Medicine 2019

[kaykay72]

Hi,

Does anyone here have a DC applying for medicine to start in 2019? It would be nice to meet others as we embark on uni visits, predicted grades, UKCAT etc

We’re in Kent, d is planning to visit kings, UCL, Nottingham, Sheffield and Newcastle at the moment. She really wanted to go look at Belfast but they want three A’s plus an A at AS level but won’t accept her additional qualification in place of this (despite it having a higher UCAS tarriff). We went to an open afternoon at BSMS which she liked more than she thought she would, so is pondering the BMAT.

I have two older kids (well, adults now), one of whom has just finished his masters, the other just completed his first year elsewhere, but medical applications are just so complicated in comparison to their experiences at this stage.

Hope to hear from others in the same boat :-)

Nighthowl, she loved bsms but its local and she wanted the full experience. That and she fell in love with Manchester when she went for the interview as she found everyone there really kind and friendly and loved the buzz.

She did a programme with bsms since year 9 so got to know the school and students well and she loved it so would have been very happy to go there too.

Her initial concern with Manchester was that it is PBL and she wasn't keen on it. As it is, she loves it. Her PBL group is very close and do a lot together so feels a bit like family. Manchester seems more self learning based and that suits her well. Shes already done one placement and will do another one in December.

She found both the BMAT and UKCAT quite hard but the UKCAT was more predictable. As it is, she didn't find the BMAT content as hard as she expected , the challenge was the time as there was a lot of info to take in before answering. She came out thinking she hadn't done well as couldn't answer all the questions but got 17.3 and that was quite a bit over bsms cut off. Getting a 3.5 and 5 in the essay helped. A .5 point can make all the difference.

I think that going to interviews does give them quite a flavour of the school and can very much change their preferences. DD almost didn't go to Manchester as she'd been very poorly with the flu that week yet fell in love with it on that day which she hadn't expected at all.

Swingofthings
Thank you that is all really helpful. We have a similar situation with BSMS, DD not eligible for accommodation due to our postcode being within commuting distance. We didn't realise this initially, and DD thought she would get accomodation, and have the full experience. If she chooses BSMS she will be commuting, she had already planned to commute to the London unis. PBL was also the one thing she was concerned about with Manchester, but your DD sounds like she is enjoying it, and the whole experience of Manchester which is reassuring. Glad you DD didn't find the BMAT as hard as expected, do you know what the BMAT cut off point for BSMS was last year. DD also need BMAT for UCL.

Hi all,I ve been following the thread for a while with great interest but first time posting. D has submitted her Ucas form before the UKCAT scores came out ,seems obvious now but wished she could have waited a few days as scores were lower than last year and knowing 2019 UKCAT info might have given her a little bit of wriggle room in terms of choices with a UKCAT of 645 average. Tbh think she was keen to get it done and felt some pressure from school to get on with it! After much consideration and some strategic consideration shes applied for Birmingham,Cardiff,Liverpool and Leicester.Not sure she will be in with a chance of interview at Birmingham but she was adamant she wanted to try as she d used their offer calculator and it said she was in with a chance. Does anyone know what Leicester is like??.we havnt managed to visit, but hope to on 17th November /open day.Best of luck to all of your applicants..guess we all have to hang tight for now.

Hi nighthowl, maybe we're neighbours! I think last year was under 17. I think it was lower or similar to the previous year as there was concern as it had been going up each year for the past 3 years but finally stabilised last year. I can't remember the exact cut off.

Yes DD loved PBL and already talking about a group of them moving in together next year. There are very diverse in background, culture and even age but all very friendly and supportive. PBL certainly encourages them to listen to each other and take into consideration different perspectives and I can now better understand the concept of it.

4catsham my DD applied to Leicester last year (also Cardiff, Bristol and Newcastle). She really liked Leicester - it was her favourite campus, has a new medical school building just across the road from a park and seemed very friendly. She would have happily have gone there. In the end she decided to put it as her insurance choice and is at Cardiff now.

Offer received this morning for D’s 5th choice, biomed at a London uni. She’s hoping she won’t need it but it at least feels like progress.

BMAT practice trundling along, seems to be getting either mid 5’s or in the 7’s in equal measure for the first two sections which is weird, and practising timing for the essay questions. Hope all is good with you and your DC

That's very impressive hostess.

Ds already done his bmat so we are sitting tight now.
Got confirmation email from all universities except one- Leeds. Did hear from them?

@medicmom - it’s how it goes on the day that counts, it’s just odd that her marks swing so much.

