so much about it to the point where I couldn't even focus anymore. I had already expected the rejection but with it being in the clear I think I've stopped overthinking so much. After worrying over the weekend and thinking I'd be an absolute meltdown today, I'm doing just fine. :tongue: My optimism has shot really high and it's really given me a goal of getting those top grades, not for anyone but myself.

And if you're wondering if I regret even applying, the answer is: not one bit!:tongue: I tried, and the result might not have been what I wanted but at least I know for definite now! It doesn't mean the dream is over, this is only the beginning...


Not being accepted into Cambridge won't determine if I'll be a good doctor or not. Not being accepted doesn't mean I'm not smart. Not being accepted doesn't mean I should stop trying.

I'm also really ecstatic for my interview at Hull-York!!!!

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE -FOR YOUR APPLICATION, YOUR INTERVIEWS, YOUR EXAMS!!!

*And if you did get an interview/accepted at Cambridge, well done you!!! If you didn't, don't give up, Cambridge isn't the end, make them regret it:wink:

I think that's all for this post :smile:!
Thanks for reading,
Christine

ps: any interview tips?:h:
20:57 28/11/17

Hiii! Late update today, I just got back from our Sixth Form Opening Evening, I was helping out in biology - doing heart dissections!

Having already done it last year, it felt a lot more familiar:smile: I was trying to encourage Year 11's and (prepared!) Year 10's to hold it and look at how wonderful it is! Two girls asked me if biology is good and if I like it. When I heard myself talking about what we learn I started to explain how I think that it's so amazing that there are all these mechanisms happening in the body (and in plants) and how they're interlinked, almost as if our bodies were a blueprint and that was how we were made in the womb. I really hope I didn't bombard them with all this new information but they seemed eager to know and I'm super glad that I could share my experience.:tongue:

It has been a whirlwind getting to this stage of self-assurance, I look back on how I was last year. I've really changed a lot and my view on sixth form has definitely altered. I absolutely love it! Independence with a touch of guidance from teachers. It's really hit me that this is the final year I'll get to do something like this for school and how I'll really miss it. I love explaining to aspiring scientists how things aren't really hard. And that if you really love what you're doing, you can just understand and apply it to real life! After all those years I've been complaining about the lack of everything in my school, there's no doubt I'll miss seeing my classmates and my teachers.

Soooo...during my spare time, I make posters to revise from. I also occasionally use Snaprevise and my CGP books (my exam board is AQA). I use them both together so that I can fill in all the information I need to understand. Snaprevise costs about £25 (when I got it) for one course ONLY! I got them all AS and A-level for both Chemistry and Biology. To be honest, they're great but they do have their small mistakes (not all the time!) so be careful using them:smile:. I wouldn't say they are a must, they are very informative (maybe a little over) but it's like having a lesson that you can watch over and over again. I get a lot of my "drawing inspiration" for cycles from them though, for example: IMG_9050.jpg


I spend quite a while on these, maybe a topic can take an hour+(?) but I make sure I fully understand it before moving on:tongue: I watch and read the same passage a few times.


I'm not sure what else I wanted to blog but I'm going to do some homework/reading before I go to sleep. :tee:

Thanks for reading, until next time.
Christine :h:
18:45 29/11/17

Hiiii!

Just got some topic tests back from chemistry! :smile:

Spoiler


After days of stressing about amines and not getting them, I went through them again and again until I felt somewhat confident. However, we went through the mark scheme for ages because Miss likes to explain things fully which is fair:smile: Then we did a few starters on condensation polymers, the lesson always goes really quickly but the content we learn drags a little. I'm not sure on how I feel about it. Do I start to read slightly ahead?

However, statistics after school was as fun as always :tongue: The lessons are always fuelled with energy even when we all have to stay until 5pm, even when he sets a bunch of homework.

I did a Core 3 mock for maths, hopefully I'll get those results back on Friday :h:.

There's not really much to say today. I'm doing okay though and I guess that's all that matters.

