Medical School Applicant

[Martyn]

Hello. Im 17 and thinking about applying to study Medicine. I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips about what to include in my personal statement, at the interview. and a list of the best british medical schools/ universities. I've got my work experience sorted out for the summer break!

 

thank you for your help,

 

Martyn.

[Dak]

Best british medical school is cardiff, but scumpton (aka southampton) is also very good.

 

If you want to do medicine, you have to pass (with As and Bs) your A-levels on your first attempt. if you have to retake any exams they will not accept you, and youll have to spend three years doing a bacholorate so that theyll let you in (and youll have to aim for a 1st), so really try with your A-levels.

I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips about what to include in my personal statement, at the interview.

Medicine is a hard and, from the govournments POV, expensive course. the drop-out rate would be high (and expensive) were it not for the fact that they take pains to exclude people that they think will drop out (hense the 'must pass A-levels on first attempt).

 

emphasise that you really want to be a doctor, and that you will be commited and will put heap-loads of effort in.

 

and good luck

[blike]

On my personal statement I included motivations. Don't sound hokey ("I want to help people"), because they'll make you look like a fool during interviews if you do. I think the most important and unique part of your application is your experiences, and the PS is a great place to expand upon them. Tell them what experiences you've had and what they taught you about medicine, yourself, and your motivations. I'm a US medical student (well, I will be in August), but we also have to submit personal statements.

[Martyn]

thank you for your replies!

 

If you want to do medicine, you have to pass (with As and Bs) your A-levels on your first attempt

 

by first attempt does that include re-sit modules or not? or is it just if you have finished both years and then you take them again? My teachers predict me all As and i got 100% in biology and chemistry in my first AS modules in January!

 

I've got some work experience at my local hospital organised for the summer holidays; will that be enough?

[Dak]

by first attempt does that include re-sit modules or not? or is it just if you have finished both years and then you take them again? My teachers predict me all As and i got 100% in biology and chemistry in my first AS modules in January!

as far as i know, its just that once youv finished both years you cant repeat (individual resit modules should be ok).

 

sounds like your on track, with the predicted 'A's n'all that.

[Martyn]

sorry i haven't replied- you must think i am so rude! thank you for your replies; i found them very helpful.

 

Just one further question. My head of 6th form has suggested that i start reading the medicine parts of the guardian/times or that i read some of the medicial journals. Would this be beneficial or a waste of time?

 

Also, i have been disputing with my head if 6th and reference tutors weather or not i should apply to oxbridge. do you think i have a chance of recieving an offer or am i just wasting 1/4 of my chance of getting a place to study medicine- my above all aim and ambition?

 

Thank You

 

Martyn C Stott

PS. We did a really cool experiment in Chemistry today! lol!

[atinymonkey]

Also' date=' i have been disputing with my head if 6th and reference tutors weather or not i should apply to oxbridge. do you think i have a chance of recieving an offer or am i just wasting 1/4 of my chance of getting a place to study medicine- my above all aim and ambition?

[/quote']

When I was in the UCAS system, ten years ago, you had to be invited to apply to Oxbridge. They came and gave a talk to the students who the head of 6th form thought could make the grades. They were quite honest, and said they were looking for commitment and ability, and by ability they meant the ability to cope with pressure as well as excel at learning. I'm worried that if they haven't been to your school that they don't rate it, I'd suggest finding out if any past students have made it in the last few years (it should be in the yearbook, 6th form magazine etc).

 

If you don't have the support of the teachers, I don't know that it would be a good idea to apply. You need a damn good reference to get accepted, on top of the grades. If you have the ear of your head of year, you just need to convince them to give you a good reference (well, convince them of your commitment and ability).

 

Mind you, if you are not already reading medical journals you might want to think twice about entering such a high pressure environment. I'd take your heads advice, get a journal or two and have a look at what sort of information you have to learn.

 

Let us know how you get on One of the mods here is at Oxbridge at the moment, but he's being a bit of a recluse (heavy schedule this year).

