To ask the amount of effort needed to get into the medical profession

Right. You just rock up at medical school.

@hesma the number of people who can convert these days from eg biomedical sciences is extremely small indeed. Much better to take a gap year and apply again if ucat is not in line with levels needed for applications

In my experience, they will take anyone these days.

My daughters are training to be midwives is that something she would be interested in ? Definitely not as intense as medical school but requires a real drive to want to achieve

It’s a lot of work but worth it if you really want to. You have to sit the UCAT which is really tough (think 14 seconds per question) and then get grades. However, google medic mentors as they offer a lot of help in terms of online seminars to prep etc. Also if she doesn’t get required UCAT etc it is possible to do Biomedical Science and convert. Tell her to speak to the school’s careers person/head of 6th form/UCAS admin.

My year 11 son is also set on the medicine route. When I was looking at fall back options a while a go I came across a physicians associate apprenticeship. May be worth getting her to look into that as an option as well.
I hope she manages to find some work experience, my sons having the same issue. We have 3 care homes in our village and he can't evan get volunteer work at one of them.

What area of medicine is she interested in? Gaining some work experience (paid or voluntary) in something aligned may help bolster her application. E.g. paediatrics- a couple of summers volunteering at a kids holiday camp, tutoring etc will give her something to talk about and develop her communication skills. Work in a care home shows a genuine interest in caring professions as well as giving her something to talk about when it comes to prioritising patient wellbeing. Even volunteering once a week running an activity (music, craft, exercise class etc) at an OAP home can help.

As others have said, stellar grades at GCSE and A levels (in the right subjects for A levels) are a must; medicine is extremely competitive to get into and without these her application will be discarded. It is really important that your daughter researches the profession, access routes and looks at her motivation for pursuing medicine. It's a long slog to get qualified and to move past the really very rotten junior doctor days and most won't get through that if it's not their passion.

It can be an amazing and fulfilling career choice for the right person. Best of luck to your DD!

@JustRoseDreamer Have a look at the long running prospective med student mums thread for advice on work experience.

Med schools are generally sensible about this. If you have had a part time job in McDonald's so experience of both the world of work and dealing with the general public, this is likely to be viewed more favourably than following your uncle the famous surgeon about for an afternoon.

Hospices usually have an established route for volunteers who want to do Medicine. Getting a real job as a health care assistant is also great experience.

My dd is currently 2nd year med. I really couldn't give you any insight in what hoops she had to jump through to get in. Reason being, she researched it, and did what needed to be done, herself.

If your daughter is not motivated, or able to do that, I would suggest she looks elsewhere for a profession.

If she's looking for money for jam, then maybe politician?

I'm a doctor. I also would suggest that if she needs her mum to do the research for the basic google-able questions about the career path then it probably isn't for her!
You need to be very motivated and self-directed to succeed. As well as academic, empathetic and resilient.
I would suggest she arranges work experience in a hospital or joins a mentoring programme to be able to ask doctors all about their experiences, if she is serious.

My dd also Y11 wants to do medicine. As mentioned by another poster, we went to a Medic Mentor conference. She's in the process of arranging some work shadowing. Relevant A-Levels have been opted for and she's on course for excellent GCSEs.

The point is that she's doing all of this. Not me.

I'd suggest that you support your dd to do her own legwork. Regardless of her career choices.

It's a huge undertaking and you have to REALLY REALLY want it.
My DD1 is a doctor, now a GP.
She knew that's what she wanted from the age of 4 ( very single minded child!)
Stellar GCSES needed, then careful choice of A levels... chemistry, biology maths.. (she also did psychology for some light relief) ..although they dont ALL have to be sciences, you do need a couple to be.

Voluntary experience.. help at a nursing home, etc, do some care work... just show committment to actually caring for people. And a blinder of a personal statement for uni... (getting a place is very competitive )

DD1 found the A levels harder than med school a lot of the time..she enjoyed med school, but the pressure is relentless, and lots give up. 5 years of med school, two years of Foundation (sort of being like an NQT) and they are thrown in it. Incredibly long hours, constant exams for which they pay ££££ and also they have to pay for insurance, memberships, etc etc

So 7 years just to be truly qualified, and then either choose a speciality or locum while you decide (that's what DD1 did) Then years more training for your speciality (3 for a GP)

Oh and you often have to move around, as a student DD was moved around the south west 4 times and she was lucky (can't drive for various reasons which made it even harder)

The pay is CRAP for the hours until you have worked for years. Social life destroyed cos the only people who understand are other medics . Burn out (and suicide rates) are high, although I think there is more support and acknowledgement of that now.

