Will DofE help with getting into medical studies

hi im currently 15, hoping to advance into medical studies and am going to do the DofE award but although it says it can help me get into university, will this also help me to get into medicine?

Reply 1

junior.doctor

Yes and no.

There are no automatic additional points for DoE, and it won't automatically make you stand out from the person next to you or automatically make your application better for the fact that you've done it. Lots of medicine applicants do DoE, so it's by no means unique. Also, medicine applications aren't just about listing reams of extracurriculars on a PS, but about explaining how what you've done makes you suited to / shows you have some of the skills and attributes valued in a doctor.

"I have bronze / gold / whatever DoE." as a statement in your PS, means nothing. "I completed my silver DoE, which involved me doing xxx which demonstrated my ability to work as a team, problem solve and and manage under pressure" - is helpful. So it depends what sorts of extracurriculars you plan to do - you won't have space to talk about a large number of things properly, so pick a few contrasting things that show some contrasting skills.

Do DoE because you'll enjoy it and learn some things. Don't do it just because you think it'll make your application look better.

Reply 2

Jfueofkrnb

I did just bronze DofE and have gotten accepted into 3 universities for medicine. Although it won’t help in scoring points, I did mention it in my personal statement (although I never said I did bronze specifically lol). And I used my experience there in pretty much all my interviews.

A lot of interview questions ask about teamwork and leadership skills. It’s not the fact that you did DofE which is going to impress them, it’s how you explain what you learnt from it which is going to improve your chances.
I would recommend doing it, even if it is out of your comfort zone (which you could use in your answers) as it will show discipline and your ability to try something new.

Reply 3

GrapefruitBread

The above is a great response and entirely correct - I would add that though this is looking far to the future if you do decide to go forward with DofE it may just be worth recording any experiences that you think were particularly valuable in learning about skills like leadership and teamwork, this may help you out at interview! Additionally for the volunteering section of DofE it would be great if you could try for a nursing home or even better as an NHS volunteer - this would kill two birds with one stone and provides a fantastic insight into the realities of medicine.

Reply 4

SybilSypnosis

Thank you to all of you! These responses are really helpful!I wanted to do DofE just to encourage myself more and use it as a learning experience, which I will go forward with. I was just curious that if it increases the chance of hypothetically getting a place at a university or in an apprenticeship, as well as developing my confidence a lot more.I am very grateful for these answers, and I will definitely taking everything into account. I will definitely take work experience into account!