Until next time :^_^:, if you do have any questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading!
Christine
23:07 1/12/17

Happy 1st of December lovelies! :smile:

How are you all?

I didn't have time to update last night because I did some chemistry homework and then spent almost 2 hours dissecting and observing some hearts. Since the Cambridge Experience event, I have been really interested in hearts. We did some research on the separation of the four chambers which is really cool! I ended up doing a mini project for the event and the professor even marked it :smile:. I think it was the very, very first time I experienced a lecture (in a small group, of course) of purely medicine focussed topics such as embryology.

These days...the more I think about it I really do like being independent and in control of my learning. I don't get being talked at, I mean I can take in the information and use it, but what I really need to solidify my understanding is to look at everything with a greater depth than just my syllabus.

It's kinda late now and I'm jamming to Taylor Swift/BTS so I'll upload some more updates, maybe tomorrow or Sunday?


Have a good night :tongue:
Christine
17:12 3/12/17

Evening!

I finished all my statistics homework today! And while I'm on my 'dissection experimental phase period', I have just got a pig kidney to observe :smile: They're really big compared to the lamb ones we looked at in school.

I realised halfway doing my homework that I forgot to take my textbook home to finish my other chemistry questions-hopefully she won't mind too much. Nobody has shared them on the group chat yet. HOWEVER, on the bright side, I have completed the other sheet!

Everything seems a little hazy these days, especially leading up to the interview period. Still no reply from Nottingham (maybe on the 5th????) and Leeds (they did say they'll reply before Christmas though).

That reminds me, what are you guys planning to do in the days leading up to Christmas? I've almost got my presents sorted out, I'd love to share but I'm afraid my friends might see this post!

The cold nights are so so so exhausting, I constantly want to sleep :h:
Today, I got a 100 experiments book from WHSmith!! It was on offer for £6 and it was also the first thing I saw walking in, I guess fate brought us together. Funny coincidence though!

That's it for today, sorry for the slow updates-gotta work on weekends!

Christine
I'm loving your GyG blog so far (I'm a hopeful vet med applicant in year 12) and I love your enthusiasm for biology (it's my favourite science) and I hope you get to study medicine :smile:
Original post by OrangeArcher
I'm loving your GyG blog so far (I'm a hopeful vet med applicant in year 12) and I love your enthusiasm for biology (it's my favourite science) and I hope you get to study medicine :smile:


THANK YOU for reading:smile::smile:!! It's beautiful, isn't it? Even when I complain about the complexity of plants, I secretly admire how amazing they are. I hope your studies are going well! Vet med applicants are actually so so inspiring, imagine learning the anatomy of multiple organisms - never mind just one! Good luck!!:tongue:
What universities did you apply to and did you get any offers?How much work experience and volunteering have you done?Did you do the bmat, if yes what is your score?
Keep going :biggrin: Good luck!
Original post by christine14445
THANK YOU for reading:smile::smile:!! It's beautiful, isn't it? Even when I complain about the complexity of plants, I secretly admire how amazing they are. I hope your studies are going well! Vet med applicants are actually so so inspiring, imagine learning the anatomy of multiple organisms - never mind just one! Good luck!!:tongue:


Thanks, biology always seems to make sense to me where as with chem I'm like where did this come from and then the next second I'm like you know what I don't even want to be a vet (secretly crying inside) but I'll get there with chem 😕. I'm not letting myself fail A-level chem when I got an A* at GCSE so I'm just gonna push on and get an A or A* even if it nearly kills me (I did GCSE art and learnt even if I hate a subject I just need to persevere and try as hard as I can and miracles do happen 😊), same with maths tbh but not sure about the A* part as I'm not that amazing at it...
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous1502
What universities did you apply to and did you get any offers?How much work experience and volunteering have you done?Did you do the bmat, if yes what is your score?


Hi! Woah, a load of questions..okay,

Universities, I applied to:
Cambridge,
Hull York Medical School,
Nottingham,
Leeds (all for Medicine)
Leicester (Medical Biochemistry)

It's currently interview season for Medicine applicants so nobody will have any offers yet! :smile: However, I do have an unconditional offer from Leicester.

