Is intercalation important?

Was just wondering whether anybody knows how important intercalating is when applying to training posts after medical school?

Currently considering clinical oncology/paeds/psychiatry (bit of a range I know) but no doubt I’ll change my mind another million times.

Reply 1

junior.doctor

18

Plenty of people don't intercalate
A decent degree classification in an intercalated degree will get you some points for application for FY / core / specialty training, BUT, there are plenty of other ways to get points, many of which are far more straightforward than spending a year doing an additional degree.

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

I was wondering the same. NHS health careers for Psychiatry says “An Intercalated Degree is desirable”. Does anyone know about this?

Reply 3

Democracy

20

Original post by Anonymous

I was wondering the same. NHS health careers for Psychiatry says “An Intercalated Degree is desirable”. Does anyone know about this?

They say that for all specialties, and it will count for more points on your application yes. In practice, however, the state of psych recruitment is dire and you definitely don't need additional degrees in order to get into psychiatry training.

Reply 4

angela_ecco

4

Hello guys, I'm sorry about my lack of knowledge... but how does the system of points on your application work? I'm not from UK so still not as familiarised with the system. Thank you so much! :smile:

Reply 5

thatonethere

16

Original post by angela_ecco

Hello guys, I'm sorry about my lack of knowledge... but how does the system of points on your application work? I'm not from UK so still not as familiarised with the system. Thank you so much! :smile:

To put it into context for you, for foundation applications the maximum score is 100 and only a max of 5 of those points are from degrees. Even then a 2:1 BSc gets you 3 points, 4 for a 1st/MSc and 5 for a PhD... for specialty applications however it varies according to what you are applying for. I like psych and have always wanted to do a MSc however I don't want to take a year out to do one when I already have a BSc when I can easily do some audits which will exceed that 1 extra point I would have got from an extra qualification.

Reply 6

Polioz

14

Original post by thatonethere

To put it into context for you, for foundation applications the maximum score is 100 and only a max of 5 of those points are from degrees. Even then a 2:1 BSc gets you 3 points, 4 for a 1st/MSc and 5 for a PhD... for specialty applications however it varies according to what you are applying for. I like psych and have always wanted to do a MSc however I don't want to take a year out to do one when I already have a BSc when I can easily do some audits which will exceed that 1 extra point I would have got from an extra qualification.

Just to add on to this. Whilst 3-4 points does not seem like a lot out of 100, in my opinion they make a huge impact on your foundation application. 4 points is the difference between getting your top choice and a decent track vs getting 3rd or 4th choice. Everyone is so close together.

At the end of the day, everything you do in medical school is just a buffer for the BS SJT exam that will decide your fate.

Is intercalation important?

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