BUT after all that, if it's the only thing she's ever wanted... she should do it. My DD1 LOVES her job.. it's not a job though it's her life and passion. Her medic friends are an incredible bunch of intelligent, kind, passionate people, and she could never have not been a doctor.

But your DD needs to research for herself, if she really wants it. There are many other better paying jobs without the stress and responsibility of a doctor :)

It’s tough.
you need good gcse results-8/9; A levels in Maths, chemistry and biology-probably A, A, A at least
work experience/experience in caring eg at nursing homes etc
hard work at uni, harder once qualified
long hours, lots of responsibilities, more exams. Pay not that great at first for the hours. Work/life balance tricky; especially for women unfortunately if they have children and maternity leave etc. this only really starts to improve once you’re a few years in to being a Consultant.

But agree-if she cba to look this simple stuff up by year 11 then it isn’t the life for her. My DS in year 8 before picking his GCSE’s was considering what subjects would be best for his future.

It is fairly easy yo get a job once you graduate but not necessarily where you want. You have to be prepared to move for the jobs.
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/doctors/pay-doctors pay scales here.

By year 11 it is important to organise relevant work or voluntary experience(care homes, community support groups, with therapists etc) . Some hospitals offer a week's worth for local students but at ours you register in January and applications close within a day or two as high demand.

It's not wrong to want a well paid job - it was definitely part of my motivation to do medicine, having seen my parents struggle for money I wanted something where I would always be in employment and the money was good.

Having said that, it isn't enough as a motivation.

It is a very long, very hard training and the money is not as good as it was 20 years ago. The working hours are crap and you have very little say in where you live, work or have time off in the junior stages. There are other jobs a bright kid can do that get a lot more money at younger ages.

It's telling that my old highly selective school used to produce a lot of medical students every year and now hardly any. The kids have realised there are better options.

My feeling from your post is this is not the right option for her. Medicine is a vocation. Does she have the mental strength to

• hold the hand of a dying patient and then tell their relatives their loved one has passed
• work 14 hour days, go home study and sleep then start all over again, no social life
• not take it personally when a distresses patient screams and shouts at her and have patience to calm them down
• make life saving decisions and stay calm and logical under pressure

And the ability to get A's in maths chemistry and physics?

Define “worth it”…
Is she mainly concerned about the pay? If so, it’s not the route for her. Yes, pay potential is great but medicine is a vocation, a calling, if you like. Being solely motivated by money is not the right reason to get into 10+ years of training and insane schedules.
Also agree with others, if your daughter is not able to do independent research into routes to medicine at her age, she is probably the wrong candidate for the med school.

This. I have a lot of medic/psychiatrist friends. I had the grades, have the drive (what I did end up doing involved three post grad degrees), but I quickly realised I simply didn’t want to be a doctor badly enough.

In my country getting into medical school is definitely tough. Medical school is easier in comparison. But, honestly, if I could have my time over, I'd have discouraged my son from becoming a doctor. It's not a great life and large parts of medicine are not that well paid.

getting into medical school is the easy bit. Getting through medical school takes a bit of effort. Getting through a career in medicine is the hard bit. It sounds like if she's really thinking about it she needs to do some proper research, explore work experience options, talk to careers advisors etc. If she's not sure 'it's worth it' it probably won't be for her (or her potential patients).

A lot of what you’re asking your daughter can find out research by herself which suggests she probably doesn’t have to me motivation to be a doctor.

Im very academic and briefly considered it but quickly realised it wasn’t for me as you have to be truly passionate about it which I was not.

My friend who did medicine also did a lot of work experience from year 10 onwards as she knew it was important to get into medicine school.

Is it you thinking it might not be worth it or her?If she is determined ,smart, hardworking enough support her.She needs to research it herself though and get advice from careers at school.If it's her thinking of the pay rather than having the drive to study medicine get her to read 'This is going to hurt'.That'll put her off.

DD needs to do her research, fast. She should have already decided on her A levels in appropriate subjects, usually including Chemistry. As others have said, the Student Room is a good place to start.