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Extracurriculars for medicine

Hi I’m in S4 going into S5 and I want to apply to study medicine. I was wondering what extracurriculars I should do. So far I have done these things:

- piano (still doing)
-writer for school newspaper (hope to be the leader of the newspaper club next year)
-medic mentor leadership programme
-medic mentor awards programme
-medic insight day Edinburgh (I hope to do the insight week in S5)
-ballet (but only grade 2)
-saltire 25H award for volunteering at local after school club

This summer I plan on writing an article for the medic mentor magazine. I am attending the “step into medicine” programme which is for a week at my local hospital. I plan on volunteering as a ward helper, starting this summer for at least 6 months. I plan on getting GP work experience and maybe carehome work experience. I have signed up for some MOOCS which I will be doing in the summer. I also plan on doing fundraising at my school for a medical charity.

I also keep up to date with new medical cases by reading the BBC health articles and I do wider reading. However I’m not sure if this stuff is enough as many people seem to be going abroad to do work experience but I don’t have access to those opportunities.

I was doing my bronze Duke of Edinburgh but my school didn’t provide me with an expedition so I had to leave it at that. I have found a centre that helps with Duke of Edinburgh awards and I have enrolled in Gold however the app says I have to still do the bronze expedition too but I don’t have the time to be doing both. I’m not sure if I should create a new duke of Edinburgh account but I don’t know if that’s a bit dodgy.

Speaking about grades, I am doing well and managed to get A band 1 in Nat 5 prelims and I’m currently sitting my exams.
For highers I have chosen to do chem, bio, maths, eng and french.

I’m not sure if this is enough though and I am open to any suggestions that people have to improve my application and personal statement

Reply 1

Melissa200

Original post by Melissa200

Hi I’m in S4 going into S5 and I want to apply to study medicine. I was wondering what extracurriculars I should do. So far I have done these things:
- piano (still doing)
-writer for school newspaper (hope to be the leader of the newspaper club next year)
-medic mentor leadership programme
-medic mentor awards programme
-medic insight day Edinburgh (I hope to do the insight week in S5)
-ballet (but only grade 2)
-saltire 25H award for volunteering at local after school club
This summer I plan on writing an article for the medic mentor magazine. I am attending the “step into medicine” programme which is for a week at my local hospital. I plan on volunteering as a ward helper, starting this summer for at least 6 months. I plan on getting GP work experience and maybe carehome work experience. I have signed up for some MOOCS which I will be doing in the summer. I also plan on doing fundraising at my school for a medical charity.
I also keep up to date with new medical cases by reading the BBC health articles and I do wider reading. However I’m not sure if this stuff is enough as many people seem to be going abroad to do work experience but I don’t have access to those opportunities.
I was doing my bronze Duke of Edinburgh but my school didn’t provide me with an expedition so I had to leave it at that. I have found a centre that helps with Duke of Edinburgh awards and I have enrolled in Gold however the app says I have to still do the bronze expedition too but I don’t have the time to be doing both. I’m not sure if I should create a new duke of Edinburgh account but I don’t know if that’s a bit dodgy.
Speaking about grades, I am doing well and managed to get A band 1 in Nat 5 prelims and I’m currently sitting my exams.
For highers I have chosen to do chem, bio, maths, eng and french.
I’m not sure if this is enough though and I am open to any suggestions that people have to improve my application and personal statement

I’m also planning on submitting articles for medical essay competitions such as the ones at Oxford and medic mentor. I have submitted an application to be a committee member for the medic mentor virtual med society however if I don’t get in this year I’ll try again next year. I’m also planning on running my schools medical society at the end of S5.

Reply 2

brnziu

Original post by Melissa200

Hi I’m in S4 going into S5 and I want to apply to study medicine. I was wondering what extracurriculars I should do. So far I have done these things:
- piano (still doing)
-writer for school newspaper (hope to be the leader of the newspaper club next year)
-medic mentor leadership programme
-medic mentor awards programme
-medic insight day Edinburgh (I hope to do the insight week in S5)
-ballet (but only grade 2)
-saltire 25H award for volunteering at local after school club
This summer I plan on writing an article for the medic mentor magazine. I am attending the “step into medicine” programme which is for a week at my local hospital. I plan on volunteering as a ward helper, starting this summer for at least 6 months. I plan on getting GP work experience and maybe carehome work experience. I have signed up for some MOOCS which I will be doing in the summer. I also plan on doing fundraising at my school for a medical charity.
I also keep up to date with new medical cases by reading the BBC health articles and I do wider reading. However I’m not sure if this stuff is enough as many people seem to be going abroad to do work experience but I don’t have access to those opportunities.
I was doing my bronze Duke of Edinburgh but my school didn’t provide me with an expedition so I had to leave it at that. I have found a centre that helps with Duke of Edinburgh awards and I have enrolled in Gold however the app says I have to still do the bronze expedition too but I don’t have the time to be doing both. I’m not sure if I should create a new duke of Edinburgh account but I don’t know if that’s a bit dodgy.
Speaking about grades, I am doing well and managed to get A band 1 in Nat 5 prelims and I’m currently sitting my exams.
For highers I have chosen to do chem, bio, maths, eng and french.
I’m not sure if this is enough though and I am open to any suggestions that people have to improve my application and personal statement

so some of these are super-curriculars (more important than extra) i recommend finding a free university course (they usually only go on for about 6 weeks). the university of harvard has quite a few ! i’m doing the neuroscience course part 1,2, and 3. you can also read books and articles (recommend without naming them all in your personal statement, prepare for any possible interviews with references to the articles to prove you read them) to better your super-curriculars. listen to podcasts with known medical professionals (MD or PhD !) you have great super-curriculars. the more the better though !!

