To ask whether ds should go for Newcastle, Manchester or Birmingham for medicine?

[Lucywho]

Hi, ds’ school deadline for early entry UCAS forms tomorrow and he’s stuck on his last medicine option. He thinks the birmgham course may be a bit too traditional but it’s still in the mix- mainly between Manchester and Newcastle. Does anyone have any experience of these?

And he’s equally likely to get an interview at any of these

Isn’t Manchester the best uni out of all 3?

Manchester, by a country mile. Best research and teaching, plus excellent hospitals in which to train.

Newcastle

wakemeupwhenthisisover It probably is overall but don’t think prestige matters with medicine

Manchester medic graduate here - it is a well respected university, and social scene is good too. Large year sizes. Quite self directed which I liked. Hospitals are great. Go for Manchester.

Manchester is a great city, but Birmingham is a great city that has superb hospitals. The QE Birmingham is one of the best in the U.K., especially Women’s and the Children’s alongside. Plus the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at the QE, a specialist trauma unit where injured military personnel are taken when they are flown back to the U.K.

I went to uni in Manchester and I live in Birmingham now. Both uni’s and cities are superb, but I think the hospitals in Birmingham would tip the balance

Going to say Newcastle - consistently rated the best for student experience and for clinical medicine. Very integrated course with a great mix of clinical experiences (rural and urban) and some internationally renowned hospitals e.g. The Freeman for cardiology.
Cheaper place to live too.

Truthfully though, all excellent choices!

Manchester every time.

They are all great for medicine. Newcastle and Manchester cheaper to live which is a big consideration. Where do you live. I do think much more time will be spent doing remote learning so perhaps consider travel to and from home.
Essentially it is a win win situation.

olympicsrock we’re near London so distance with Newcastle is a strike on the cons side

Dd doing dentistry at Newcastle and loving it. Are you sure he's as likely to get an interview at all 3? If bot, go with the one that best fits his application.

Manchester! Went to Manchester Uni and still here 18 years later! Lots of friends who did medicine and also met lots of medics since. Great course, great hospitals and great city.

Newcastle and Manchester are great unis and cities. Manchester is one of the only med courses to work with cadavers these days which I think is good. Manchester also has a much nicer approach during the MMI interviews than other unis who are extremely formal and strict. Manchester has a blend of practice-based learning, gets students into hospitals very early which is good.

If he hasnt, he should go to the open days they have, get a good feel for the places. Although COVID is putting them all online, sadly.

Manchester has always been outstanding for medical degrees.

Yes he had a go at some open days- enjoyed Manchester’s but found others had lots of technical difficulties. Newcastle wasn’t on the radar at the time so will see if he can somehow access it now.

Does he not need a banker?

@Lucywho

wakemeupwhenthisisover It probably is overall but don’t think prestige matters with medicine

I disagree. Prestige and connections matter in medicine and law. They shouldn’t, but they do.

Prestige and connections really don't matter in medicine.

What matters is where you think you want to spend the next years of your life as not only will you be studying there, you will be doing Foundation jobs there and then a lot of people end up hanging around and doing the rest of their training there too.

BTW Birmingham is the best.

Newcastle famously good for medicine.

@Squiffany honestly no one really cares where you did your medical degree once you start as a doctor. There are the usual discussions about different medical schools but it really makes no difference beyond that.
I do not have to foggiest idea where most of my colleagues went!

@Lucywho I agree with @AnnaMagnani - most people do stay local for foundation jobs so definitely something to factor in. Good luck to your son, over a decade now since I started as a doctor and can’t imagine doing anything else.

He’s decided he prefers Newcastle’s course, dislikes how far away it is and prefers Manchester as a city so not sure where that leaves him. Teacher responsible for early entry is starting to chase him to send the form asap

[quote countbackfromten]@Squiffany honestly no one really cares where you did your medical degree once you start as a doctor. There are the usual discussions about different medical schools but it really makes no difference beyond that.
I do not have to foggiest idea where most of my colleagues went![/quote]
If that’s the case, why is the first thing they ask, “where did you train?”.