What extra curriculars should I do for medicine and any advice?

Hi!
I just finished my GCSEs and wanted to start doing some more extracurriculars in the summer, but I wasn't sure what I could do. I want something that doesn't require too much work/too much of a commitment because I do have some right now and do not want to have too much?
I have a job at a tuition centre right now and am a St john cadet... I have one work experience lined up for the future and am planning to get another somewhere as well as having done grade 8 lamda public speaking. What else could I do? I wanted to do some volunteering and some research things( don't really want to do an EPQ thou..I was thinking like a small competition). Theres this one session that runs near my house where you help run and supervise a session for children with autism and ADHD...its basically mainly a session where you set up train tracks and toys in that general theme and just supervise and help run it. My mums worried it isn't really related to medicine and that I already have some sort of experience working with kids because im a tutor so I should try something else. The only problem with a care home is that I'm worried that ill have to work a lot more hours. My friend did some volunteering in a care home near me for a while but said it was really underwhelming because they didn't really need help with anything and not many people were willing to talk. Should I just do this role or is there anything else thats better?
And if anyone has any resources they used for ucat or any advice plssss let me know because i don't really know anyone who has gone through this before(all my friends who are in uni tried for medicine but decided to switch last minute or don't really give the best advice). I have no idea where to start with UCAT or a levels or anything so any advice would be appreciated!!

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

11

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

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Reply 2

Deepak.23

10

Hi, well done for completing ur GCSEs. Work experience for medicine is more to do with empathy and care so supervising a session on autism would be perfectly fine and remember you don’t need loads but little about which you can talk about loads. Its all about your reflection rather than just doing loads of work experience. I also finished my GCSE s just now i just done a week at a pharmacy and I also did a 3 week shadowing of a GP in india. I m just trying to find some volunteering and that ll be enough for my personal statement ig.

Reply 3

George&Mary

13

Original post by Studentanomaly

Hi!
I just finished my GCSEs and wanted to start doing some more extracurriculars in the summer, but I wasn't sure what I could do. I want something that doesn't require too much work/too much of a commitment because I do have some right now and do not want to have too much?
I have a job at a tuition centre right now and am a St john cadet... I have one work experience lined up for the future and am planning to get another somewhere as well as having done grade 8 lamda public speaking. What else could I do? I wanted to do some volunteering and some research things( don't really want to do an EPQ thou..I was thinking like a small competition). Theres this one session that runs near my house where you help run and supervise a session for children with autism and ADHD...its basically mainly a session where you set up train tracks and toys in that general theme and just supervise and help run it. My mums worried it isn't really related to medicine and that I already have some sort of experience working with kids because im a tutor so I should try something else. The only problem with a care home is that I'm worried that ill have to work a lot more hours. My friend did some volunteering in a care home near me for a while but said it was really underwhelming because they didn't really need help with anything and not many people were willing to talk. Should I just do this role or is there anything else thats better?
And if anyone has any resources they used for ucat or any advice plssss let me know because i don't really know anyone who has gone through this before(all my friends who are in uni tried for medicine but decided to switch last minute or don't really give the best advice). I have no idea where to start with UCAT or a levels or anything so any advice would be appreciated!!

Congratulations on getting through your GCSEs. It's sounds like you have a lot going on already, so I would spend a bit of time just looking after yourself. Play computer games, get out and about with friends, play sport. Be outside.

This summer is a fantastic time to have a bit of a break because next summer will be pretty full on. Take the break, you need it, AND you will do better for it. You may well be asked at interview how you manage stress. Sport and outdoor stuff is a good thing to be able to evidence, or any hobby that is just for you (not medicine PS building).

The support session sounds excellent. It doesn't matter that it children, it's an opportunity to work with peopleand combined with St Johns is great. That's primarily what work experience needs. People experience. They come in all ages, and capabilities.

