Medicine 2018 Part 4

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Welcome to the new thread! Can't believe we are on the 4th already

She chose Nottingham for many reasons. The Med School is part of both the Uni and the hospital & walking distance from
Halls, the skills labs, early patient contact, full body dissection, CBL rather than PBL. LAnd Notts is a beautiful campus where she can be both a student and a Medic.

But they don't guarantee an interview based on UKCAT - they use GCSE, A level predictions and PS. I'm convinced her part time jobs got her interview. Sheffield and Southampton do rank on UKCAT & Sheffield are v upfront about score required

Thanks Mumsneedwine

Oh no your poor DD Mummy :( It is really bad timing. Its hard enough to be poorly at home let alone in a new place with strangers. I hope she recovers soon.

Taking DD to Manchester tomorrow. She can't wait. Been in touch and getting to know all her flatmates for over a week now so they are keen to finally meet in person. All 8 girls all studying medical sciences.

Just been on a week holiday with DD only, had a great time but makes it easier to part as had enough of each other 24/7! It is still a very strange position seems only yesterday she was a little girl fully dependent on me!

Swing hope it all goes ok tomorrow. Exciting times!! Think I'm still in a tiny bit of denial about DD going next week. Still seems like a bit of a dream.

Oneteen just a word of warning re Nottingham. They are rather random in their selection for interview. My son had good GCSEs, 10th decile UKCat, A*AA predictions, a PS that got him an interview at Bristol and had worked part-time since he was14 in a Cattery and as a pub KP. He also had lots of work experience but he was rejected by Nottingham pre-interview. Make sure you have some safe choices if you put Nottingham down.

Good luck Swing - Manchester is fab! She’ll have a great time. We’re leaving for Sheffield on Friday to get him settled in on Saturday. He is in flat of 10 with no other medics apart from one girl who didn’t get in and is now doing Biomed 😞. He has also been in touch with them and they have got tickets to a club for Saturday. I’m dreading it - not going to lie 😢!
Mommy - hope DD gets better soon. If you go to visit try the Positano Italian restaurant - family run, also Salumi is excellent and if it’s summer Maritimo’s Spanish tapas - has excellent views!

Thanks Movingmountains....we are in the very early stages of looking at Uni's (2020 entry) ...

Good luck to everyone DCs and parents with the move. Lets continue to support (and console!).one another. Been wrapped up in unexpected school change following GCSE's for DS, so DD's impending departure has suddenly sprung up. We're off to Cardiff on 22nd so trying to make the most of time left. DD said she felt I've been more distant - I suspect it's because she hasn't been my prime focus in the last couple of weeks but maybe subconsciously I am trying to let go? I don't know. Hope all our DCs settle and we don't find the transition too hard.
Thinking of you @Mommymoomitzi

Thank you for being so lovely, as ever, ladies. It's hard to believe that the next year are now moving into pole position! Oneteen - a word of warning - the UKCAT is not the same as BMAT. BMAT is taken at the same time, the same questions, by all, whilst the UKCAT is very much the luck of the draw, on the day, with what the computer churns out for you. Your DC could be scoring really well at home and have a few curved balls thrown in on the day, or could be worried and get some better questions. I don't feel it can be really fair (if you look on TSR, there are lots of students who are shocked by the hand the computer dealt them!) Just remember - all medicine degrees are equal, no matter where they train, F1 posts are allocated without the hospitals even knowing where they trained. Plus the GMC would not allow anywhere to train "second rate" doctors. There is a bit of snobbery out there, but that's all it is - it will not affect their careers - in fact my daughter actively avoided the more "snobby" institutions, saying they were not for her and she wanted to be in a happy place for 5 years. She had 10A GCSE, 700 UKCAT and A A* A a level predicitons - so it is horses for courses, she refused to do the BMAT. Just to get a place at medical school is a great achievement and they usually fall in love with the one that they are at. So apply to your DD's strengths, be tactical and you will be fine. Make sure she understands that medicine is medicine and that she is better to apply somewhere that wants her. We are all here to help.