Didn’t apply to Leeds. She loved kings and Notts, and applied to Sheffield because the course ticks all of her boxes, she liked the ethos of the uni and med school (and Julian!), and felt that she would settle in the town although she didn’t love it - and her UKCAT would get an interview. She was undecided where to apply for her 4th, as she liked imperial at the open day but didn’t know if she wanted the extra work of the BMAT, her UKCAT was better than expected and would have got her an interview at Bristol or Newcastle or somewhere, but she didn’t have strong feelings about going there. In the end she decided to give imperial a shot, so started BMAT prep relatively late. Her thought is that she’d be very happy with any of her other three choices so if she didn’t make the cut on the BMAT she could live with that. I do hear very good things about Leeds - but part of her thought process is her boyfriend’s likely destination 🙄

DS also has confirmation from all but Leeds and an offer from 5th (Biomed at Newcastle)

The Biomed was odd - AAB in any order for his subjects or ABB in any order. I don't know why they did not just say ABB!

7s in BMAT are amazing, DS getting a little over 6 fairly consistently, but one past paper (2014 S2) got 4.6 which would not be enough to get an interview at the Cambridge college he has chosen.

@monkey2001 - she did that paper yesterday, got 7.4 for s1 and 5.3 for s2 which is the first time she’s had that kind of variation between the two sections in one paper. Said she’d rather just have a consistent score over about 5.5 which would put her in Imperial band 1 for interview selection, than it being all over the place and unpredictable.

@hostess.. ds has applied to Sheffield as well. The Julian factor here as well!
Good luck with Bmat.

Does anyone know if it would be a serious disadvantage to your medical school application if you have been unable to secure a lot of medical experience through voluntary work etc.

DD decided quite late in the year that she wanted to do medicine. However she was then 100% committed. She attended A Young Doctor course in the summer and immediately set about trying to get some voluntary work. It has proven difficult, but she did manage to get a voluntary position in a hospice, however they took ages to process her DBS check, and do her induction, so she had only done a few shifts when she submitted her application and personal statement. she did put the hospice experience on it. She has also applied to another hospital but is still waiting for their reply.

The hospice are now saying they may not need her, and she is now worried that if she gets any interviews she may not have enough relevant voluntary/caring experience. I have advised her to chase up the other hospital ASAP. As any interview offers may not be for a while yet.

I know she is particularly concerned about the NAI form from Manchester that she would need to complete if offered an interview, Which asks for that kind of information. She has previously worked in retail, and is currently working in a different role that involves working with children. I am wondering if she still has time to find something before interviews:can anyone offer any advice.

Hi nightowl, many nhs trusts have a youth board where young people have a voice in service development - can find local details through your trust's advisory services, they are a fantastic volunteering opportunity and may allow 'observers' on meetings if you ask if the timeframe is too short to get fully involved before interviews, also try any charitable respite services for young children with disabilities- as she has DBS now that might speed up engagement. Retail work has loads of transferable skills too. Good luck, we were in your shoes last year

Dd has not much work experience in the hospital/ GP setting and has faced the same difficulties as your daughter.
I did do a lot of asking around/ research and the universities do realise that arranging work experience is not always straight forward and will take retail/ working with children as positive experience.What universities has your Dd applied - some universities like Keele place a lot of emphasis on WE but most don't.

Night owl- we found out that each organisation will do a separate DBS- bonkers but that's what they do.

Night owl- do you have a local day care centre? DS did his school work experience in one of those and spent time with elderly people and also some people with learning difficulties. Useful for talking about learning to live with health problems and the community aspect of healthy living. Also give your local Age UK HQ a call and see if you can help out at one of their 10 to 3 clubs. They sometimes have armchair exercises and stuff like that or just general activities.

Mine doesn’t have tons. Partly due to balancing her school stuff, a 12-16 hour sport apprenticeship plus a job.

Look at the unis she’s applying to. Many say it’s the learning and reflection that are important, what are they learning about the role of a doctor, the personal qualities needed, and linking their own developing of demonstrated qualities to that. Dd linked reflection on reading she’d done to a conversation with a doctor on a shadowing day, to something she’d done as a sports coach for example, and talked about communication with customers and team work in her pt job in her PS. Her medical work experience was only a few days here and there as it’s hard to get, but they’d rather read reflection, learning, and self awareness on a bit of WE than a long list of ‘time served’. But different unis want different things

I would echo the others here. We went to a medic mentors conference and one of the Cardiff students presenting drew on her experience as a gymnastics coach. Several talks have acknowledged that WE is difficult to get.

On volunteering, the easiest thing to get is care home volunteering and if she is 18 hospital visiting. My DS volunteers at Riding for the Disabled. Also, it may be worth approaching a physiotherapist - a physio friend of mine has taken potential medics to her workshops in residential homes.

