Medicine or pediatrics uni shortlisting?

I'm aiming for A*A*A*A at A-levels and want to become a paediatrician (so looking at medicine courses). I'm open on location right now. Anyone with experience on how to choose between places like Oxford, King's, Sheffield, Aberdeen, or Cardiff? What helped you decide? 😊
Diggory the AI Uni Coach helped write this post

Hi @Happiness501!
I remember having this same debate several years ago when I was selecting Medical Schools to apply for. I personally chose Sheffield for several reasons (to list a few):
1) I visited on an Open Day and loved the city. I felt that I could picture myself living in Sheffield for the 5 years minimum that I would be at University for! Sheffield gives a nice mix of city and greenery, with lots of beautiful local parks and the Peak District on its doorstep. Train links home were also good for me.
2) There were a huge range of societies to get involved in and I liked the sports facilities here.
3) The course is patient-centred from the get-go. There is a huge focus on communication skills and as part of that, we start seeing patients in First Year through Early Years GP. I felt that this definitely helped with making the transition from pre-clinical years to clinical years
4) The structure of the course made sense to me. This varies largely at each Medical School so it is definitely worth looking at this at all of the Universities you are interested in to help you decide what is best for you. At Sheffield, we do physiology in First year, Pathophysiology in Second Year, and then progress to clinical years following that.
5) I thought the way the Sheffield Medical School teach aligned well with the way that I learn, as we do a mix of ILA learning in small groups, and lectures (outside of clinical placement).
Paediatrics is a brilliant specialty and several of my friends are aspiring to go into this field. As a standard part of the course, everyone does 6 weeks of Paediatrics placement. You can opt to do more placements in Paediatrics in Student Selected Components / elective throughout the years to gain extra exposure to the specialty too.
Paediatrics society (Paedsoc) are very active here at Sheffield, and run lots of specialty-related talks and revision sessions. They also host specific career-related evenings where you can speak to Paediatricians, and in previous years have even connected students who are keen to do research to Paediatricians who are willing to get you involved in their research. Sheffield is also home to the Sheffield Children's Hospital, which of course gives you even more opportunity to get involved in the specialty through all of the above routes mentioned.
I think Open Days are a brilliant way to learn more about the course at that particular University through subject talks and speaking to current students- and a great way to get a feel for the city. I'd definitely recommend doing this if you can
Good luck in your Medicine application and in deciding which Universities to apply for! Do you have any questions relating to Medicine at Sheffield to help aid you in your decision?🙂
-Alicia, Final Year Medical Student + BSc intercalated Medical Research Sciences

I'm aiming for A*A*A*A at A-levels and want to become a paediatrician (so looking at medicine courses). I'm open on location right now. Anyone with experience on how to choose between places like Oxford, King's, Sheffield, Aberdeen, or Cardiff? What helped you decide? 😊
Diggory the AI Uni Coach helped write this post

Hi @Happiness501!
I remember having this same debate several years ago when I was selecting Medical Schools to apply for. I can only speak on my experience here at Sheffield but I personally chose here for several reasons (to list a few):
1) I visited on an Open Day and loved the city. I felt that I could picture myself living in Sheffield for the 5 years minimum that I would be at University for! Sheffield gives a nice mix of city and greenery, with lots of beautiful local parks and the Peak District on its doorstep. Train links home were also good for me.
2) There were a huge range of societies to get involved in and I liked the sports facilities here.
3) The course is patient-centred from the get-go. There is a huge focus on communication skills and as part of that, we start seeing patients in First Year through Early Years GP. I felt that this definitely helped with making the transition from pre-clinical years to clinical years
4) The structure of the course made sense to me. This varies largely at each Medical School so it is definitely worth looking at this at all of the Universities you are interested in to help you decide what is best for you. At Sheffield, we do physiology in First year, Pathophysiology in Second Year, and then progress to clinical years following that.
5) I thought the way the Sheffield Medical School teach aligned well with the way that I learn, as we do a mix of ILA learning in small groups, and lectures (outside of clinical placement).
Paediatrics is a brilliant specialty and several of my friends are aspiring to go into this field. As a standard part of the course, everyone does 6 weeks of Paediatrics placement. You can opt to do more placements in Paediatrics in Student Selected Components / elective throughout the years to gain extra exposure to the specialty too.
Paediatrics society (Paedsoc) are very active here at Sheffield, and run lots of specialty-related talks and revision sessions. They also host specific career-related evenings where you can speak to Paediatricians, and in previous years have even connected students who are keen to do research to Paediatricians who are willing to get you involved in their research. Sheffield is also home to the Sheffield Children's Hospital, which of course gives you even more opportunity to get involved in the specialty through all of the above routes mentioned.
I think Open Days are a brilliant way to learn more about the course at that particular University through subject talks and speaking to current students- and a great way to get a feel for the city. I'd definitely recommend doing this if you can
Good luck in your Medicine application and in deciding which Universities to apply for! Do you have any questions relating to Medicine at Sheffield to help aid you in your decision?🙂
-Alicia, Final Year Medical Student + BSc intercalated Medical Research Sciences

ngl it will be your UCAT that decides where you apply. There’s not really much point choosing until you’ve sat your ucat

Whilst Sheffield might well be a great medical school, it it’s important to note that this poster is an official rep and is paid to promote it.

I'm aiming for A*A*A*A at A-levels and want to become a paediatrician (so looking at medicine courses). I'm open on location right now. Anyone with experience on how to choose between places like Oxford, King's, Sheffield, Aberdeen, or Cardiff? What helped you decide? 😊
Diggory the AI Uni Coach helped write this post

Okay this will sound crazy but when I went to the right uni open day I just got a feeling. I just knew that that was where I wanted to go. I was fortunate to not be restricted by my UCAT or predicted grades or anything so obviously only apply where you stand a chance but remember medicine is medicine anywhere so do not apply to oxbridge just because it is oxbridge and sounds fancy.