Reply 3

UCLan Student

Official Rep

Original post by Melissa200

Hi I’m in S4 going into S5 and I want to apply to study medicine. I was wondering what extracurriculars I should do. So far I have done these things:
- piano (still doing)
-writer for school newspaper (hope to be the leader of the newspaper club next year)
-medic mentor leadership programme
-medic mentor awards programme
-medic insight day Edinburgh (I hope to do the insight week in S5)
-ballet (but only grade 2)
-saltire 25H award for volunteering at local after school club
This summer I plan on writing an article for the medic mentor magazine. I am attending the “step into medicine” programme which is for a week at my local hospital. I plan on volunteering as a ward helper, starting this summer for at least 6 months. I plan on getting GP work experience and maybe carehome work experience. I have signed up for some MOOCS which I will be doing in the summer. I also plan on doing fundraising at my school for a medical charity.
I also keep up to date with new medical cases by reading the BBC health articles and I do wider reading. However I’m not sure if this stuff is enough as many people seem to be going abroad to do work experience but I don’t have access to those opportunities.
I was doing my bronze Duke of Edinburgh but my school didn’t provide me with an expedition so I had to leave it at that. I have found a centre that helps with Duke of Edinburgh awards and I have enrolled in Gold however the app says I have to still do the bronze expedition too but I don’t have the time to be doing both. I’m not sure if I should create a new duke of Edinburgh account but I don’t know if that’s a bit dodgy.
Speaking about grades, I am doing well and managed to get A band 1 in Nat 5 prelims and I’m currently sitting my exams.
For highers I have chosen to do chem, bio, maths, eng and french.
I’m not sure if this is enough though and I am open to any suggestions that people have to improve my application and personal statement

Hi @Melissa2000

These are some great extra-curricular actives you have, you definitely have more than I had when I applied!

It sounds like you have it covered with what you are planning to do with work experience so my main advice is maybe for your personal statement / interviews. It's SUPER important to reflect on what you have learnt and how you will take it forward with you. Don't worry about not having work experience abroad, it is way more important to reflect on what you have done rather than trying to get it for the sake of it! I have linked our interview guide here for you as this might be helpful!

I hope this helps,
-Rebecca, UCLan MBBS

Reply 4

University of Sunderland Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Melissa200

Hi I’m in S4 going into S5 and I want to apply to study medicine. I was wondering what extracurriculars I should do. So far I have done these things:
- piano (still doing)
-writer for school newspaper (hope to be the leader of the newspaper club next year)
-medic mentor leadership programme
-medic mentor awards programme
-medic insight day Edinburgh (I hope to do the insight week in S5)
-ballet (but only grade 2)
-saltire 25H award for volunteering at local after school club
This summer I plan on writing an article for the medic mentor magazine. I am attending the “step into medicine” programme which is for a week at my local hospital. I plan on volunteering as a ward helper, starting this summer for at least 6 months. I plan on getting GP work experience and maybe carehome work experience. I have signed up for some MOOCS which I will be doing in the summer. I also plan on doing fundraising at my school for a medical charity.
I also keep up to date with new medical cases by reading the BBC health articles and I do wider reading. However I’m not sure if this stuff is enough as many people seem to be going abroad to do work experience but I don’t have access to those opportunities.
I was doing my bronze Duke of Edinburgh but my school didn’t provide me with an expedition so I had to leave it at that. I have found a centre that helps with Duke of Edinburgh awards and I have enrolled in Gold however the app says I have to still do the bronze expedition too but I don’t have the time to be doing both. I’m not sure if I should create a new duke of Edinburgh account but I don’t know if that’s a bit dodgy.
Speaking about grades, I am doing well and managed to get A band 1 in Nat 5 prelims and I’m currently sitting my exams.
For highers I have chosen to do chem, bio, maths, eng and french.
I’m not sure if this is enough though and I am open to any suggestions that people have to improve my application and personal statement

Hi there,

This sounds amazing! I think the best thing to do is to show longevity in something and persistence, so having things that you have been doing for a long time is excellent. I would recommend going to your university open days and asking them what they find desirable or if they can give you some examples of what they look for. For me personally, when applying to sunderland, my part time job was really desirable- it was something I had been doing for a long time, I could talk about how I managed my time with A-levels and working and since it was public facing I had loads of experience communicating with the general public.

I really hope this helps,

Ellen
Y4 Medical Student
Uni of Sunderland
Digital ambassador

Reply 5

ismaelishere

Original post by University of Sunderland Student Ambassador

Hi there,
This sounds amazing! I think the best thing to do is to show longevity in something and persistence, so having things that you have been doing for a long time is excellent. I would recommend going to your university open days and asking them what they find desirable or if they can give you some examples of what they look for. For me personally, when applying to sunderland, my part time job was really desirable- it was something I had been doing for a long time, I could talk about how I managed my time with A-levels and working and since it was public facing I had loads of experience communicating with the general public.
I really hope this helps,
Ellen
Y4 Medical Student
Uni of Sunderland
Digital ambassador

what part time job did u do? if u dont mind sharing