Nightowl, if your DD gets over the threshold for Manchester, which has been over the 7th decile (or 8th depending how counted) she will get an interview.

They don't really look at the form unless to discount if there is something concerning written.

The importance of experience comes about during the interview, not directly in listing the experience but showing skills and knowledge gained from it. If your DD has done some at the hospice, she might have already gained quite a bit of that knowledge already. Also a lot of it will be common to any experience so anything else shes done will matter.

Also doing quite a bit of reading. I recommend the King's fund website which is full of very relevant information.

Thank you for the replies some good advice and suggestions.

Domovol -thank you for your suggestion about the youth board i will look into that. Unfortunately DBS checks are needed for each individual establishment. What did you do last year? And did your DD/DS get a place?

Professor - DD has applied for Kings, ucl, bsms, and manchester. Sounds like our Dds are in a similar situation with work experience, I have been reading a lot of threads on tsr, and everyone appears to have huge amounts of experience shadowing doctors, hospitals, care homes, etc. DDs experience seems rather lacking in comparison. Which is a result of deciding late that she wanted to do medicine.

Sluj- good idea about Age UK will get DD to look into that. There is a local day care centre that are currently looking for volunteers but you have to be over 18 and DD is not. (but will be soon)

Hostess- thanks for your advice, I told l DD that any experience she already has can be used to reflect. Any skills she has acquired can be linked to medicine in some way, for example dealing with different people, communication skills etc. She does understand this, but is still concerned it will not be relevant enough.

Monkey2001- thank you for your suggestions, DD did look into the riding for disabled, ( as she rides) but our nearest riding school that did that was just too far away, and difficult to get to transport wise.

Swingofthings- Yes DD is comfortably in the 8th decile. With a band 1 I did think she was likely to get an interview. But then thought the NAI form would show her lack of caring experience, and might count against her. it's reassuring to know it won't be relevant until interview. she will then have to use her current experience to convince them that she has the skills, knowledge, self awareness, etc that they want.

I will take a look at the kings fund website. From your Dds experience with Manchester last year, do you remember timescales for the form being sent, interview offer, and actual interviews?

Thank to everyone for all the suggestions, will definitely look into them. This is a gruelling process compared to other uni applications. i think only those going through it really understand how tough and competitive it is. So the support on here is invaluable.

Good luck with the volunteering night owl
My DC had to have enhanced dbs because of the nature of her volunteering work so you can sign up for an update service if you are doing other roles that require the check, much quicker than reapplying each time, I don't think this is available for standard check, my mistake assuming check would be an enhanced one
DC sadly missed her grades so on a different pathway now, very happy with this and will consider GEM in time. It's really good to see her pick herself up, dust down and be positive about a different immediate future - all is not list if things do not work the way you wish 

Re. Manchester I think the form had to be sent end of November? Not 100% certain. Interview was either 2nd week of January of second of February. I think they then had a third one in March for those selected later. Bsms interview was only 5 days in total the first week of January.

She was given an offer at both only a few weeks later.

Re. Work experience, the 3 main hospital Trusts in the South offer placements to under 18yo but it can take quite some time to process before a dare is agreed. The easiest way to get a placement is to contact a consultant directly, one she has a particular interest in, as once they agree, the HR process is quicker.

Domovoi- I agree about being positive if things do not go as planned. When DD decided on medicine so late we suggested she wait until next year. We thought she would be in a stronger position with actual grades and more relevant work experience, also with scores from ukcat and bmat. However she did well in ukcat (still to sit bmat) so wanted to give it a go this year, on the understanding it may be a long shot. She is realistic about that. If she doesn't get the grades she will just resit and do another round next year but with the benefit of experience of the whole process. Or do a a bio med course and take that route. As you say all is not lost, Glad your daughter is happy with the route she has taken.

Swingofthings- thanks for the info about the timescales and the form. I think DD still has time to sort something out before jan/feb. If you are correct about the deciles it is good to know she is likely to get at least one interview at Manchester .

Yes she will almost certainly get an interview there. Bsms and Manchester are very different in their interview styles but ultimately I think the main traits they are looking for is the right balance between self- confidence and being humble. What she should definitely not do is think that she won't be as good a candidate at interview because of her lack of direct experience. There will many other experiences that she'll be able to draw on and it's more about the learning than length of experience.

adrinkofwater

Thanks for the insight into your DDs experience of Leicester...keeping our fingers crossed for an interview now!Hope your DD is getting in ok at Cardiff, if you dont mind me asking what was the deciding factor in putting it as her first choice?Hope the BMAT preps are going ok, nearly there!