Can anyone explain the complete basics of applying for medicine/vet med at Uni

Unis will be having open days in September and October. Go to one or two that do medicine/vet courses (closest are fine at this stage), and attend the subject talks to get an overview - most also have subject stands where you can talk to current students and maybe lecturers and pick up leaflets/course outline books. At this stage, you're not actually looking at which uni to apply for - you're just doing some research, hence why local Unis are fine. You'd be doing the open days early, but that's no problem. We went with our son a year early and it really helped start the process - especially as we, as parents, didn't go to uni and he had no siblings nor close relatives who've been either, so it was from a standing start. At least you'll get their take on what A levels they require (subjects and grades) and hopefully get it from the horses' mouth as to work experience etc. (Although all Unis are good these days as to very comprehensive websites showing requirements, processes, etc).

As for GCSE grades, she needs the best she can get. It doesn't matter so much about what the Uni says are it's minimum requirements - it's all a competition as there are more applicants than places. A stellar set of GCSE's plus high predicted A level grades will push her up the list compared with someone with an "OK" set of GCSEs and the same predicted grades. Things like relevant work experience and good personal statement/references do the same - it's all about climbing up the applicant list.

If their "min req" is 3 A's at A level, but they get hundreds of applicants with forecast As, then they'll be offering places to the A applicants and those with just A predictions will only get a sniff if they stand out for other reasons, i.e. top GCSE grades, top personal statement, lots of relevant work experience, etc. (Although different Unis place more/less importance on each aspect - eg. some publicly say they don't take personal statements into account, some don't do interviews, others do group interviews, some have a series of 1-2-1 interviews.) So, whilst GCSEs may or may not be too relevant, a string of 9's would help per stand out in the crowd.

My DS did a really good weeks work experience at the local hospital, watched an operation in the operating theatre and other real experiences. He also had lots of chats with junior doctors. He decided not to follow the medicine route from this. Definitely worth checking out if your local hospitals have the same scheme, this was run in first year of sixth form.

And Vet medicine - does she want to work with Pets or Large Farm animals? If the former - how does she feel about having to put pets to sleep? For the later how does she feel about putting her arm up a Cows backside?
How much experience does she have with animals? Has she got pets? Has she worked at a Farm or Stables?

(Vets are also not that well paid, but are often extremely motivated.)

Maybe you need to get her some careers advice so she can find out about alternative careers.

In the nicest way possible, if she’s going into sixth form in September she will have roughly a year to sort out her application, so if she is serious about medicine/vet medicine then she needs to start researching it herself. If she isn’t willing to put the working into looking into it, I would be a bit worried about her motivation.

Entry requirements for medicine vary between universities, so there is no one combination of A Levels that will tick all the boxes, but generally biology and chemistry are necessary. She might also need to do an admissions test, eg UCAT or BMAT, but again this varies. I would encourage her to look at the requirements for different universities that she might consider applying to.

Work experience is definitely a must, not just for strengthening her application, but for getting a realistic view of what the job is like. Ideally she should try and get some shadowing experience, and to get a realistic view of the job I would aim to shadow a junior doctor, rather than a consultant.

Medicine is bloody tough, the degree is a long slog but specialty training is (often) longer and tougher, and morale in the NHS is low. Doctors tend to have to bear the brunt of rota gaps, and are left holding the buck when things go wrong. I would encourage her to read about the Hadiza Bowa-Garba case. There was also a thread about working in medicine on here yesterday, and there was a programme on radio 4 recently about a junior doctor who is leaving her job because of the working conditions. I’ll link both of those below.

There are lots of amazing things about medicine, and it’s a complete privilege to be a doctor, but she needs to go into it with her eyes open.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005t3h
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3649460-To-think-medicine-isnt-a-great-career-choice?pg=1&order=

Best place to find out about the UCAT is its own website: www.ucat.ac.uk/

She will need to sit this in the year she applies. Only 1 sitting allowed per test cycle.

How much do Med schools look at GCSE grades?

All unis have their own entry requirements - choose a couple to start with and check on their website to see what they require. You'll soon realise you need a spreadsheet to keep track! You'll also discover that entry requirements are the bare minimum; you'll need to look carefully at shortlisting criteria for interviews to see how your DD scores. Some unis base their interview shortlist purely on UCAT ranking, others use a combi of GCSE points, predicted grades, BMAT/UCAT score.

What subjects should she do for A-level?

Check websites to make sure. Biology and Chemistry usually means she's safe for all unis.

Does she need maths A-level?

No. That said, Oxbridge stats show applicants with these 3 subjects stand a better chance. Maths will also help with UCAT and BMAT tests.

Is IB or are A-levels preferable to Universities?

No difference.

Should she be doing relevant work experience already?

She should start now. DS1 volunteered as a ward assistant for 4 months when he was 16. This led to a week's work experience - all departments including surgical observations. Check if hospitals nearby if they run student programmes. He now volunteers weekly at Children's Emergency and has direct patient contact.

What sort of work experience is useful/viewed well.

Any caring commitment is good. I am assuming that your DD is 16 already - she should start volunteering at care homes etc or community groups which have a caring element. DS1 volunteered with Riding for the Disabled (when he was 15) and St John's Ambulance (started age 12). He also used the time after GCSE exams to find a job (pharmacy) and has kept the PT job going (still there now). It is good to show long-term commitment.

Look at entry requirements carefully. For medicine she will addition need UCAT - a sort of situationally judgement and IQ test.

For vet medicine, she will need a substantial amount of work experience to apply so she’d need to start getting it now.

Vet medicine is harder to get into as there are really very few places per year. Medicine on the other hand is competitive but has around 7000 places per year.

For both courses, she’d be signing up for at least 5 years of study. So she really needs to be sure she wants to do it and not just be ‘vague’. She also has to be confident she wants to be up close to poorly humans/animals - the book learning is secondary after the first couple of years when gaining the practical aspects of medicine takes up most of the contact hours.

Https:www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/applications/entry-requirements?type=standard-entry-medicine

This website is helpful

I'm sure she won't need maths A level. I would imagine three sciences would be better - but I'm just bumping for you - not speaking from a position of knowledge.