Third Year Research Project

If you planning on doing something clinical or medical think again if you are planning on using clinical subjects as opposed to the student population. NHS research procedure is pain stakingly long, you'd be lucky to get authorisation by RnD and the Ethics commitee within 6months with no hiccups.

Im planning a project oriented around neuronal and cognitive models of a certain type of action (yes vague as i dont like people copying my ideas ;p) possibly using EEG analysis (will be given training by my supervisor). Mine is neuro oriented but thats mainly if my grad med school application falls through again and again i might just change my career path to pure neuroscience research.

Personally and reportedly by staff body image is overdone to death, especially with the psych student pop being 70% female. I prefer something original and with substance to be unique. Although i have been told the best projects are the ones based on established paradigms with some alterations.

Each to their own!

Wait, wait, wait. After you do psychology, you can go into medically school or no because I want to go into either neurology or psychiatry. So is it possible?

Where is the graduate entry thing?

Personally and reportedly by staff body image is overdone to death, especially with the psych student pop being 70% female. I prefer something original and with substance to be unique. Although i have been told the best projects are the ones based on established paradigms with some alterations.

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Godspeed, I think you would be disappointed in the end if you did get to use the imaging/TMS equipment, because those instruments (especially fMRI) really do not clarify hypotheses. It sounds cool, but the entire field is a joke really when you consider that all fMRI tells you is that several areas of the brain consume more oxygen when you perform a task! Also, you talk about having back-ups for medicine, but if you get yourself some clinical experience while you're still at uni and apply to sensible places where you have a chance of getting in, you really shouldn't need one. Just to play devil's advocate for a second, the fact that you have a back-up at all suggests that you would go and do something else if you didn't get in first time round. Ask yourself a) are you doing everything that you can be (wk exp-wise) to get yourself in first time and b) if you're considering a back-up plan that is not related to furthering your chances of getting onto a GEP second-time round (whether a Masters increases your chances will vary across unis and also be debatable), is medicine 100% what you really want to do?

Massively forgive me for playing devils advocate, but you're an articulate, intelligent bloke who's been disappointed by psychology and a) you must make sure for your own personal happiness that medicine won't disappoint you too and b) perhaps all this thinking and answering annoying questions will help you with future interviews Also mentioning GEPs to pre-undergrad psychologists is probably not a good idea, we should stop doing it. I swear I spent half the psych open day explaining to 18-year-olds about the GEP course when I was supposed to be talking about psychology! I think they saw it as an 'easier' route into medicine should they change their mind about clin psych/neuropsych/forensic psych. Most had one thing in common: an amazing lack of knowledge about psychology and related careers, stemming from a lack of due diligence in researching these areas.

- try googling the term "Activity Anorexia," you might just be very interested. Several papers have been published recently on anorexia in female athletes in relation to this theory. If you're still confused after a google search, drop me a message and I'll send you some direct article links.

I think you're right about mentioning GEM to the non-undergrads. What you said was a little worrying. It's a pretty stupid idea to go through an undergrad with the intentions of graduate entry. I'm actually quite shocked it had so much interest at your open days. If they honestly believe it is the easier route into medicine, then they will be in for a big surprise.

Thank-you, that sounds very interesting! I shall have a google later, see what I can find, and I'll PM you otherwise! Much appreciated.

Mmm yes I can see a project forming in my head right now...studying female university athletes

I swear I spent half the psych open day explaining to 18-year-olds about the GEP course when I was supposed to be talking about psychology! I think they saw it as an 'easier' route into medicine should they change their mind about clin psych/neuropsych/forensic psych. Most had one thing in common: an amazing lack of knowledge about psychology and related careers, stemming from a lack of due diligence in researching these areas.

Surprised about the lack of knowledge from other applicants too, but that can only be a good thing for me. (Well, as long as the ones that actually get in aren't like that.)

Don't worry, you were a well-informed visitor! Apparantly one person turned up asking to do psychology and french (an obvious boo-boo). Most people didn't know absolutely nothing though. I think the Graduate Medicine option is attractive to potential Oxford Psychologists for obvious reasons - you get to be in a smaller pool of 'top' graduates, whereas the pool of people with 3As at A Level is much larger. Also many people really do want to study psychology, but don't know whether they actually want to be a psychologist at the end. Doctor is the classic 'helping people' profession, which is something a lot of psychologists want to do, but being a doctor is seen as being of a higher status and better paid than psychology (unfortunately the first one may be truer than the second these days). I definitely think psychology (particularly the mental health part) will be of practical use in becoming a doctor - I have to say, I do fail to see how most psychiatrists can ever understand their patients as they don't study the psychological aspects of disorders, seemingly!

Anyway, after that ramble I thought I'd just like to boast and inform everybody that my research project came in at a whopping 72.5% And thank goodness, because that term of stress would not have been worth it otherwise!