Medicine 2021

[Millylovespuddles]

Hi all
It looks like there’s no medicine 2021 entry thread yet, so it might be an idea to get the ball rolling.
My DD is getting stuck into her A level course, doing well so far, but I’m guessing we parents could do with some mutual support and advice from parents who’ve been here before.

Are referrals in Medicine not rather more tightly controlled than in (many) other subjects, given that it's not just a case of, What I fancy studying at university, but how many new qualified doctors we will need 5/6 years hence ? Unless the medical schools run a sufficiently large waiting list to fill in the gaps?

DD didn't want traditional and wanted early patient contact. She likes a mixture of lectures, seminars and small group work along with practising on real patients - sorry people of Notts and Derby !

Southampton she liked but no actual medical school. Lectures in biosciences building and then bus to hospital.

Liverpool she loved but hospital very old and no sign of new one opening (still isn't). But great city and fantastically friendly. Long way from home.

Sheffield does full body dissection and hospital near the campus. The wonderful Julian was at her interview and she loved the whole interview process. Including spending one station discussing cheese with the patient. Early placements.

Nottingham she found really friendly and loved the campus and city. Liked the Medical school being in the hospital. Full body dissection, early GP and hospital placements and paid transport in all years to all placements.

Hope that helps. We also visited UEA which I loved and thought was a great course. And the walk through the meadow to the hospital was very pretty.
And Bristol, which for some reason she hated. Her sister is hopefully off there on autumn for vet med so not a family thing.

At the end of the day they will become doctors and have fun while doing it.

@Bimkom - Re preparedness, I think @Monkey2001 is referring to the GMC trainee survey, in which F1 doctors are asked how well their medical school prepared them for the job they've been doing for the past 6 months. In 2019 the top 5 medical schools for preparedness were Plymouth, Keele, Norwich (UEA), Swansea and Lancaster. It's proably no surprise that these are all relatively small medical schools.

probably

@SirTobyBelch yes, that is what I meant. Thanks for clarifying.

Ds wants to apply for med but hes really struggling. School have provided very little work since lockdown and hardly any feedback. He's been trying to teach himself 3 a levels and found it challenging. I always thought of him as strong and resilient but lockdown has really affected his mental health.

He is now really worried about ucat, bmat and everything else. Plans for work exclusive have been shelved due to covid and he just can't see how he can get the top grades for med with zero teaching from school. His school are reopening in 2 weeks but year 12 will only be going in for one 10 min face to face meeting. That has knocked him. Will the med schools still conduct interviews this year? He's worried that the places will be even more competitive for 2021. My main concern is to try and keep his mental health in a good place and to support him as best I can. I'm really disappointed with school, if there was adequate home provision then it wouldn't all be such a mess.

@Powergower it's tough. Has your DS used thechemguy (on YouTube) and physicsmaths tutor ? Lots of great video lessons. And get him to try last years AS papers - they have just been released and will give him an idea of how he's doing.
For UCAT use Medify and the on line UCAT prep tests. BMAT past papers also available to look at - mostly science and maths questions that he should know, but good to have a look first.
And tell him to keep chin up. It's not going to be a normal year for anyone and resilience will be vital. If he wants a chat I am happy to help (I am a teacher and I mentor our kids through the process. And I'm a mum if a 2nd year medic too).

@powergower your poor DS. Schools are so variable in how they are handling this which makes it very unfair for Y10 and Y12. Do you have any friends with DCs a bit older who might be able to tutor him a bit? DS1(gap year) is keeping maths going for DS2(Y11) and it has been really effective, he is happy to do it for £5/hour as he does not have much to do either. It is really though to keep going in a vacuum.

He should be able to work for UCAT by himself though - has he got Medify? A great UCAT score opens a lot of doors. If I was in your situation I would encourage DS to get a date booked for UCAT (you can change date as it gets closer if not ready) and try a positive focus on that. There is enough on Medify to occupy him for at least 50 hours.

Mumsneedwine and monkey thank you for your posts! I was feeling very devotional and alone this morning, it'd forgotten how wonderful mn can be. Outside my full time time job I mentor kids from a deprived background and a few years ago with the help of some amazing mnetters I helped an outstanding young person apply for medicine. I will pass on your info to my ds.

I think he's just feeling let down, school are trying but they are so pessimistic sometimes. They've advised that they won't be able to fully assist with personal statements, they might not have the staff member who usually adjusts with UCAS and there will be no lessons in school until the end of the year. It's a standard state secondary so I don't know why i expected more. I also have a year 10 dc which is making things stressful.

I'll have a chat with ds today and ask him to book his ucat. Might give him something to work towards. I'll also get him to check out medify. He could put a good PS together as he has weekend job and excellent youth work.

Fuck, emotional not devotional. I never feel devotional!!

@Powergower do you know that most need schools no longer look at PS? They realised that there were professional services and schools doing so much of the PS that it was not appropriate to score it. Sheffield disregard it, Newcastle just do a "red flag" admin check, Cardiff and St Andrews check that you have explored the career, but don't score it. Keele, Manchester and Nottingham have their own forms.

There is loads of useful advice on the Student Room, and they offer PS support too.

Does your DS have a shortlist of medical schools yet?

Have you come across the BSMS virtual work experience?

Monkey no I had no idea that the PS carried so little weight. I'll get ds to check the student room as I don't want to hijack it all and he really does need to lead his own searches if he is serious about applying for med. One thing a learnt from my mentoring of a med student years ago is that they almost need to have tunnel vision and absolute dedication if they want to apply. I'll also get him to draw up a list of unis, we did discuss this last week but because of the bmat being delayed he's not sure if he can include bmat unis in his application?

