To think I can apply for post grad med school with a 2.2 in languages from 15 years ago?

[Changednameadviceneededxx]

Please be nice to me 🙈

Name changed but I'm a mumsnet lover.

I've been thinking about studying medicine. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor. But I just never thought it possible.

I've got an english language degree and by the time i apply, would (fingers crossed) have a c2 cert in French.

But i only got a 2.2 😔, and I haven't worked since a corporate grad job that I did after uni, and haven't worked for close to a decade due to raising dc.

I'm a single mum so would study around raiding dc. I can't currently get work experience whilst I raise them, but would be able to study.

How crazy am I to think that a med school, somewhere in London, would accept me, with these circumstances.

I don't have science a levels either, just languages.

Tia x

I have a friend who has worked as a counsellor for junior doctors for many years. She said that she used to get one or 2 young doctors per year who were feeling suicidal. Now it is 3 or 4 A WEEK.
My son has a friend from uni who is still in training ( they graduated from their first degrees 10 years ago). He has a girlfriend and a small child. She is effectively a single parent and he is an exhausted, badly paid shell who goes from placement to placement wherever he is sent(and that can be the absolute back of beyond).
I was a single parent of 2 and worked as a primary school teacher. That just about worked because I could take them with me when their school had training/ was doing different term dates. I couldn't have been a doctor.

I got into graduate entry medicine with a 2.2 in a non-science subject.

I now have a BMBS and my CCT - none of my patients know or care about my A levels.

No
You’ve literally done a superficial google and don’t know what’s available to you
you don’t meet the entry criteria . You’ve made no effort to meet it
you have no recent experience in health or social care, go get some
have not made any steps toward A level sciences or access course

PG medicine in london
QMUL
kings
George’s
imperial

This is going to sound brutal. You may enjoy studying, but if you can't Even manage to be one of the 70 per cent thèse days who get a first or a 2:1 I doubt you have the intellectual apparatus required.

One in three get a first thèse days. Adjust your expectations. Nursing might be an option I guess.

Could you look at this-
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/about/newshub/news-events/new-medical-doctor-degree-apprenticeship-launched-delivering-a-more-representative-workforce-for-local-communities/

God help us all 😳

This. Postgrad entry medicine is usually for people who did a relevant first degree (science, biomedical science, etc) and most (if not all will require 2:1 in that science first degree. If you don't even have A levels, they won't look at you. You will also need some significant, relevant work experience.

What is likely to prove a massive barrier on its own is getting a good enough score on the Gamsat or UKCAT test - it's very hard indeed and for someone without recent, relevant science quals, probably impossible.

I know all this because my niece (possessor of science A levels at v good grades, a relevant first degree at 2:1 and a relevant second degree AND a year working full-time as a HCA in a hospital) for the past 3 years has been applying. She finally got a good enough score at UKCAT and one interview. She now has a place to study medicine.

You would never do it in four years without a science or medical background. And the 4 year course is very intensive. By all means make enquiries and as others have said you will need to do some more qualifications.

YABU. Your degree isn’t even relevant and was 15 years ago. You need to have a conversation with someone at the university to see what you could do to be considered.

Why don’t you look into being a PA? I personally don’t agree with them in principle but it would probably suit you much more. They tend to do much less out of hours and have predictable rotas as well (usually taking all the best training away from actual doctors.)

How do people even get 2.2s bar extenuating circumstances?

I can't find it now, but there used to be a postgraduate course at a Welsh University that you could access via an entry exam. If medicine is what you really want to do, there are ways to do it, even if it means doing a course before postgraduate medicine.

Don't give up on your dream while there's still time to achieve it.

I dont think you've got any chance currently. And I'm very much an "aim for the stars" type of person.

Do an access course, although you'd probably need to fund it yourself.

How hard was it to achieve the 2:2??

Was it really necessary for you to make that comment?

If you can't answer that question I'd be more worried about the institution that awarded you any classification.

Agree that language teachers are important but I honestly don't want to teach, I don't have the passion needed to do it x

By being a slightly lazy-arse prone to very last minute exam revision —looking at you ds—

It’s not impossible if you really want to do it. You wouldn’t be eligible for the fast track graduate medicine schemes but you could apply as an undergraduate. You would probably need to do an Access to Medicine course (you need to check if the med schools you are applying to accept it as a qualification and which specific courses they accept - there is more than one provider). Here is the med schools council link with entry requirements:

MSC

You would also need some work experience. I agree with a PP that bank work as an HCA is probably the best way to gain insight into a career in medicine and what it’s really like working for the NHS.

Med school is hard work but it is largely 9-5, so childcare shouldn’t be too much of an issue. You won’t get long university vacations in the later years, so you would need some school holiday childcare.

Juggling a family as a resident doctor when you will be working long hours, weekends and nights will be the real challenge. You may have to relocate. Your DC will be much older then though. Once you have done your foundation years training, there are some specialties that are more family friendly than others. If you can actually get a training contract…

I mean I can. But like I'm asking the OP why she ended up with a 2.2

@Changednameadviceneededxx there is a dedicated Mature Study and Retraining board on MN - full of threads recounting people’s queries, doubts, experiences and outcomes. Really your first step into a new career should be to read about fifty of those threads to get an idea of all the issues people face when considering re-training as parents. There are plenty of triumphs there too - but they’re based on solid research, not daydreaming. I hope you’ll find something that inspires a viable route for you.

See here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mature_students

I teach first year medical students. In my group of 12 each year, there's probably an average of 1 mature student. They are usually early-mid 20s and have recently finished a first degree (often with a science degree, but there was one with a law degree) or be slightly older and this is their first degree. Majority are still in their 20s but last year I had a student who I'd estimate was late 40s if not older.

Life experience is a huge benefit in the study and practice of medicine and all the mature students I have taught have been highly motivated and done well. But, and it's a huge but - the course is full on, and moves at a fast pace. You would have to be honest with yourself about the time you could commit over many years (it's not just the 5 years of uni, but the training years afterwards). It's a cliche but medicine is definitely a marathon not a sprint.

In terms of getting on to a course in the first place, you would need appropriate A levels or have done an appropriate access course. Universities will differ in their entrance requirements, check out their websites or contact them. Irrespective of qualifications, you will need relevant work experience, paid or voluntary. Again, check with the university what they require.

What about looking at an access to healthcare course - so you’d get some science education, placements and exposure to different healthcare career options. It doesn’t close the door on medicine but is a start on the sciences while introducing possible more realistic career options.

Thank you 😢

They're 6 - the thing is, I've looked at nursing and as tough and rewarding as it is, it's not for me

Don't know why but I keep on coming back to this doctor dream

Post graduate medicine is statistically more competitive than undergrad, since there are more people applying for fewer places.

I think as things stand now you don’t have a cat in hell’s chance of getting onto a course. As others have said, if you are serious you should consider an access course and obtaining relevant work experience.

Thank you for this x