Medicine Applications 2017

[adski]

As UKCAT season is in full swing and I can't find a thread anywhere else I thought I'd start this off. This is for parents of children looking to apply for Medicine at University with courses starting in 2017. UCAS application is only a couple of months away. It is hard to watch our kids put themselves through so much to work in the hardest profession imaginable and I thought it might be useful to start some sort of discussion here.

You've gotta love them.

getting a job is very good for their maturity - and a 5/6 year medicine course puts a lot of strain on parental finances so the more of their own money they have the better. Few medical students seem to take work but those that have worked seem more mature and organised.

For future reference the NHS bursary application process (year 4 on) has so far been less traumatic than expected, although mine hasn't got any figures yet. The time scale is short and they need to send off passports or both driving licence or birth certificate. Copies are not accepted. I believe the same was true for the first year of student finance but deadlines and holidays are different so something to consider when making holiday plans between year 3 and 4.

Good luck to those whose exams are not yet over.

I don't expect DD to work during her course, but I think she should get some work now, even if it's just a bit of babysitting , cutting grass for neighbours etc . Better still a job in asda etc.

We live near a large city so this is quite realistic - most of her classmates have had PT jobs at weekends during 6th form.

DD has 3.5 months between last exam and starting uni . And we are fed up with the £20 every other day when we are both out at work and she's lying in bed not even putting her own dishes in the machine.

Half the time I'm glad she's going away to uni as I think she needs to grow up a bit and we have spoilt her. And the other half I worry about how she will cope and how much I will miss her.

Thanks for the tip re NHS bursary, will make a note.

Scottish student finance doesn't require any documents, at least DD didn't. I think they check identity via NI number and driving license / passport.

after year 3 they dont get much in the way of holidays so working then isn't feasible. Some students do a bit of work during the course, it isn't impossible but it's better if they dont have to do so.

I certainly would not be giving mine £70 a week to lie in bed.

Of course you will miss her but they need to grow up sometime and a bit of tough love now may make it easier on her when she has to face difficult times later. Medical students need to be resilient.

DS1 is well into his clinical years at Oxford and has worked at weekends in a very busy Oxford cafe to support himself, without any obvious detriment to his grades. Perhaps he manages this alongside all his other commitments because he worked from Y9 onwards at a cafe at home. It's not correct that it's not feasible.

my comment about not being feasible was about working in the holidays. Oxbridge have longer holidays but most medical students will be elsewhere and after year 3 their holidays will be short, The summer holiday may be at the wrong times for some employers and is too short for others. This is also the time when students typically travel with their friends.

It is possible to work during term time but it is better if they can concentrate on their studies and having a social life as well as taking advantage of learning opportunities outside the timetable. The one student I know of who has to do a lot of work to support themself is having trouble passing exams.

Obviously one wouldn't want to compromise social life or other extra curricular activities or grades, but in DSs case that hasn't been an issue. He's a very sociable creature with plenty of activities beyond his studies and is doing extremely well in terms of grades/ marks/ results. It's always dangerous to generalize from 'the one student' so I offer my DS up as an antidote. You're correct that there are no holidays after third year sufficient to do meaningful paid work but of course that's irrelevant if a student is working steadily in paid employment through his or her degree, or at least the clinical years.

And a lot of students have to work or they can't afford to go. It's not an extra, it's for food.

mumsneedwine exactly. DS has worked to fund the extra required for a decent social life, because his income was too restrictive otherwise. It's normal.

your Ds had already been offered as an example, but not one that will work for everyone. The young person I mentioned has very little in the way of family support and therefore has no choice. They do have to work to cover food and rent.

On medical courses there are a lot of students who do have a choice and quite a lot who do no paid work at any time. Coral's child may want to be one of them but Coral might want to start setting expectations now, or face 5/6 years of demands for more money.

Agreed alreadytaken, on not dishing out undeserved handouts. My point was simply that even on the most pressurized medical courses students can and do work without hindrance to social life, extra curriculars and grades, since you implied it was incredibly tricky.

DD won't work, but fully expects to participate fully in University sport, and to manage this with studies and a social life, which I assume is about the same sort of time demand. She believes she will be a better doctor if she can retain a balance between work/study and the rest of her life.