[rakuenso]

blike random question, are you the guy or the girl in that picture

[atinymonkey]

Both. It's all smiles in the picture, but a screaming radioactive pain filled reality. Blike has thirteen legs, and lazer eyes. The only sound he can make it the lonesome 'graarrrrgh' of the genetically reconstructed warbeast. He hopes oneday science will find a cure, hence the forum.

[abeefaria]

I don't know how the education system works in the UK, but you seem awfully young to go to med school. Young as in you are inexperienced, not young as in can't handle it

 

Good luck though, I wish you well.

[Martyn]

I'm worried that if they haven't been to your school that they don't rate it' date=' I'd suggest finding out if any past students have made it in the last few years (it should be in the yearbook, 6th form magazine etc).

 

About 2 or 3 people make it to oxbridge each year from my school. My head of 6th, Chemistry and Biology teachers have all suggested that i apply to oxbridge. They say i am the sort of person that is suited to the way of learning there.

 

I've already read biological sciences review, but not many medical journals. i think i'll read some over the holidays. Ive read a few Nature onces too , and biologist and scientific america. Mainly biology journals.

 

I dont think people come to talk to oxbridge candidates at schools anymore. instead, in about march there was a seminar about applying at Sheffield Arena which i attended. moreover, there is a further visit to cambridge which is about oxbridge a week on friday which i am attending.

[Martyn]

I don't know how the education system works in the UK' date=' but you seem awfully young to go to med school. Young as in you are inexperienced, not young as in can't handle it

 

Good luck though, I wish you well.[/quote']

 

I think you have to be 17.5 yrs old to attend medical school in UK. How old do you hvae to be in the USA? MOst people apply to study medicie at the age of 17 to bein in the next academic year after there 18th birthday. unless the exception of them entering after another degree or a mature student.

[blike]

It works differently in the states. Here, you must have your bachelors before you can apply to medical school. So, you finish highschool when you're 18. You finish university when you're 22-23, then you apply to medical school. Some schools have special programs that allow you to complete your bachelors in your first year of medical school, thus shortening the process to 7 years. Thus, 99.9% of the applicants to US medical school have finished college. I'm 22 and I start in August, but I'm one of the youngest in my medical school class. Most are 24-25. Medical school itself is a four year program (+1 yr internship, 3-7 residency).

 

How does it work in the UK?

[Martyn]

in the UK, you finish compulaory education at 16 (GCSEs- general certificate of secondary education.) then normally you go to a higher education institute such as a sixth form college or like me you can carry on at your school if it is for 11-18 year olds and enter the sixth form. i moved to an 11-18 school. there you take your As and A2 exams which account for A-levels or GCEs (General certificate of education). in these exams you have to get like AAB to be offored a place at medical school. which you apply to via the UCAS system (universities and colleges application service). if you are successful you begin your 5/6 year medical degree. and after that you hvae to do 2 years i think before you are a fully qualified doctor as a pre-registration house officer etc.

[blike]

So you'll finish school at about the same age I will. Do you have to do internships and residencies?

[Martyn]

I'm not quiet sure! someone of a more knowledgable status will have to answer that. i dont think i've heard of it before, but maybe we have a similar thing but called a different name!

[Dak]

Do you have to do internships and residencies

in the medical course, you have to do work at a hospital under the supervision of a doctor alongside learning the theory, and then once you qualify you have to basically do an apprentiship, at which point i think your called a 'junior' (like the doctors in 'scrubs'). im not sure whether theyre what you call internships and residencies in the US.

 

if you are successful you begin your 5/6 year medical degree

i thought it was 4/5? (ie, 4 for BSc level entrants, 5 for others).

[blike]

The last two years of medical schools here are clinical rotations, wherein you rotate through all the fields (i.e. medicine, surgery, obgyn, pediatrics, family practice, etc.) and mostly watch doctors do their job and you get a chance to see what you learned your first two years applied.

