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SEEKING ADVICE: kings vs edinburgh med

hi all! I'm very lucky to have received offers and am seeking answers to questions as I decide between kcl and edi for med (firm/insure). Congrats to everyone who have received offers and best of luck to those waiting!!!!

I am considering the following factors, if there are points you'd like to add or correct me on please comment!!

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS I HAVE:
- for edi is there some sort of humanities program that med students can take (i've heard there's one at imperial where they have 2 hours lessons every week)
- how is the med student support at kcl / how are their facilities / is it hard for 1/2nd years to get research experience

EDI: pros
- wellknown for med internationally
- strong in research
- edinburgh as a city is very vibey / lower living costs than ldn

cons:
extra year --> intercalated BSc -- can't decide if i want to do one or not

KCL:
PROS - 5 years
- optional intercalation
- very well known internationally

cons
-I've heard they're not investing a lot into sciences ie labs aren't too good

Thank you in advance everyone!! Feel free to offer opinions on other facets of life at these two schools.
(edited 9 months ago)
Congrats! I'm at Edinburgh for med and for first year we have a module called SEAM (Social Evidenced Based Aspects of Medicine if I recall full name correctly). We had 1-2 hour tutorials on this most weeks for both semesters. To prep for these tutorials, we had to watch a couple of online lectures and pre-reading. There would also be an extra in-person lecture here and there as well. Tutorials would be mostly discussion and activity based e.g. class debates or making a group poster/spider diagram. Assessments for this SEAM module would be one 3000 word essay each for semester 1 and 2 (graded but pass/fail).

Edinburgh also has other compulsory modules that other med schools don't have so it can top up your workload throughout the semester - something to consider if you prefer a more clinical practical hands-on learning curriculum/approach.
Reply 2
Original post by sumoducky00
Congrats! I'm at Edinburgh for med and for first year we have a module called SEAM (Social Evidenced Based Aspects of Medicine if I recall full name correctly). We had 1-2 hour tutorials on this most weeks for both semesters. To prep for these tutorials, we had to watch a couple of online lectures and pre-reading. There would also be an extra in-person lecture here and there as well. Tutorials would be mostly discussion and activity based e.g. class debates or making a group poster/spider diagram. Assessments for this SEAM module would be one 3000 word essay each for semester 1 and 2 (graded but pass/fail).
Edinburgh also has other compulsory modules that other med schools don't have so it can top up your workload throughout the semester - something to consider if you prefer a more clinical practical hands-on learning curriculum/approach.

Thanks for the info! I’ve also been trying to learn about edinburgh focusing on the experience and opportunities it provides. Having seen lots of mentions of strong clubbing culture and lines at the library. aside from that, what are people actually like at edinburgh? How easy did you find making friends both in and out of med and is the med environment at all toxic?
Those coming straight from school tend to form groups quite quickly and e.g. have their own WhatsApp group chats and sit in the lecture theatre together - always tends to be in the same set of seats. If you miss this critical period, then it can be quite hard to infiltrate and bond in these sorts of groups later on in the year. So it can be quite cliquey. But there are also lots of mature and postgrad students as well, and we tend to do our own thing i.e. because we're older we don't feel the need to always hang out in groups etc. or cave to social pressure or med student discourse which you'll be exposed a lot to. So trying to 'fit in' or rushing to make friends might do you a disservice in the long term as you also don't wanna feel like you're stuck with the same friendship group etc. It's also good to explore and keep your options open. If you're self-assured and have strong interpersonal skills, you'll find your type of people in different ways throughout the year.

If you're living in student accommodation, that's where you're likely to meet your first non-med friends (though not everyone wants to socialise all the time and may want their solitude). Societies is another opportunity. Med environment can be toxic depending on the people you surround yourself with - which goes back to my points above. We also have a Medic's Common Room on central campus for all years so you can also connect with upper years too and get advice. You also can get allocated a medic mum and dad and medic siblings in your year which can help foster sense of belonging, and medic parents also give you advice.

Generally, Edinburgh is not that diverse or metropolitan i.e. compared to London or Manchester so there's that, but city culture here is people do tend to more friendly than down South.
(edited 9 months ago)

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