How to get into Medicine?

ReportThread starter1 minute ago

I am a 25 year old psychology graduate and I've recently decided that I want to become a psychiatrist. I do not have A-Levels in the natural sciences, and my Bachelor's is in a social science. Other than attaining work experience in healthcare and doing at least two additional A-Levels through distance learning, what else can I do to maximise my chances of getting into med school (UK)?

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

10

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. :biggrin:

The Medicine forum gets a high volume of questions being posted, and some of these are already answered by the resources and Megathreads that members of the community and volunteers have created. This is an automatic post which is designed to highlight these resources. Below is a list of threads and articles that could answer your question (you should be looking in the original post of the megathreads). If one of the below threads is a more relevant place to ask your question, please post a reply in that thread to ask your question. If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked below, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.

Megathreads
(Please read the first post, before then posting any further questions you have within that thread.)
The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread
Medicine A-Level subjects queries
Work Experience and Voluntary Work

2023 Applicants:
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2023 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2023 Entry
Medicine 2023 entry for resit / retake / gap year applicants
A100 Medicine for International Students 2023 Entry
Medicine Interview discussion 2023 Entry
2023 entry A100 / A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Index of Individual Medical School Applicants' threads 2023 Entry

2024 Applicants :
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2024 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2024 Entry
GAMSAT 2024 / 2025 entry discussions megathread
UCAT 2024 Entry Discussions Megathread

Other application years:
Graduate Entry Medicine 2025 Entry
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2025 Entry

Useful Articles:
GCSE Requirements for Medicine
Everything you need to know about the BMAT
Work Experience as a Graduate or Mature student
Medicine Personal Statement Advice
Medicine Personal Statement Advice (Graduate Entry)
Interview Frequently Asked Questions
MMI Medicine Interview Tips
What to do after an unsuccessful first application

If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked above, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.

Reply 2

Pepeh4nds

9

Original post by Kyle_Thomas

ReportThread starter1 minute ago

I am a 25 year old psychology graduate and I've recently decided that I want to become a psychiatrist. I do not have A-Levels in the natural sciences, and my Bachelor's is in a social science. Other than attaining work experience in healthcare and doing at least two additional A-Levels through distance learning, what else can I do to maximise my chances of getting into med school (UK)?

You need to smash the entrance exams. The most important thing is getting to interview and your greatest hurdle is the GAMSAT. Applying to A101 GEM courses would probably be the easiest route for you as a lot of them don't require any A-levels. As long as you have a 2.1 degree and a high GAMAST to be shortlisted, you have a decent chance. Make sure you get some hands-on work experience ASAP, such as looking after patients in a hospital or residents in a care home. Talk to your local GP for a 2-day shadowing experience. Once you get all of this, your last step is interview practice. You really need to understand what the interview is testing and what it takes to be a Doctor. The journey is long and tough, the application process requires consistency and focus. Good luck.

Reply 3

Kyle_Thomas

OP

2

Original post by Pepeh4nds

You need to smash the entrance exams. The most important thing is getting to interview and your greatest hurdle is the GAMSAT. Applying to A101 GEM courses would probably be the easiest route for you as a lot of them don't require any A-levels. As long as you have a 2.1 degree and a high GAMAST to be shortlisted, you have a decent chance. Make sure you get some hands-on work experience ASAP, such as looking after patients in a hospital or residents in a care home. Talk to your local GP for a 2-day shadowing experience. Once you get all of this, your last step is interview practice. You really need to understand what the interview is testing and what it takes to be a Doctor. The journey is long and tough, the application process requires consistency and focus. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your reply. Currently I work in a Tesco warehouse, so I have two questions. (1) Can you recommend good GAMSAT study materials and (2) Do you know if I can arrange work experience despite working Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays? Because I need to pay rent, but also gain work experience...?

Reply 4

Pepeh4nds

9

Original post by Kyle_Thomas

Thank you so much for your reply. Currently I work in a Tesco warehouse, so I have two questions. (1) Can you recommend good GAMSAT study materials and (2) Do you know if I can arrange work experience despite working Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays? Because I need to pay rent, but also gain work experience...?

