Medicine 2020 (part 2)

[Monkey2001]

This follows on from the first thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3380915-Medicine-2020

It’s hard for all at the moment. My dd (first year medic) was expecting to have the Easter holidays, then two weeks of exams, then her first hospital placement (two weeks in cardiology), then the remaining weeks of term doing CSI cases (clinical skills integration I think) and all of the planned end of year socials. Instead she’s got online exams and some sort of online classes after that. They work so hard to get to that stage and have so much to fit into their time as students x

Ofqual has published more information about the grades. Not sure how much it clarifies matters. Wishing the best to all our DC.

Has anybody else done a virtual open day today? We were impressed by the St Andrews one - the medicine talk provided a boost in excitement.

@PiggyPokkyFool, following your post about the Keele open day I meant to share the text from the leicester virtual open day invitation which made us smile:

**

You may like to make your Offer Holder Day experience more realistic by:

• Getting up far earlier than you normally would on a Saturday.
• Sitting in the car for two hours.
• Carrying a selection of booklets, postcards and leaflets around without ever looking at them.
• Eating a selection of small, triangular sandwiches for lunch.
• Sitting in the car for another two hours at the end of the day.

**

Hope your DC are all staying positive.

Shared with DD - will make her smile @Monkey2001.
She is baking cakes as I type - something she finds very therapeutic.
She spent 4 hours yesterday bleaching DD2's hair blond - looks a lot better than I expected.
I am currently counting down the days until Lent is over - gave up too many things given this crisis. This feels like me - except I haven't given up...

Sorry guys in all the goings on I've missed a lot of this thread.
It's been a busy time for me transitioning to lecturing online and hundreds of zoom meetings.
DD devastated to miss exams but hopefully will get near predicted grades and enough to go on. She has firmed Exeter and insured Plymouth, even though both want the same grades.
We spent today getting to grips with student finance in Wales and getting ready to shortlist halls.

Hi @EightToSixer - I think we have all fallen off and on in this crazy situation.
Can I ask why your daughter has chosen two with the same offer? If she misses one, will she not also miss the other?
Or is the thought that this year it might be worth doing as there may be differingley levels of flexibility from Uni to Uni?
What are others thoughts on this?
DD had planned to firm Keele and her fifth choice just in case. Her school have said they are not allowed to accept their places until they authorise it so she has to wait.

@piggypokkyfool
She is on a waitlist for her other option and wanted to finalise her decision in case universities suddenly withdraw or drop places. Exeter is less likely to reduce their offer and DD would rather resit the year than take a 5th option so she’s only left with 2.

That makes sense @EightToSixer. I wish DD could firm choices really.
She said she would only give it one shot and likes her fifth choice so I suppose she will just have to hope her teachers are fair(or are allowed to be fair with this system) and give her enough for her first choice and use her safety net.
And I thought getting the offers was the hard bit!

@PiggyPokkyFool medical schools definitely differ on how flexible they are and it is possible that some will end up with too many applicants meeting the grades, so something will have to be worked out - students may be asked to defer or go to their insurance choice.

In a normal year it also varies, loads of Leeds people were allowed in having missed the grades last year (it was at least 30) as they don't over-offer as much as many medical schools.

@EightToSixer - you say your DD would rather resit the year. You may have already thought of this but does that mean she will need to resit her UCAT this summer so it is valid for next year applications?
Just a thought in case you hadn't had it.
What a stressfest this is!

Yes piggy, all very stressful. I’m just hopeful that she will get her 3 A’s and get in to Exeter this year (whenever it starts).

We’ve been a bit fed up that’s results only get issued on August 13th as usual. No marking is needed, the teachers could issue grades now, it doesn’t need to last another 4 months of not knowing and stress. It’s been stressful enough for them not doing exams.
Although I did recall the stress levels of Easter last year, revising for 4 x AS-levels, going to open days, revising for UCAT, summer schools, work experience etc. I’ll glad we are a year on from all that!

It is not so simple for teachers to give grades. There will be an enormous standardisation task to ensure that the grades given throughout the country are the same as usual.

I still think deferring a year would be a good idea for Y13s though as the start of term will not be normal, may be on-line. Freshers events will be turned on their head. For medics placements will be messed up whilst the NHS catches up with all the stuff that has been deferred. Altogether a mess!

I still think deferring a year would be a good idea for Y13s though

Although, of course, if a large proportion of the cohort does this the majority of universities will be bankrupt before the next academic year begins, so there will be no medical school to go to.

@SirTobyBelch & Universities are saying no. So deferring means reapplying from scratch.

I thought there were worries that with teachers giving grades there would be too many people achieving medicine offers and that they would want some people to defer. I am expecting some to be bribing students to defer with rent discounts as Exeter did a couple of years ago.

I'd be surprised if all universities said no to deferral although they may want to see how the grades work out/how many requests they get before agreeing to any. So they say no now but may be more flexible if asked later on.

The virus is going to be around for quite a while, cant be sure it will be any better a year later and it's not like they will easily be able to do a lot of travelling.

Also in The Times today it suggests that up to 111, 000 may defer including internationals so there may be enough places for medics this year

It is impossible to guess what medical schools will do. If social distancing rules stay in place they will find it very difficult to teach all the students. They can move the lectures on line or restrict the numbers in lecture theatres so that social distancing can be maintained but placements and labs will be very difficult so they may want to reduce numbers this year or they may want to increase then because we need doctors more than ever. Everything is so uncertain.

I have seen talk of universities letting medicine and science students back on site first if there is a gradual return to full numbers, but it is impossible to predict accurately what is going to happen.

It seemed extraordinary when GCSEs and A levels were cancelled, but that now seems to have been a long-sighted decision.

It seems that private halls are offering a get-out for students making bookings now in the event of a delayed start to campus opening - do you think this policy will apply to bookings that were made pre-covid?

It would be difficult for them not to offer the same terms. I assume people who booked pre-COVID could cancel with 30 days notice if the companies do not offer the same get-out.

Oxford and Cambridge have agreed to hold places for a year if students fail to get their exam results. This is to allow them to sit the exams in autumn (if indeed the exams happen), which seems very fair. I guess they know that they can fill their places with great students for 2020 anyway, but I'm sure that's the case for most of the medical schools.

Sorry, I think that might just be Cambridge.

I have heard that there is an article in the Sunday Times saying that if universities can't go back in the autumn they will prioritise some subjects, including medicine. Does anyone with a Sunday Times subscription have any more info on this? Thanks!

It says that Malcolm Reed, dean of BSMS and co-chair of MSC said 33 unis with med schools were backing a plan for trainee medics and other health-related and science subjects to return for the autumn term.

It’s on the front page - maybe you can see that if you search for front pages on today’s needpapers?