Preparing for the UKCAT early

I need some advice on how to master the UKCAT. I have the 1000 UKCAT questions book and I'm using medic portal. Does anyone have any other sources?

Also, how can I prepare for the interviews effectively. I am slightly anxious about this matter, but I'm willing to do all I can, to have a succesful interview. Any advice on preparing for it please?

What year are you in?

Medify is very good for UKCAT, and there's plenty of advice on here regarding interviews.
I'd start with the link below and if you have any questions then feel free to ask.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medicine

I'm in year 12, but my sixth form advisor has told me that I am a long way away from preparing for medicine (I'm also writing parts of my personal statement) but encouraged me to use the UKCAT book.

How can I make myself stand out in the interviews?

I've been reading books on philosophy and ethics and neurology, to increase my scope of knowledge on the subject. However, my general knowledge on stuff about NHS is quite poor. I understand bits of it, but I simply don't have enough understanding of politics to give an articulate opinion and I worry that I may embarrass myself.

I was thinking of doing the Extended Project Program (EPQ) and write a dissertation on the history of the NHS and my opinions on it, which would be useful. However I was told that this AS course wastes valuable time. What's your opinion on the EPQ?

In year 12 it's way too early to think about Interviews or UKCAT, focus fully on the exams you will take this summer so you can get the highest predicted grades.

The only thing i would make sure to do this year is your work experience and volunteering, keep relatively up to date with news surrounding the NHS/medicine in general and enjoy yourself.

EPQ is largely useless in my opinion.

Also take the time to the read the wiki in my first post, it will answer most of your questions.

Thank you, and that link seems to have enough information to answer a majority of my questions .

I am finding it difficult to get to shadow a surgeon or GP, but I've got an accepted role as an outpatient volunteer at my local hospital. The issue here is it's taking ages to commence! I applied last October and have done the mandatory training sessions last month, yet I haven't done any actual work as a volunteer.

Hi Kushala,

I wouldn't worry too much about specifically getting shadowing experience around a surgeon or GP. It's much more important to have experience of volunteering, where you can demonstrate things you have done, key qualities and how these make you a suitable candidate; it's actually more preferable to shadowing because you're only watching other people do things which is not a good indication of how well you could handle yourself.

We recommend that you search for more than one volunteering placement, such as in a care home as well as the volunteering placement you have lined up at your local hospital. You can read more about getting work experience here.

When it comes to standing out at interview and demonstrating general knowledge of the NHS, why don't you start here? We have a summary of the NHS, how it was formed and why it's important, as well as links to hot topics in the news regarding the NHS to help you get an idea of what to look for. We also recently published a piece on 5 books to read for aspiring medics - so you might want to check those out of your local library, if you haven't already!

If you want to know what kinds of questions might come up, we have a free interview question bank (with questions and answer guides) written by successful medical school applicants!

As HopelessMedic noted, it's really too early to start preparing for interviews or the UKCAT (as this is frequently updated). You really only need around 6 weeks to prepare for the UKCAT, so you don't want to run out of questions! Focus on performing well in your exams, getting as much experience as possible (and a variety) so you can rest assured that Medicine is right for you and have the experience to back up why it means so much to you.

Hope this helps!
The Medic Portal

Thank you ever so much! I use your website and I believe that the UKCAT question bank is a godsend!