The Student Room Group

Help I'm stuck with my medical degree

Hi all.

I'm in a bit of a situation.
I'm a graduate studying medicine in England and have done 2 out of 5 yrs of my course. However, during year 2 I got pregnant and had a baby. I took a year out. During that year out the cost of living crisis has hit us quite extremely and so I have to take another year out.

This is all fun and okay until now.

But due to circumstances completely not under my control I would need to move to Scotland with my partner. He got a job there after redundancy

With a little 9m baby on the tow. I'm very stuck on what realistic options I have. I know transfers are unheard of.
I cant reapply and start from the start as no one would allow it but if they did. Id happily do it.
I'm not sure how I'd manage a baby on my own in a different city to my partner whilst studying. Also cant tell him to not work as that is our source of money.

Before you say why didnt you think this before... We did. We just didnt realise how steep the cost of living crisis would be and the level of impact was way bigger than we expected. Plus a redundancy has all made it a bit difficult.

So currently very stressed and unsure on what I should do. Any advice or help would be appreciated
Reply 1
A student with a baby, trying to navigate full time study and medical training is a tall order. As you say, the cost of living will impact, not sure without family or financial support you can cover rent, bills, food, travel whist being a student without both emotional, physical support that a baby needs. I think the studying might be a secondary issue until you firm up how you will both cope independent of one another. No firm answers I'm afraid.
Reply 2
One alternative I can offer is studying Medicine abroad. Do you have a degree? If so there is an agency called "Study Medicine Europe or SME" and they have a course in the Carribbean - St Lucia to be exact at an institute called Commonwealth University College of Medicine. For graduates you can take a 4 year MD degree which is approved the GMC and you can study the first two years which are the pre-clinical phase remotely. The attendance however is 100% compulsory whilst online and due to the time difference a full day of lectures would be 13:00 to 20:00 Monday to Friday. The clinical phase however will require you to attend an in-person placement for the remaining two years which can either be offered inclusive of the tuition fees in St Lucia or if you wish to have a UK based placement then at an extra cost of £400 per week. However given the latter is extremely expensive it may be wise to consider taking on placements in St Lucia. For able candidates there is also the option of fast-tracking the 4 year MD into 3 years. Course structure has a similar structure with the main difference being your pre-clinical and clinical phases are 1.5 years each and you wouldn't have many breaks like you would for the four year.

SME have also launched another University I think in Antigua which offers the option to study remotely for the pre-clinical phase AND offers hospital / GP placements in the UK at no extra charge as it is included in the tuition fees. This may sound amazing but the gag is tuition is about £18,000 per year! This degree is also offered over four years.

If you would like to find out more information about studying abroad you could look at SME and perhaps focus on the Carribbean university choices as you have already completed two years of medical school. I personally would not recommend studying in Europe because although the tuition and cost of living can be cheaper, the GMC does not accept their fast track 4 year MD courses as they are seen as transfer of credits meaning that you would have to complete six years of medical school on top of the two you have already completed.

I am not too sure of the transfer options in Scotland and do not know too much about the Scottish medical schools but I would recommend also contacting them to make them aware of your circumstance and find out what options, if any, they might have.

I hope this was useful :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by Kdipstar
A student with a baby, trying to navigate full time study and medical training is a tall order. As you say, the cost of living will impact, not sure without family or financial support you can cover rent, bills, food, travel whist being a student without both emotional, physical support that a baby needs. I think the studying might be a secondary issue until you firm up how you will both cope independent of one another. No firm answers I'm afraid.

Thank you. I get what youre saying but this is exactly what i was wondering...
Reply 4
Original post by Appio001
One alternative I can offer is studying Medicine abroad. Do you have a degree? If so there is an agency called "Study Medicine Europe or SME" and they have a course in the Carribbean - St Lucia to be exact at an institute called Commonwealth University College of Medicine. For graduates you can take a 4 year MD degree which is approved the GMC and you can study the first two years which are the pre-clinical phase remotely. The attendance however is 100% compulsory whilst online and due to the time difference a full day of lectures would be 13:00 to 20:00 Monday to Friday. The clinical phase however will require you to attend an in-person placement for the remaining two years which can either be offered inclusive of the tuition fees in St Lucia or if you wish to have a UK based placement then at an extra cost of £400 per week. However given the latter is extremely expensive it may be wise to consider taking on placements in St Lucia. For able candidates there is also the option of fast-tracking the 4 year MD into 3 years. Course structure has a similar structure with the main difference being your pre-clinical and clinical phases are 1.5 years each and you wouldn't have many breaks like you would for the four year.
SME have also launched another University I think in Antigua which offers the option to study remotely for the pre-clinical phase AND offers hospital / GP placements in the UK at no extra charge as it is included in the tuition fees. This may sound amazing but the gag is tuition is about £18,000 per year! This degree is also offered over four years.
If you would like to find out more information about studying abroad you could look at SME and perhaps focus on the Carribbean university choices as you have already completed two years of medical school. I personally would not recommend studying in Europe because although the tuition and cost of living can be cheaper, the GMC does not accept their fast track 4 year MD courses as they are seen as transfer of credits meaning that you would have to complete six years of medical school on top of the two you have already completed.
I am not too sure of the transfer options in Scotland and do not know too much about the Scottish medical schools but I would recommend also contacting them to make them aware of your circumstance and find out what options, if any, they might have.
I hope this was useful :smile:

This is very useful and has made me wonder exactly what I can do, moving to st lucia isnt an option but theres definitely other options

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