@Powergower any advice you get on here will be valuable to everyone else reading. PS not a worry, but I'm happy to check it for him if it gives him confidence - we have already started our UCAS process and I am frankly disgusted your school have said that. Make a spreadsheet of each Uni he likes the look off and research the selection criteria for each - not the admissions. This will tell him how they select for interview and he can use this once he has his UCAT to shortlist. A bad UCAT doesn't rule out applying - Cardiff use GCSEs, Plymouth have a low threshold, and some score sections separately so one bad one might bring total score down but won't preclude an interview (Nottingham). Researching stuff might give him some focus too. And care homes are hiring for catering and cleaning staff - looks great at interview. As does any part time job.

Of course he can still apply to BMAT universities, but he won't know his score so it makes it more risky unless the UCAS timetable changes significantly this year, so he should aim to apply to at least 2 UCAT ones unless the UCAT is a complete disaster. There are a few where entrance exams don't matter if you have perfect GCSEs, so Cardiff (9x8/9) and Leeds (8x8/9) and Exeter have not looked at UCAT for the last couple of years if you are predicted A*x3. Most people don't have those perfect scores, so UCAT/BMAT will matter, but if strategic, most candidates can be confident of getting some interviews.

Hi all - does anyone know how many places there are at Queens Belfast for English students? Just wondering if it’s capped like in Scotland or not and I can’t find the info on line! Thanks 😊

I am a junior doctor and did medicine as a mature student - good luck to all your kids, it really is fascinating and I'm so happy I did it!

Just a quick bit of advice from me regarding UKCAT, they say you can't but you absolutely can study for it - I was terrible at it when I first started looking, practiced loads and aced it - full marks in 2 sections and very good in the other 2. I didn't do any in person courses, although I've heard they can help, I just did loads of practice and did spent money on question banks. Practicing the timings is also really important - no matter what I did I couldn't finish the maths section (my worst!) so I was strategic so I could guess and click through quickly if it wasn't one I was likely to work out fast, to maximise my chance of getting the right answers on the others.

@LaLaFlottes no ring fenced numbers in NI. The Scottish ones are different because their med schools are funded by their govt. Have you signed up to an on line open day there?

@monkey2001 thank you so much that’s good news. I’m starting to think DD is trying to get as far away from us as possible!!

I’ve tried to sign up to their open event but when I submit our details it comes back with page not available - so I’ll email them tomorrow. Thank you 😊

@Powergower I hope that this thread is as useful for you as it has been for me and my DD. She too attends a standard comprehensive school where the provision since lockdown has been poor. DD has been motivated and has worked hard independently until recently, but has been feeling very despondent since she's realised that this situation is likely to last beyond September.

We've not had any info on the application process or personal statement writing from school, and no info of what provision will be for them when school does reopen. DD isn't that interested in doing the online open days because she won't get a feel for the place without visiting. She has a shortlist of about 8 places she'd like to go, so we may spend some time over the summer visiting those towns if we're allowed to travel by August. However, she has said that she's happy to go wherever will take her so who knows what she'll put on her application form!

My youngest DD is in year 10 and is really struggling with juggling so many subjects independently. I don't have any specific words of wisdom, but wanted you to know that you and your DS are not the only ones finding it tough.

Definitely worth signing up to on-line open day medicine talks. Only takes an hour and they will run through current admissions process as well as giving you a feel for what they prioritise in their course. When DS went to Edinburgh he liked the city and university but was put of by the course talk. All info can be helpful.

@Powergower I forgot to ask whether your DS has been through this - www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2669/msc-entry-requirements-for-uk-medical-schools.pdf

The ones which say they review PS after interview just do a "red flag" exercise to make sure there is no glaring reason to over-rule an interview decision.

The medic portal has released an update about work experience requirements for each university for 2021 entrants. It’s an interesting read and quite reassuring in the current environment.
I don’t know how to add a link, but it is easily found on their site.

Here is the link

www.themedicportal.com/blog/work-experience-medical-schools-want-for-2021-entry/

Ticktack thanks that's great advice re ukcat.

Monkey - he is looking at the online work experience and has started working on his personal statement.

Card1gan - good to hear that there's others with year 10 and 12 state kids who are worried. Our school is reopening next week but with only 1 morning for year 10 a week, and one 10 min face to face meeting for year 12. Year 12 dc will also get 1 live lesson a week per a level subject, but for my dc there's a clash so he will get 2 live lessons per week. This is really not good enough, I understand the school and teachers concerns but to provide 2 x live lesson a week after almost 3 months of lockdown is disgraceful. Our school have remained open for key worker kids and have confirmed there hasn't been enough social distancing and zero covid infections. Ds is really disappointed he only gets to go in for 10 minutes a week. My dc have been meeting their friends in the park in accordance with the rules so it seems crazy that they can't go to school.

Ds has looked into ucas and ucat and is now compiling a list of uni and their requirements. He has found out that most unis will prob only do a Skype type interview, and no interview stations or drawn out selection day. He is worried because he feels he comes across better in person. He's also read that unis are aware of the missed learning and will take that into account. Our school iuds also indicating that normal lessons will not resume post sept and online lessons will continue next year. Ds was really upset by this as it means no sixth fourth experience, no final years of schooling, no going out with mates at break, no banter with teachers he loved, and very little ongoing support. We had a good chat and he is ok but i think closing schools has really affected the mental health of young people and this is being completely ignored.

It's a big mess, I wish our school was doing more live lessons, more lessons in school too. I think medicine applications is going to be a nightmare for 2021, and all this with very little teaching going on for so many kids.