As the poster above said, it's less about what you do, although the type and duration can be important it's how you reflect on it. Google the RCGP reflective diary. Ignore the admissions pages as they are a bit out of date, but the reflection part is still good. Look at the values for a medical student from.the GMC / medicalschools Council and think about the skills and attributes. Where have you evidenced this? Where have you seen a DR do it/ why is it important ? OBSERVE GP and thr BSMS online work experience are good for these in the future.

A levels. Just grind them out. Do the best you can. The effort you put in in Year 12 pays real dividends later.

UCAT, don't think about prep for this until well after Easter. You can get some year 7 mental maths books and have a go at those refreshing your mental maths skills if you wanted to. The most important think would be to bring your speed reading and comprehension up. Will help with A levels, uni and UCAT.

You can get yourself something like Google calendar and plan your next few years big things out. Each time a deadline for med comes up you can work around it. Thinking now about doing your UCAt earlier next summer rather than later will help family arrangements if you have something already in your head.

Also, stay on TSR, there are lots of threads designed to help people with the process. Especially the sticky threads at the top of the medicine forum. If there is a sticky you will likely find your question has been asked before. If not find the right one and ask it. Its easier than having lots of little individual threads.

Apologies for the ramble. Good luck

Hope some of it is helpful to the poster above this too as you both appear to be on similar timelines.

Reply 4

George&Mary

13

Original post by Deepak.23

Hi, well done for completing ur GCSEs. Work experience for medicine is more to do with empathy and care so supervising a session on autism would be perfectly fine and remember you don’t need loads but little about which you can talk about loads. Its all about your reflection rather than just doing loads of work experience. I also finished my GCSE s just now i just done a week at a pharmacy and I also did a 3 week shadowing of a GP in india. I m just trying to find some volunteering and that ll be enough for my personal statement ig.

Hi, sounds like you have a clear plan. Good luck! Hopefully some of my ramble above will be helpful to you.

If you are a home student, it might be worth noting that some med schools don't accept shadowing as work experience, and some don't accept work experience in another country (unless of course you live in that country).

That is if the "count" hours of work experience. Some do, some are more interested in you reflections. I would look at BSMS, OBserve GP, maybe thing about some parallels , some differences in what you see..but remember focus is on values and attributes of med student / doctors so one would hope they aren't too different between countries.

Volunteering is good, but have a think about hands on work experience or activities in a public facing role. Think about any gaps in your RCGP diary and fill them. Caring / empathy can be evidenced and experienced in a number of ways. But it might take a bit of conscious effort to recognise it.
It's not for your PS in the main, it's for interviews. BUT you have two years to go, who knows how the system will have changed by then.

Reply 5

George&Mary

13

Both, I would try and see I you can get some clinical work experience in UK. You have some time, but it takes a long time to arrange.

Reply 6

Deepak.23

10

Hi, thank you so much for the info. I have been in contact with students who got into medicine in various university recently and i have read most of their personal statements and most of them have a LOT of shadowings and work experience out of the UK, IMO the universities just care about the reflection you make from the experience as care and empathy can be learnt and developed anywhere in the world! And the idea for shadowing came from reading so many successful personal statements that inspired me pursue this and i have learnt excellent skills throughout. But thank you do much for ur suggestions i ll take a look at it!

Reply 7

George&Mary

13

That is excellent. However bear in mind that the PS won't exist as it is now, so you will be in uncharted waters. I have read a lot of application policies and I can only tell you what I have read over the years.
You will need to carefully read the application policies of the med schools that you have identified as strategic choices in detail to see what they say.

But as you won't know which ones they are until after you have done your UCAT I can only suggest that it's helpful to have a wide range of experience to help inform why you want to be a doctor and why you would be a good one.

It also may be that they didn't apply to unis that look at the PS. Many don't as it stands now. So it's not what you write it's how you reflect on it at interview. But you have to get to interview first. Its hard to say this is a good PS or that is a good PS for you to consider because they should all be individual to both the applicant AND the med schools applied to.

You have plenty of time!

(edited 4 months ago)

What extra curriculars should I do for medicine and any advice?

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