So well said Mommymoomitzi. An anaesthetist friend of ours told DS that it really didn’t matter where he went in terms of career prospects and told him to choose wher he liked best. He actually said that Plymouth is excellent training hospital but too close for us. He said the quality of the hospitals probably more important but you can’t really find that out. There is far too much snobbery about the so called ‘better’ universities.

Movingmountains - so you are close to Plymouth eh? That's excellent news - be expecting a pile of dirty washing in due course! lol

There is a new medical college in Plymouth that takes children in Yr 9 and Yr12 wishing to pursue a career in medicine or healthcare and it looks amazing and also gives the DC attending lots of practical work experience...scottcollege.co.uk/

It would be nice to see a few more of these around the country.

Haha Mommy :)

I can only agree that going for schools where they have the best chance of an offer has to be the best choice. There is so much invested all through the journey, getting in anywhere knowing that almost all student end up happy where they are, has to be the ultimate goal.

If one is lucky enough to have a choice of schools, the decision can then be made on the basis of experience during the interview process. Can only say again that DD ended up choosing the scho that she originally only put down because a 4th had to be chosen. She had no real interest in the school but that all changed when she was there for the interview and then offer holders day and suddenly she had no hesitation picking it over the others.

DD has hardly started packing, thought taking a nap instead was more important...

Oneteen - agreed, this gives the less fortunate students a real opportunity to follow their dreams. Swingofthings - i got my DD a great door sign, off Amazon, that says "please do not disturb - I'm napping". She has a half day tomorrow and is already planning an afternoon nap. They are all the same and we love them!

Mommymoomitzi thank you....my DD said a few months ago when she decided medicine would be her career route that she would not mind where she was offered a place and if necessary would go the post graduate route ....she's lucky that she attends a good school that runs a Medsoc club so hopefully she will get some good guidance...she's incredibly down to earth and realistic. I dont think she's looked at any UKCAT tests yet (I have ) but I think they cover the tests in Medsoc.

Hi Oneteen. Don't worry about UKCAT until about 6 weeks before they take them, there is a lot of guidance out there. I am the "Plymouth Guru" on here and you can ask me anything about Plymouth, should you ever need to. Your DD is half way there, by wanting it so badly - the thing is that it's a rocky old road, you just have to keep pushing for that dream to become a reality. There are new medical schools opening this year, so there has never been a better time to apply. When thinking about post grad, do remember the funding issues - just something to bear in mind. Give your DD my best wishes, she has at least 10 other "mothers" on this site, all ready to help.

Yes always happy to help! Can tell you about Bristol Birmingham Sheffield or Nottingham.

And I can help with Notts, Sheffield, Liverpool and Southampton. And my DD will happily tell you about her dislike of Bristol.

It would be really helpful to know why your DC's selected the Uni's they chose ...

DD chose Nottingham because she liked the course, having the integrated Bmedsci within the five years. Plus they prepare them really well for becoming fy1s. And the campus is fabulous. She did really like Sheffield too tbh, that was her insurance.

Dds quickly shortlisted med schools- avoided all places that used PBL and didn't want London or south coast as too far away. Or bmat. So not many left!

@specialted thank you!

DS chose Sheffield and Liverpool because of high level of early patient contact and Nottingham and Bristol as he liked their courses. He picked all UKCAT as didn’t want to bother with BMAT as he had done so well. We knew he would definitely get an interview at Sheffield as well. In the end Sheffield won him over as he loved every aspect of their selection procedure - said they were most friendly and the applicant day was excellent. He also preferred idea of dissection rather than pro-section 😱 - each to their own 😂
I was also very impressed with Sheffield - though also liked Bristol but their application process left a lot to be desired! He felt he was lucky to get 3 offers and have a choice to make

Thank you movingmountains ...this is so helpful...

Oddly enough my gut feeling is Sheffield would suit DD because I do know someone who graduating from the Med School.

I meant to say Good Luck to all the DC starting their courses soon...its such a shame in some respects that they make the process so difficult when we need "home grown" doctors etc.. that's not saying that it should be an easy process!