The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

If I don’t get an offer on first try for medicine

I finished year 12 and i’m currently predicted AAA in Chem, Bio and Psychology. I don’t really care about getting in a top uni for medicine but, if I didn’t get an offer, what should I do? I’m asking because I know how competitive it is to get in and that sometimes even those with top grades don’t get an offer, so I’d like to be prepared on what to do in case this happens.
Firstly, there are no "top unis" for medicine. All UK medical degrees are GMC accredited and thus equal in the eyes of the GMC and, more importantly, the NHS. Since the NHS has a monopsony on postgraduate training for medical graduates, this means that where you do your medical degree will not make a difference in postgraduate medical recruitment directly. Which medical school you went to is not even part of the algorithm that determines foundation post placement, and recruiters for specialty recruitment after the foundation programme will be barred from prejudicing applicants based on where they studied medicine (and in many cases there will be things in place to prevent this, like your application being reviewed "blind" without that information available to the recruiter and/or interviewer).

In any case, generally the advice given on here is if you don't get into medicine initially but are still focused on a career in medicine, is to initially try your luck in clearing. There are usually some medicine courses in clearing, although often it's more competitive I gather to get in via clearing. After that your best option is to take a gap year (or two or more) to improve your application (e.g. prepare more for UCAT/BMAT, resit exams if applicable, get more work experience and spend time reflecting on it etc) and reapply.

Of course if you decide medicine isn't for you, then you can look at applying to another subject through clearing or during a gap year, or if you applied for a 5th non-medicine option you could go to that one. However this is not something you should do unless you have decided against medicine - you should definitely not aim to do another degree then apply to medicine as a graduate if the alternative is taking a year or two out to improve your application and reapply immediately.
Reply 2
Avatar for SyedN
SyedN
21
You can maximise your chances of getting in by applying strategically and applying to your strengths.

If however you do not get in first time, just take a gap year and apply again using the feedback you have been given!

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you