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Medicine application urgent help needed

Hey everyone,
I really want to study medicine at a top uni but have no contact with any doctors to help guide me.
I would really appreciate any advice/help especially from those who have gone through the medicine application process themselves, and also how many months volunteering do we need to do, which books to read, and which extracurriculars to do, how to prep for the UCAT and also like can I apply for four medical schools and one dental school (5th option)? also how to reflect on work experience and do well in a levels as well as any other things i may not know about please , thanks

Reply 1

Hey everyone,
I really want to study medicine at a top uni but have no contact with any doctors to help guide me.
I would really appreciate any advice/help especially from those who have gone through the medicine application process themselves, and also how many months volunteering do we need to do, which books to read, and which extracurriculars to do, how to prep for the UCAT and also like can I apply for four medical schools and one dental school (5th option)? also how to reflect on work experience and do well in a levels as well as any other things i may not know about please , thanks

Reply 2

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

2024 Applicants :
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2024 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2024 Entry
GAMSAT 2024 / 2025 entry discussions megathread
UCAT 2024 Entry Discussions Megathread
Medicine 2024 entry for resit / retake / gap year applicants
A100 Medicine for International Students 2024 Entry
Medicine Interview Discussion 2024 Entry
2024 entry A100 / A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Medical Schools Index 2024 Entry

2025 Applicants :
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2025 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2025 Entry
GAMSAT 2025 / 2026 entry discussions megathread
UCAT 2025 Entry Discussions Megathread
Medicine 2025 entry for resit/ retake/ gap year applicants
A100 Medicine for International Students 2025 Entry
Medicine Interview Discussion 2025 Entry
2025 entry A100/ A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Medical Schools Index 2025 Entry

Other application years:
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2026 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2026 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
Funding medicine as a second degree

For Community Feedback:
Medicine Community Feedback and Suggestions

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.
Please don't repost the same thread in different forums repeatedly - you only need a single thread in the correct forum (which this one is). The others will be flagged to be closed.

There is no such thing as a "top uni" for medicine - the GMC and the NHS (the latter of which is the only provider of graduate medical training posts in the UK) consider all medical schools equal, and to ensure there is no bias, specialty recruitment in the NHS is blinded to your medical school so they cannot know where you went to medical school. All medical schools also have to meet the same stringent GMC accreditation requirements to ensure they maintain standards.

Many of these questions are answered in detail in the many stickied threads in the medicine forum, noted above. I would strongly suggest reading those first.

Note you only get a single personal statement and it's unlikely you can write a suitable personal statement for both medicine and dentistry. Both courses will also be looking for strong commitment to that specific profession due to the length of the degree and then subsequent training, and so a diluted personal statement referring to both is likely to be a weak one. If you are uncertain between the two professions, look for work experience in both and reflect on your experiences on each, both individually and in comparison to each other, then pick one and commit to it fully.

Reply 4

Useful free short course from Glasgow Uni - Applying for Medical School - Online Course - FutureLearn

Reply 5

Original post
by cupcakeglorious6
Hey everyone,
I really want to study medicine at a top uni but have no contact with any doctors to help guide me.
I would really appreciate any advice/help especially from those who have gone through the medicine application process themselves, and also how many months volunteering do we need to do, which books to read, and which extracurriculars to do, how to prep for the UCAT and also like can I apply for four medical schools and one dental school (5th option)? also how to reflect on work experience and do well in a levels as well as any other things i may not know about please , thanks

What is your GCSEs and a level predicted grades are you going to take as levels for end of years to decide your predicted grades?

Reply 6

Original post
by Logic1
What is your GCSEs and a level predicted grades are you going to take as levels for end of years to decide your predicted grades?

i got x8 grade 9s and, x3 grade 8s at GCSE, not taking as levels only a levels but they will predict using our mocks i really need help please

Reply 7

Original post
by cupcakeglorious6
i got x8 grade 9s and, x3 grade 8s at GCSE, not taking as levels only a levels but they will predict using our mocks i really need help please

To answer your question you absolutely need nothing maybe few days of work experience not that much. My cousin who get all 7s in his GCSEs and got 3 a stars barley did work experience. Now I know I can’t say what was in the interview but it was most based science Q he said. He got into Cambridge and now studying medicine.

Reply 8

Original post
by artful_lounger
Please don't repost the same thread in different forums repeatedly - you only need a single thread in the correct forum (which this one is). The others will be flagged to be closed.
There is no such thing as a "top uni" for medicine - the GMC and the NHS (the latter of which is the only provider of graduate medical training posts in the UK) consider all medical schools equal, and to ensure there is no bias, specialty recruitment in the NHS is blinded to your medical school so they cannot know where you went to medical school. All medical schools also have to meet the same stringent GMC accreditation requirements to ensure they maintain standards.
Many of these questions are answered in detail in the many stickied threads in the medicine forum, noted above. I would strongly suggest reading those first.
Note you only get a single personal statement and it's unlikely you can write a suitable personal statement for both medicine and dentistry. Both courses will also be looking for strong commitment to that specific profession due to the length of the degree and then subsequent training, and so a diluted personal statement referring to both is likely to be a weak one. If you are uncertain between the two professions, look for work experience in both and reflect on your experiences on each, both individually and in comparison to each other, then pick one and commit to it fully.

Technically you can apply to both, as neither Plymouth nor Bristol look at the personal statement during their selection processes (Bristol only if they need "to differentiate between applicants with similar academic profiles"). Similarly, there are also medical schools that don't look at the PS.

Reply 9

Original post
by cupcakeglorious6
Hey everyone,
I really want to study medicine at a top uni but have no contact with any doctors to help guide me.
I would really appreciate any advice/help especially from those who have gone through the medicine application process themselves, and also how many months volunteering do we need to do, which books to read, and which extracurriculars to do, how to prep for the UCAT and also like can I apply for four medical schools and one dental school (5th option)? also how to reflect on work experience and do well in a levels as well as any other things i may not know about please , thanks
Hello, i’m a Scottish S6 who went through the entire medicine application by myself since I’m the first med applicant in my school; ever, lol. I’d be happy to help. Firstly, you don’t need ‘months’ of volunteering as long as you reflect on what you’ve gained from it. You also don’t ‘need’ to read books but if you want to i’d recommend ‘this is going to hurt’ by adam kay; it highlights the realities of being a medicine student/doctor, so you could mention it during interviews to show that you understand medicine isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. For the UCAT, do not overwork yourself and lead to burnout; that’s the worst thing you could do. Instead, practice little by little, familiarising yourself with the sections and improve your skills needed for it by getting medentry or medify. (both are good but i used medentry). To reflect on work experience, note down all the good qualities of a doctor e.g communication and teamwork, see how you’ve learned that from your experience and reflect on how you can use it in med school. Other things, work on getting good predicted grades and for interviews the biggest piece of advice i can give is to know your four pillars of medical ethics, the good qualities of a good doctor and genuinely be yourself. Hope this helps and good luck!! 🙂

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