Medicine 2021 - Part 3

[SATSmadness]

Hoping for interviews and offers all round, now and well into next year !

@bimkom huge congratulations. Such a relief. DD is a 3rd year at Notts if have any questions.

Brilliant news @binkom! Congratulations to him

Congratulations to your son @bimkom .
My daughter also received an offer. A few of her friends are still waiting to hear so we wonder if they are doing it based on when they interviewed.

Congratulations both. 👏

Congratulations @bimkom and @redtulip12

Nothing here as yet. Anyone heard anything from Leeds and/or Lancaster?

I’m so happy for you both @bimkom what a relief. Just one offer makes such a difference!
Pleased to see offers start coming through

Thanks @mumsneedwine. It is deferred entry (he applied for deferred entry from the get-go), so for 2022. So has a bit of time to think about it, and ask all the questions. We might have some questions if he does get other offers, and has to make a decision - which will be hard. While he did apply by and large strategically, he was lucky that stragetically also meant universities he really liked, so he is going to find it hard to turn any of them down, and may have to do some hard thinking if that happens. For the moment, this feels enough. We haven't visited either Nottingham (or anywhere else he has applied, however), and I am really hoping that the pandemic situation will ease at least enough for us to take a trip there and have a look.

Nottingham really is a fab campus. Feels really safe, clean, lots to do.

@redtulip, congratulations as well. It is clearly not based on when they interviewed, as DS was part of the last batch - and so were others on TSR, while yet others were from all times. The suggestion from the medical students after the interview was that Nottingham sends in batches, and it is random. Either that or based on interview score.

DS also says that lots of his friends are still waiting to hear from Nottingham, he is the only one he knows in RL who has an offer from them.

The Nottingham interview was the one DS felt least confident about, although he said it got better as it went along. He thinks he was so nervous for the first proper question that he is still not sure he even heard it correctly, so was worried that whatever he said was not even on point. He was happier with the role play at the end. But it must have gone OK.

@bimkom here is have any questions. Congratulations to others with offers. Notts usually do in batches (that arrive at weird times ). It was the first purpose built medical school within a hospital in UK - the med school is soap bang in middle of QMC.

Slap bang, I've had gin 😂

@redtulip12 woo hoo !! Well done

Great news @redtulip12!

Great news @redtulip12 and @bimkom that’s fantastic news

Still waiting here - most likely until mid to end of March - trying to be patient!

@binkom DD says the same; she had to get them to repeat the question as a) it was an odd question and b) she wasn't sure she heard right.

I think we've said that before here, although I'm Very Old so it's possible we haven't. 🤣

Thank you all. Yes Nottingham was the interview my daughter described as weird! She currently favours Bristol over Nottingham but still waiting to hear back from the other two. Such a shame we haven't been able to visit them to get a feel for each. Wonder if we will be allowed to travel before they have to decide!

@redtulip12 can help with Bristol a bit - youngest there but doing vet med. Uni have been fab about COVID though.

mumsneedwine, I thought they had struggled with hospital placements during COVID though perhaps different for vets.

@Needmoresleep they stopped for a while but are back in. Vet DD has been at farm every week this term. Eldest starts CP1 on 1st. They are getting there. And so many of the students became HCAs so got amazing ward/ICU experience.

red tulip, one advantage of Bristol is it allows external intercalation.

It depends what your DD wants to do, but mine is currently spending a year in London studying, as she puts it, something really cool, and very research oriented which should help when it comes to applying for actual jobs in the field that interests her. She did flirt with something more glamorous like sports medicine or the air ambulance course at Barts, whilst friends are doing things like emergency medicine or child development.

My understanding is that Nottingham’s intercalation is internal only and has to be done over a summer holiday.

Bristol also has a good range of placements ranging from inner city to very rural, and some good hospitals. Some of the better training seems to happen in the smaller hospitals where staff have more time to help students.

Notts intercalate during last term of year 2 & first term of year 3 - DD just finished hers. Now on CP throughout this summer. Means don't do an extra year. However no extra points any more for that extra degree so only do if interested in research maybe.
Both fab Unis, fab student cities.

mumsneedwine. I was just a bit surprised that you were saying that Bristol had coped well, as some of the medics are really quite worried about what they missed. Even now they are rejigging placements. DD is very relieved she is having a year out and planning to see if she can informally do some extra observations next year in the specialities she missed after they were sent home in March.

It sounds as if Nottingham has been exceptionally good. However it appears that several other medical schools struggled. Even before the first lockdown they had hospital clinics with no patients, so the CTF had to use DD as the guinea pig.

But then my understanding was that vet and medic education was quite separate, and indeed in different locations, so perhaps vets don’t face the issues in hospitals that medics do. It is standard at Bristol to spend part of your first year working as an HCA. It was useful experience. You are also required to volunteer. The course is quite hands on.

@Needmoresleep think its been tough for them all this year. DD worked as an HCA last summer at a care home and this summer worked at local hospital, on COVID wards. I have many more grey hairs. Vets and medics at Bristol both on campus for first few years (although DD2 does head off to farm once a week). Both Notts & Bristol are fab Unis so wherever you end up you'll gave a fantastic time.