 

Then, when you graduate medical school you're legally a physician. From here, you go on to do an internship year, in which you start making autonomous decisions, but you're still the low dog in the food chain (as they say, crap rolls down hill and interns and students are at the bottom of the hill). After one year internship, you do your residency in whatever field you want to practice in. This is usually 3-7 years. During this time you learn your field in detail under the watchful eye of the medical heirarchy. With each year of residency comes more autonomy. After your residency you are qualified to take the boards and get certified in your specialty. For example, to become a surgeon you would go to four years of medical school, do an internship, and then do a 4-5 year surgery residency (or more if you want to be a specialist surgeon) and then take your boards.

[mardener]

Martyn,

If you don't mind me asking what did you tkae at GCSE and what did you score?

 

I am also wanting to go into a medical career, but, I have just sat my GCSEs this summer and I am going on to do A-levels next year at a Higher Education College.

What did you find to be the difference between GCSE and A-level apart from the obivous, such as harder work.

 

I am worried that I have not worked hard enough at GCSE and that I maybe shocked as to how har I will have to work to achieve the AAB minimum at A2. Any infromation would be appreciated.

[Dak]

Blike: sounds pretty similar to how its done in the uk.

 

 

What did you find to be the difference between GCSE and A-level apart from the obivous, such as harder work.

 

More autonomy. you have to do the work yourself, rather than being forced into doing it by the tutor. your tutor will teach you, set assighnments, and basically guide your learning, but you will have to motivate yourself to do it (you are not monitored as closely as in school)

 

I am worried that I have not worked hard enough at GCSE and that I maybe shocked as to how har I will have to work to achieve the AAB minimum at A2. Any infromation would be appreciated.

 

this is going to sound booring in an 'im-an-old-fart' kinda way, but do your homework and assighnments on time (which means confortably before the due-in date, not in the last 24 hours), and in your own time read-up around the subjects you are learning, and youll be fine. manaje your time well, and you'll also have plenty of time for going to the pub or forest of your choice

[mardener]

Dak thx for that advice. Your the third person to have said a similar thing to me, so I guess that means it must be right (it is the teenage way to disagree with the first two people).

 

I think that was the problem with me last year at GCSE, for my maths coursework I was up till 2am finishing off for the next day. I had started in good time just I hadn't finished in good time. So I think ill have to be more organsied at least.

 

Ive been told if I get A's and B's at GCSE I may struggle to get into Med school as you need A's and A*'s. Any advice on these early exams and how they will 'set me up' would be appreciated.

 

Sorry to Mrtyn for hyjacking your thread.

[Miss BS]

I think Marytn got 12 A*s/As at GCSE and a high score. Yes, it's true that you need good GCSEs but it's not vital. It sometimes doesn't make any difference if you get excellent GCSEs/A levels as university interviewers are going on personality i.e a good 'bed-side manner'

[Martyn]

Indeed Miss BS! for i gained 5 A*s and 6 As. am i mistaken that you achieved 10 A*s?

 

If you have As and Bs you can still study medicine! Oxford say that you need only Cs and above at GCSE, but they require AAA at A-level. they look at your GCSEs too, but they really only matter to get into higher education. after all, not everyone develops at the same time. An average score at GCSE will be enough. what is important is that you show a compation to study medicine. You are well research and have shown some skills so for example you have undertaken work experience.

 

All the advice above is true, the work forms a logic expansion to GCSE except you are not spoon fed anymore. Your teacher covers the work you need for the exam, but it is upto you to learn it, to know it and to further your knowledge. again this will help upon application. it shows you have inititive!

 

at GCSE i took:

Double Science: A* A*

Maths: A*

History: A*

Geog: A*

English lang: A

English Lit: A

French: A

Food Tech: A

Statistics: A

Music: A

ICT: A

 

GCSE is about breadth. specialisation begins at A level.

[Miss BS]

Indeed Miss BS! for i gained 5 A*s and 6 As. am i mistaken that you achieved 10 A*s?

 

You are not mistaken, Dr SB

[mardener]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips about what to include in my personal statement' date=' at the interview.

[/quote']

 

Honesty.

 

I know a girl who put that she enjoyed shopping on her PS and she was accepted to Oxford to study medicine.