I recommend you watch all the GAMSAT videos from https://www.youtube.com/@jesseosbourne, get an idea of the content required. Then, I would recommend you using the official gamast material. For additional practice, you can find scanned copies of des o'neill gamast books. Although they're pretty old and some people say they don't represent the gamast exam anymore, I found them useful.

You must find clinical work experience. Book some work experience and perhaps time it with annual leave? Night shifts perhaps? There are online work experiences that count somewhat, such as the BSMS: https://bsmsoutreach.thinkific.com/courses/VWE

You should definitely be able to schedule some sort of work experience, contact the relevant teams at your local hospital. They should be able to give you a contract that helps you

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 5

madpancreas

3

Original post by Kyle_Thomas

Thank you so much for your reply. Currently I work in a Tesco warehouse, so I have two questions. (1) Can you recommend good GAMSAT study materials and (2) Do you know if I can arrange work experience despite working Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays? Because I need to pay rent, but also gain work experience...?

You may also want to look into the UCAT and which universities accept this as oppose to GAMSAT (?Scotland unis). I can't help with GAMSAT materials, I focused on UCAT unis. You can definitely gain work experience around your job. I was a graduate with a non-science degree and in a similar position. I would apply to hospitals, nursing homes and agencies. Consider volunteering in a healthcare setting.

Hospital: try to apply to the staff bank at all the local hospitals, you can then pick up shifts each week or now and then. These are sometimes advertised on the NHS jobs website, but you may get wind of posts coming up if you know people who work in hospitals (they may be advertised internally first). These have the benefit of being paid quite well but may ask for experience of working in healthcare.

Nursing homes: apply for a part time position at a local nursing home or ask to join as a bank staff member. Nursing homes pay quite poorly, especially in comparison to hospital bank, but will take on staff with no/ limited experience. Part time hours can be as few as 2x 6 hour shifts per week or 1x 12 hour shift per week. It may seem like a lot but you wont have to commit to this forever.

Healthcare agencies: You can also try to apply for healthcare agencies, which is similar to working as a bank staff member but is more flexible in working location and hours. You can apply to multiple agencies but be aware that you usually have to fulfill a minimum number of shifts per month for the agency to retain you. They will also employ staff with no/ limited experience. Agencies may give you exposure to a variety of setting such as psych, nursing homes, hospitals and community based roles. Agencies pay the best of the three options.

Another avenue to explore is volunteering. Less appealing as you are obviously giving up your free time, which you will be short on already. I applied for a volunteer post within the NHS as a befriender for 3 hours a week (or something, it was a while ago but low commitment) in the year before applying to medical school. Volunteering can take a bit of time to arrange (1-2 months) with interviews, police checks, induction etc.

Any questions, message/ PM.

Reply 6

Mikesh-777

2

I would also recommend doing the UCAT as many graduate entry medicine courses use this exam and not the GAMSAT. There are many resources out there for studying for the UCAT however from my experience, using a question bank and doing loads of practise questions is the best way to prepare for these exams. I'd recommend UCAT ninja for UCAT prep as they have a pay what you want scheme to get full access, making it cheaper than other platforms.

With regards to getting work experience, it can be very difficult but something that I did that worked was to email loads consultants at local hospitals (you can find their emails online). Most won't reply but hopefully one or two will get back to you and be able to offer you something. Hope this helps!

Original post by Kyle_Thomas

Thank you so much for your reply. Currently I work in a Tesco warehouse, so I have two questions. (1) Can you recommend good GAMSAT study materials and (2) Do you know if I can arrange work experience despite working Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays? Because I need to pay rent, but also gain work experience...?

Reply 7

Pepeh4nds

9

Unless you're confident about scoring in the top percentiles of the UCAT, I would not do it. UCAT cutoffs for graduates tend to be much MUCH higher whereas the GAMSAT cutoffs are more obtainable. In a previous year, I got 7th percentile UCAT and was rejected pre-interview by 3. With the GAMSAT, I was given 3 interviews, 2 offers and 1 waitlist. You may consider doing both, but you have to focus on ensuring you give each enough preparation time, GAMSAT requiring the most.

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