In terms of working this summer, why not try care homes. SS worked in very sheltered housing one summer when she was 16, mainly cleaning and working in the kitchen. They were very short staffed so she ended up with a lot of additional shifts, which meant that even with low pay she earned quite a lot. One advantage is that experience of this type of work means she will have context should she find work as a medic difficult. She also learned a lot from her colleagues, who were very kind to her.

dont be silly, goodbye, I simply said it was less desirable. There are many thing relevant to their future career that students can do if they don't have to work. Some do those things, some dont. If the parents are willing and able to fund them life can be more fun for the student before the lifetime of hard work ahead.

Personally I encouraged mine to work in the holdays while they still could so they started with savings.

I'm unclear what I've said that's silly? DS has worked since Y9 in the holidays and at weekends and it hasn't stunted any aspect of his life as far as I can see. Nothing silly about pointing out that it's possible to work without compromise, if you're capable and good at time management. I think perhaps you make a little too much about how difficult things are for medical students - a lot will depend on the calibre of student but the best students and those possibly best suited to the career will manage to pack a lot in, beyond studying.

All the medical students I know have worked since they were 16. Because they had too. But they still have fab social lives and are in sports teams. And are v good st time management 😁. I love the idea working is an added extra - no, for a lot of people it is so they can eat.

Uh? I assume that was aimed at me.

DD has taken a gap year and has worked very hard so has savings, sufficient to cover extras for the next couple of years.

I can't see why there is some badge of honour attached to working through student days. We have also found that we save considerable amounts by not having children to feed. So no need to let her starve.

(My impression is that we gave our student son a lot less than many others, and he has managed just fine. To some extent it seems a case of expectation. He is happy cooking with friends, having a social life based around student societies and making packed lunches. Other students may expect to shop at Waitrose, buy take out coffees and run up bar bills. If the latter, maybe a job is needed.)

No it wasn't aimed at you at all Needmoresleep! I'm not sure which post you're talking about, mine or mumsneedwine's, but my post was directed at alreadytaken.

I certainly don't regard working in paid employment as a medical student a badge of honour and as a parent I'd prefer DS didn't feel he needed to but he did, and has had exactly the same (very active) social life as he would have otherwise have done and done as many other activities as he would have done and also done extremely well in his exams (of which he's done many). However, alreadytaken does frequently represent the Oxbridge medical student's experience as being so different from what I know of it that it's worth correcting, so that not all would be applicant's are deterred by it or misled by the substance of certain things she says.

I'm less than impressed by any suggestion that some parents 'don't wish' to fund their DC. There's a wide range of parental support as there's bound to be but those who give less, or nothing, are probably not restricting their input out of choice but necessity. Better off parents aren't necessarily better.

Don't worry. It was this...

"I love the idea working is an added extra - no, for a lot of people it is so they can eat."

Lets all feel guilty because we can afford for our DC to eat.

Mine wasn't aimed at anyone - and I've just had a chuckle at the badge of honour comment. I too would rather my kids didn't have to work their way through college, and doing so is no 'badge of honour'. It's so they can actually go. I can't afford to fund them totally so if they don't work then they don't eat. It's not that 'I decided not to fund them'. I can't. If I win the lottery then I'll buy them all a house and fund them forever. Otherwise they have to help themselves - and have done since their 16 birthdays.

Oh and I never said anyone should feel bad that they can afford to help their kids. I am v pleased for you. But I was pointing out that for some students working is not an option. And that's with shopping at Aldi

Sorry, your earlier post was offensive, suggesting that the rest of us are in some way negligent for not requiring our DC to work during term times. I worked at two jobs for years. DC are under no illusions about where the money comes from, and are careful how they spend it. Sure they can afford to eat, but surely this is a pretty standard parental duty.

I always thought Oxford didn't allow term time work?

Oxford are very happy for students to work - they realise some need to. I'm not sure where I accused anyone of being negligent for not letting their kids work . Was just pointing out that not everyone can fund their kids studies. Obviously I don't take my 'parental responsibilities' seriously !!! This may be because I had 2 kids and then took in my sisters 3 when she died. So suddenly had 5 to see through Uni not the 2 we had expected. Sorry if this means I'm crap at doing my basic parental duties but unless I sell a kidney I don't have access to any more money. Maybe I could use Corbyns money tree. Or my kids can work and pay their own way as adults do.

Yes, but we all have different circumstances and you come across as very judgy.

It is also about funding extras too. DS is in his forth year of med school and often works shifts as a care assistant. That is not because we don't help fund him but he likes travelling, and going to concerts which are expensive pursuits ( we do help fund his sport for example, as well paying phone bill, and accommodation). I think it is good especially for med students to experience life at the other end of the NHS hierarchy.