I can't exactly list everything I've ever done but I have been working for a family business since I was young, I've had work experience in a care home, volunteered at a library, spent a week in a hospital as a residential, been an online mentor, currently doing some mentoring...the list goes on.

I think that the more experience you get, it's obviously better. But what's very important is what you learn from them. So, I didn't go abroad to do my hospital placement but doing so doesn't put me at an advantage :smile: -anyone thinking of doing so, don't be discouraged by this. I mean it's really cool if you do!!! But it isn't necessary.

Yes! I did do the BMAT (it is required for Cambridge and Leeds) however, this went badly and after I saw it, I immediately regretted applying for 2 BMAT universities. But what happens, happens.

So here are the scores:

Spoiler



They're really bad! For anyone that sat the BMAT I hope you did well😂! I'm really glad section 3 turned out how it did though, I thought my argument was really brief.
Original post by OrangeArcher
Thanks, biology always seems to make sense to me where as with chem I'm like where did this come from and then the next second I'm like you know what I don't even want to be a vet (secretly crying inside) but I'll get there with chem 😕. I'm not letting myself fail A-level chem when I got an A* at GCSE so I'm just gonna push on and get an A or A* even if it nearly kills me (I did GCSE art and learnt even if I hate a subject I just need to persevere and try as hard as I can and miracles do happen 😊), same with maths tbh but not sure about the A* part as I'm not that amazing at it...



Personally, I think that the more you enjoy it, the more you start to understand and connect the dots!:smile: With chemistry though (I'm currently doing AQA), a lot of it is repeated!! I see it as a subject where you learn one thing and if you apply it to the next, it makes sense. :smile: Good luck anyway, and keep asking your teachers (I do it all the time until I understand).

Wow! Well done on your results :tongue:, I'm sure with chemistry that you don't hate that much, I mean you worked super hard for it I bet. If you are worried though, do lots and lots of exam questions. Is maths since the UMS version or has it changed?

Be more confident!! I'm sure you're amazing, nobody gets A*'s just randomly, they weren't just dished out to you, YOU worked hard for them.

Good luck:smile: even if it's hard you're still having a go at it and that's all that matters in the end.
19:07 3/12/17

TIP: You aren't a list of the things you've done. You're a list of everything you've learnt and who it made you to be. :tongue:
Thank you!!:smile:
Original post by christine14445
Personally, I think that the more you enjoy it, the more you start to understand and connect the dots!:smile: With chemistry though (I'm currently doing AQA), a lot of it is repeated!! I see it as a subject where you learn one thing and if you apply it to the next, it makes sense. :smile: Good luck anyway, and keep asking your teachers (I do it all the time until I understand).

Wow! Well done on your results :tongue:, I'm sure with chemistry that you don't hate that much, I mean you worked super hard for it I bet. If you are worried though, do lots and lots of exam questions. Is maths since the UMS version or has it changed?

Be more confident!! I'm sure you're amazing, nobody gets A*'s just randomly, they weren't just dished out to you, YOU worked hard for them.

Good luck:smile: even if it's hard you're still having a go at it and that's all that matters in the end.


Thanks, I have a love hate relationship with chemistry so I suppose I enjoy it 😅 it was a shock on results day as I thought I had flunked chem so when I saw the A* I nearly cried. Maths has changed to where there are three exams at the end of year 13 and I forgot to mention I also do further maths AS (I think I made a bad decision but my teachers have faith in me so... Yeah). At GCSE I got 4A*s (bio, chem, art and English lit), 6As (maths, English language, physics, geography, RE and ICT), 1B (further maths) and 1C (French) so I'm hoping I can do well at A-levels.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 19
wowwwww omds im amazed at your gcse results, congrats! idk much about ukcat scores and whats considered good since im only in year 11 lol but i'd really appreciate your help with some questions i have

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